The Old Dark House (DVD, 1999)

When a mud slide blocks a road our travel weary rain soaked cast seek refuge and stumble onto the home of the original dysfunctional family who begrudgingly offer shelter, food and too much information!

1932 offered nothing in the way of today's special effects but that's some of the fun of this film. Set mainly in the living quarters of a gloomy manor THE OLD DARK HOUSE wants for nothing but a bowl of popcorn. There is the manor's matriarch, a Bible quoting self righteous crone, her anxious formally attired brother, a dumb and disfigured alcoholic man servant (played by Boris Karloff)who is retained to keep another family member,a pyromaniac brother, under lock and key, and their bed-ridden invalid father ingeniusly portrayed by an actress! The remainder of the characters, portrayed as your average socially complicated "30-somethings",today provide an amusing example for how time has not change human nature.

There is never a dull moment from very the start when the country road goes out to the chase scene through the house where after justice gets served, love is found and the torrential rains eventually stops. Having seen THE OLD DARK HOUSE several times I have often wondered if the cast enjoyed making this film as much as I enjoy watching it every time!

Two of my favorite scenes take place in the dining hall where a meal is served (table manners make for excellant horror)and in a bedroom where the film's unnerved ingenue in her silk slip is lasciviously observed and critiqued by the aged mistress of the house! How could I NOT want to own a copy of this movie?

1932 Universal Film directed by James Whale features Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart, Melvyn Douglas, Raymond Massey, Lillian Bond, Boris Karloff, Eva Moore,Ernest Theisiger, Brember Wills and Elspeth Dudgeon. B/W,72 minutes

THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE FIRST GHOST FLIX TO SCORE BIG, WHAT? CAT & THE CANARY(COOL, YET SILENT) & TWO YEARS BEFORE A GHOST WALKS, 8 YEARS BEFORE GHOST BREAKERS, 11 YEARS BEFORE
THE GHOST & THE GUEST, WHICH MAYBE DON'T MEAN A LOTTA HUEY, BUT THE SUSPENSE & MYSTERY
MARRIED WITH THE SUPERNATURAL CHA-CHA MAKES FOR ONE FUN MOVIE EXPERIENCE.