Horrorfest 2011: The Old Dark House

I’ve been wanting to check out THE OLD DARK HOUSE ever since James Rolfe reviewed it a few years back – not only was the review good, but the movie itself was directed by James Whale, a master of horror responsible for the first two FRANKENSTEIN films and THE INVISIBLE MAN, and stars Boris Karloff (Frankenstein’s monster himself) along with Ernest Thesiger (Dr. Pretorius in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, possibly the greatest mad scientist of all). So, the movie has a good pedigree.

This must be among the first instance of the by-now familiar plot device of a group of travelers forced to stay in a strange house after their car breaks down in a storm. In this case, the travelers are a married couple (Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart, the latter of TITANIC fame – who knew, she used to be hot) and their bachelor pal (Melvyn Douglas). Later, they’re joined by a couple more stranded travelers, a self-made tycoon (Charles Laughton) and his arm candy (Lilian Bond).

At first, the titular old dark house is merely a bit weird. Soon, it starts to grow sinister and dangerous. The house is inhabited by the Femm siblings, the mostly deaf and self-righteous sister played by Eva Moore, and her fussy, nervous brother, played by the afore-mentioned Ernest Thesiger. Their invalid father (Elspeth Dudgeon, in an off-putting gender-bending performance), over 100 years old, is laid up in an upstairs bedroom. Another upstairs bedroom, the door bolted with ominous locks, houses the third sibling (Brember Wills), said to be murderously insane. Even the butler is weird – this is Boris Karloff, as a mute hulk who unintelligibly mumbles his dialog and becomes dangerous once he gets drunk.

There’s a funny disclaimer at the beginning of the movie assuring us that this is indeed the same Boris Karloff who played the monster in FRANKENSTEIN. That was his breakout role, and there he was also mute and covered in makeup, rendering him almost unrecognizable. Once again, in this flick, he’s mute and covered in makeup. It’s a good performance, but you can see why the filmmakers felt the need to go out of their way to point out that this is Karloff, because it’s not readily obvious.

One cool thing about the movie is how funny it is. Although the dark house and its inhabitants are scary and have their fair share of fright moments, their eccentricities, when mixed with the “normal” people who stop by for the night, can’t help but lead to humor. This is especially evident in Ernest Thesiger’s awesome portrayal – he’s simultaneously weird and frightening to his guests, while also being afraid of his own family and the house itself. He’s so uncomfortable in his own skin while attempting to remain a classy gentleman that his every move and word drips with sarcastic double meaning.

There’s also a little refreshing love triangle between the lazy bachelor, Douglas, the ambitious business man, Laughton, and the businessman’s companion, Bond. Laughton (later to play the tragic lead in HUNBACK OF NOTRE DAME), as always, is great, and his character is interesting – he’s heart broken and driven, but realistic about the wavering affections of his dame. He also can’t help but be charmed by Douglas, who is a raffish n’er-do-well. And Bond is cute as a button. The love scenes between Douglas and Bond are a little less cloying and more witty and realistic than some scenes I’ve had to sit through in other films of the era.

In fact, the whole movie is refreshing and original. Although it marks the beginning of a cliché that won’t go away, I can assure you you’ll never see anything quite like THE OLD DARK HOUSE.