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These were nominally similar to haunted house films, excepting that Old Dark House genre rigidly eschewed any hint of the supernatural. These included the likes of The Bat (1926), The Cat and the Canary (1927), The Gorilla (1927), The Last Warning (1929) and sound remakes of these such as The Bat Whispers (1930), The Cat Creeps (1930), The Gorilla (1931), The Cat and the Canary (1939) and The Gorilla (1939). The Old Dark House is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy horror film directed by James Whale. Seeking shelter from a pounding rainstorm in a remote region of Wales, several travelers 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.
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He frees Margaret and Gladys from the closet before taking Saul's body upstairs. Many of the films in the Old Dark House genre had wonderfully stylised lighting scheme and directorial flourishes – fine examples being the 1927 The Cat and the Canary and The Bat Whispers – but ultimately they were films of occasional affect. On the other hand, in The Old Dark House James Whale creates a Gothic mood that permeates the entire film. The film is set contemporary and the tone is certainly a good deal more realist than the distorted European netherworld that Frankenstein took place in, nevertheless James Whale causes the film to slip into a stylised Gothic mood despite.
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As the group chats by the fireplace, Gladys reveals her real last name is Perkins. Roger and Gladys go to retrieve some whiskey from his car. The electric lights go out and Rebecca tells Horace to get a lamp from an upstairs landing.
A review by John Chard
Stranded travelers seek refuge from a raging storm in a forbidding Welsh mansion. However, they soon realize that the mansion's inhabitants are hiding a dark secret in this classic Universal horror mystery. During dinner, the group are joined by Sir William Porterhouse and a chorus girl with the stage name Gladys DuCane, who also seek refuge from the storm.
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Philip and Margaret leave to get an ambulance, while Gladys and William stay behind to tend to Roger's injuries. Upon awakening, Roger asks Gladys to marry him, and she happily kisses him in response.
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Priestley, who is generally best known for the play An Inspector Calls (1947) – see the film version An Inspector Calls (1954). The project was handed to the perpetually eccentric British director James Whale, who had just come from the groundbreaking success of Frankenstein (1931). This film was not included in the "Shock Theatre" package with the other Universal horror films. As a violent storm rages, five travellers in a remote part of Wales take refuge at a creepy looking mansion that's home to the "odd" Femm family... In a remote region of Wales, five travelers beset by a relentless storm find shelter in an old mansion.
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On a stormy night in Wales, five people, Philip and Margaret Waverton, their friend Penderel, Sir William Porterhouse and his lady friend, chorus girl Gladys Perkins, whose stage name is DuCane, seek refuge in a gloomy house off the road. The denizens of the house include Horace Femm, an hysteric, his sister Rebecca, a religious fanatic, and Morgan, their scarred, brutish butler, who is a mute. At dinner, Horace confides that sometime in the past, their sister Rachel died in a mysterious fashion.
As he fetches the lamp, he notices a locked room and hears a voice coming from another room. William goes to help Rebecca close a window, leaving Margaret alone. Morgan, now drunk, attacks her and chases her up the stairs to Philip, who is coming down with the lamp. Philip throws the lamp at Morgan, knocking him down the stairs. Weird, exciting and positively funny haunted house film with a top cast that's directed by one of Horror's greatest directors, James Whale. Priestley's novel "Benighted", the piece is further boosted by excellent camera work from Arthur Edeson and a screenplay that positively zips with memorable moments.
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As the evening progresses, the Wavertons discover the Femms' 102-year-old father in an upstairs room. Transformed by drink, Morgan pursues attractive Margaret up the stairs, where he craftily releases another brother, pyromaniac Saul, from his locked room at the top. They break the news to Sir William who, because he is still in love with his dead wife, is not very upset. Soon after, Penderal encounters the liberated Saul in one of the dark rooms. At first Saul seems to be the only sane inhabitant of the house, but he proves that he is as crazy as the rest when he tries to kill Penderal. Morgan, having sobered up a little, carries the wounded Saul back to his room.
They settle in for the night and are joined not long after by two other travellers, the wealthy industrialist Sir William Porterhouse and his girlfriend, dancehall girl Gladys Duquesne, whom Penderel takes an instant liking to. However, as the storm causes the power to go off and the brutish Morgan becomes menacingly drunk, they realise that the house holds secrets, including one family member, the mad pyrokinetic son Saul, who is kept locked in the attic. It was placed at number 71 on a Time Out poll of the best horror films. In 1957, Universal Studios lost the rights to the original story,[5] and a remake was released in 1963, directed by William Castle and co-produced with Hammer Film Productions.
Upon release in America the film was poorly received, yet unsurprisingly given it's British dryne... As an Old Dark House thriller goes, The Old Dark House is surprisingly light on plot – not much happens and there is little of the contorted twists and revelations that occur in other films of the genre. Some of the menaces present – Boris Karloff’s hulking butler – never do much. Both Ernest Thesiger and Eva particularly Moore’s characters drop off once the thrills start proper, while Charles Laughton is forgotten about the moment that Melvyn Douglas announces he is going to marry his girlfriend Lillian Bond. The characters are afforded such little development that we never even find out why the Wavertons are travelling through the backwoods of Wales with Penderel as company.
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