The Old Dark House

The Old Dark House (1932)

Runtime: 72 minutes

Directed by: James Whale

Starring: Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Raymond Massey, Gloria Stuart, Charles Laughton

From: Universal

I have returned. I'll give some more details when I post another review tonight (this time to something pretty obscure) but the storm did not really do anything where I live. I'll be honest and say I watched this on YouTube last night. It is a pretty entertaining 30's horror, as I explain below:

To add more variety to my horror watching during this spooky (or maybe it should be “spoopy”; at least that's what people in some circles would call it) Halloween season, I decided to go pretty old school with this picture, which can be found rather easily online, if you catch my drift. The cast and the director (James Whale) certainly piqued my interest.

The story is straight to the point: a trio of people are driving in Wales during a very stormy night. They have to stop at the titular old dark house; a very odd family lives there. When a duo shows up later, things really heat up. Note that the characters you see include an accused pyromaniac, a very old man (actually played by a woman), a chorus girl and most memorably, a bearded Boris Karloff as a giant mute butler named Morgan who happens to love the old alcohol.

The story isn't the most complex or original; a lot of the thrill is seeing the strange shenanigans and wondering what will happen next. What helps make this memorable is the direction and the setting. The house works quite well in establishing a creepy-crawly feeling, especially when you can usually hear the storm in the background. Then there's how lights and shadows are done to perfection by Whale. You see plenty of shadows and even though this movie is light in tone (there is plenty of amusing dialogue; you shouldn't take this too seriously), it still has the right atmosphere to give you the horror feels too.

I know that William Castle remade this in 1963 but I understand it pales in comparison to this, so I am in no rush to check that out.