The Old Dark House
1932 Directed by James Whale
Synopsis
Seeking shelter from a pounding rainstorm in a remote region of Wales, several travellers are admitted to a gloomy, foreboding mansion belonging to the extremely strange Femm family. Trying to make the best of it, the guests must deal with their sepulchral host, Horace Femm and his obsessive, malevolent sister Rebecca. Things get worse as the brutish manservant Morgan gets drunk and runs amok...
Cast
Popular reviews
More-
James Whale was a sneaky devil. I'd read that this film parodies "old dark house" tropes while simultaneously creating the very same mini-genre. (Old Dark House stories -- especially with a gorilla -- were very popular vehicles on poverty row in the 1930's.) That commentator described the film perfectly. It's post-modern, thirty years before that concept was invented. Or maybe it's meta? If you watch 1935's Bride of Frankenstein, you'll find the same mix of parody and proper horror (done even better). Whale knows how to play it. . .erm. . .straight and still sit back and laugh at the world he's creating. That's what I mean by 'sneaky'. He's well ahead of his time.
Here we have five people…
-
James Whale really was one of the early masters. I'm only just now reaching this epiphany.
-
This is one strange film (directed by the one and only James Whale)! It is like a mixture of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (crazy family) and The Shining (alcoholism). Five travelers seek shelter from a storm. They come to the Femm family estate. The family is anything but normal and they have to try to survive a night with them.
Boris Karloff plays an uncivilized brute who sometimes drinks heavily and once he's drunk he's rather dangerous. The family members therefore try to watch him at all times. Boris Karloff is great in this small but important part.
Even though Rebecca Femm (Eva Moore) is not the most dangerous person in the house she is one of the craziest.…
-
Have a potato.
-Horace FemmA great horror comedy directed by the even greater James Whale. The ensemble cast really work great together with each member of the Femm Family being more depraved then the last, my favorite being the nervous Horace Femm played by Ernest Thesiger.
He would go on to be directed by Whale again as Dr. Pretorius in Bride of Frankenstein along with Boris Karloff who plays Morgan here. The real star of the movie here though is the witty dialogue filled with dry off tilt humor.
-
The Old Dark House is the Deliverance of it's time. When you have to find shelter from a terrible storm out in the country-side try not to seek it in a house full of lunatics. James Whale injects a great sense of creepiness into the film that is always buoyed by a kind of bent humor. Ernest Thesiger, who we would later get to know as Dr. Pretorius in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) is especially effective at adding humor to the film with his slightly nervous Horace Femm ("..have a Potato"). Melvyn Douglas comes off especially dashing as the freewheeling Roger Penderel who woos the lovely Gladys Perkins (Lillian Bond) away from Bill Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) in an under used…
-
Film #41 of The December Project.
The setup for The Old Dark House is simple: a group of travelers hit a spot of bad weather (to say the least) and find themselves taking refuge for the night in a strange old house filled with strange old people. From that familiar scenario James Whale milks every ounce of humor, and horror, for an entertaining 72 minutes. This even has Boris Karloff in it in a very great performance.
Despite all that this movie just didn't do it for me. I don't think I'm turning out to be much of a Universal Horror fan, but for what it's worth this is probably my equal favorite out of the four Whale films that I've seen, just as enjoyable as The Bride of Frankenstein, and deliciously tongue-in-cheek.
Recent reviews
More-
4 stranded strangers, a dark and stormy night, a creepy old house and a very eccentric family - good fun all around. "You will have to stay here. The misfortune is yours."
-
This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
-
What a strange movie even by James Whale standards. Essentially a satire of the haunted house genre made worth it for the line of over the top performances, most importantly that of Charles Laughton who plays the hilariously named Sir William Porterhouse
-
Classic camp. When I say camp, I don't mean cheese; I mean an intentionally exaggerated style, exhibiting genuine affection for the ridiculous. The love that James Whale seems to feel for the eccentrics that inhabit the titular house elevates this film above most stories in its genre. Rather than the one-dimensional villains that horror films generally show their audience, Whale gives us some wonderfully weird characters to hang out with.
Of course, the empathy they evoke make them less frightening, but I don't think pure fright was what Whale had in mind. More than in fighting or fleeing from the abnormal, he's interested in understanding it. And, obviously, having fun with it.
-
James Whale was a sneaky devil. I'd read that this film parodies "old dark house" tropes while simultaneously creating the very same mini-genre. (Old Dark House stories -- especially with a gorilla -- were very popular vehicles on poverty row in the 1930's.) That commentator described the film perfectly. It's post-modern, thirty years before that concept was invented. Or maybe it's meta? If you watch 1935's Bride of Frankenstein, you'll find the same mix of parody and proper horror (done even better). Whale knows how to play it. . .erm. . .straight and still sit back and laugh at the world he's creating. That's what I mean by 'sneaky'. He's well ahead of his time.
Here we have five people…
-
James Whale, the man behind Frankenstein (1931) cast Boris Karloff again as a scary creature. This time as a butler.... still looking like Frankenstein except with more hair. And it's a lovable little horror movie this. While not up there with his best work it has enough good actors and enough old style gloomy situations to make it a delight to follow the madness of the world inside The Old Dark House. It also has Brember Wills as the real monster in his biggest part in his limited movie career.
-
This is one strange film (directed by the one and only James Whale)! It is like a mixture of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (crazy family) and The Shining (alcoholism). Five travelers seek shelter from a storm. They come to the Femm family estate. The family is anything but normal and they have to try to survive a night with them.
Boris Karloff plays an uncivilized brute who sometimes drinks heavily and once he's drunk he's rather dangerous. The family members therefore try to watch him at all times. Boris Karloff is great in this small but important part.
Even though Rebecca Femm (Eva Moore) is not the most dangerous person in the house she is one of the craziest.…
-
I Like 1932's The Old Dark House, I Like It Because I Like Boris Karloff, One Film That Starred In Came Out The Year Before This One Which Was One Of My Favorites Films 1931's Frankenstein.
-
Film #41 of The December Project.
The setup for The Old Dark House is simple: a group of travelers hit a spot of bad weather (to say the least) and find themselves taking refuge for the night in a strange old house filled with strange old people. From that familiar scenario James Whale milks every ounce of humor, and horror, for an entertaining 72 minutes. This even has Boris Karloff in it in a very great performance.
Despite all that this movie just didn't do it for me. I don't think I'm turning out to be much of a Universal Horror fan, but for what it's worth this is probably my equal favorite out of the four Whale films that I've seen, just as enjoyable as The Bride of Frankenstein, and deliciously tongue-in-cheek.