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The Old Dark House [1932]


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Clever, Amusing and Scary. "Have a potato?"
Review date: 2007-08-03 Rating: 10 out of 10

What a great and weird film...scary, funny, unsettling, sophisticated. And the Femm family..."They were all godless here. They used to bring their women here - brazen, lolling creatures in silks and satins. They filled the house with laughter and sin, laughter and sin. And if I ever went down among them, my own father and brothers - they would tell me to go away and pray, and I prayed - and left them with their lustful red and white women." "The fact is, Morgan is an uncivilized brute. Sometimes he drinks heavily. A night like this will set him going and once he's drunk he's rather dangerous." "Have a potato?" Ernest Thesiger as Horace Femm is a movie unto himself. The film stars one of my favorite actors, Melvyn Douglas, as a skeptical, somewhat disallusioned and reluctant hero.

Three travelers, motoring through the Welsh mountains late at night, are caught in a cold, thundering downpour. Their map is useless, the road is getting washed out and they are lost. Then they see a light from a lonely hulk of a large stone house. They pull up and run to the door, knocking loudly. The door opens, slightly. Staring at them is an unkempt, bearded mute with a mutilated face. A reedy, unseen voice tells them to enter.

And that's just the first five minutes.

For the next hour we witness how these three travelers, Roger Penderel (Melvyn Douglas), his friend Philip Waverton (Raymond Massey) and Waverton's wife, Margaret (Gloria Stuart), plus two other lost souls, William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) and his companion, Gladys DuCane (Lillian Bond), deal with the eccentric and strange Femm family and the family's manservant, Morgan (Boris Karloff). The Femms and Morgan are more than eccentric; they can be unpleasant and dangerous. There's Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger), skeletal, elderly and effete; his deaf and religiously fanatical sister, Rebecca (Eva Moore); their psychotic and murderous brother, Saul (Brember Wills) who must always be kept locked up; and their 102 year old aged father, Sir Roderick Femm, who is bed-ridden.

Most of the movie is shot in the great room of the Femm house or up the stairs. The only light is by candlelight, the fireplace or dim electric light while it lasts. Shadows are everywhere, dark shadows that can hide more than secrets. And throughout the long night the rain keeps pouring down.

Does anyone die? Well, one. Is this a Boris Karloff monster movie? Nope. Karloff as Morgan plays an important role, but the movie isn't about him. The movie is about style. It's indirect and clever and at times it is very amusing. Certainly the cast couldn't have been improved upon, especially the actors playing the unnerving Femm siblings.

The movie, in my view, holds up very well.

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Reviews


Ernest Thesiger rocks the House!
Review date: 2006-11-21 Rating: 10 out of 10

If you're expecting a horror movie, forget it - that aspect doesn't really kick in until the last couple of reels and was probably pretty old hat even in 1932. What you get is something altogether more unexpected and much more welcome - one of the greatest comedies of manners ever made.

Those who don't like their wit dry need not apply, but those who do are in for a real treat. Charles Laughton's blustering but good natured Yorkshireman channels more than a pinch of George Formby, but it's Ernest Thesiger who steals the show even more wholeheartedly than he did in Bride of Frankenstein - never has one man got so much comic mileage with so little visible effort from the words "Have a potato." Forget Dr. Pretorius, this is the absolutely unique Thesiger's finest hour. There are plenty of good lines to go round the rest of the tremendous cast ("Not even Welsh should sound like that," notes Melvyn Douglas when confronted with Karloff's grunting), the characters are really rather likeable for a change, and even the wildly unconvincing casting of an actress to play the family patriarch does not detract. Not a horror classic, not a prototype slasher movie (despite its obvious influence on the genre), but a truly great comedy. Sit back, pour yourself a gin and have a potato...

HAVE A POTATO....OH GO ON !!!
Review date: 2006-10-19 Rating: 10 out of 10

I love this film. The atmosphere of the incessant rain, wind & interesting characters is just wonderful. As much as this is a horror film, the humour is a joy. The fact that the man of the house welcomes the guests kindly contrasts brilliantly with the old lady insisting ''THERE'S NO BEDS !!!''. Aarrgh !! that woman !! Surely she has a good side too ?? This is one of those films which I can watch many times over & still enjoy. I'm off to have a potato now. Toodle pip !!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Melvyn Douglas
Boris Karloff
Lilian Bond
Charles Laughton
Ernest Thesiger

Creators:
Boris Karloff (Primary Contributor)
Melvyn Douglas (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Network
Manufacturer: Network
EAN: 5027626250348
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Black & White, Mono, PAL,
Release date: 2006-08-21
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 85 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)

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