All I knew about The Old Dark House (1932) was its director, James Whale, and star Boris Karloff, were together again after the success of Frankenstein. Based on a novel by J.B. Priestley, the story concerns two parties of debonair British people – one group is a married couple (Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart – yes, the elderly Rose from Titanic) and their friend (Melvyn Douglas), the other a couple (Charles Laughton and Lillian Bond) – having to take cover during a torrential storm out in the Welsh countryside. These two groups stumble across an old dark house, and inside that old dark house? Two very eccentric characters, Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger) and Rebecca Femm (Eva Moore), and their bearded, scarred, mute butler Morgan (Karloff).
What transpires is more like a screwball comedy romance plonked into the middle of a Gothic horror atmosphere. There’s the sound of howling wind and rain, and later we discover hidden secrets within the strange family who live in this house, and potential danger. Mostly, it’s just people being witty and wanting a drink, and dryly reacting to the peculiar Femm – Horace being quivering and fastidious, scared of what’s upstairs – and his irascible, ornery, god-fearing sister Rebecca. The logic of King Kong is miniaturised as the grunting Karloff corners and paws the fair and blonde Stuart in a slinky dress. Also great to see someone I only knew as an older actor, Melvyn Douglas (from Being There), in his young, dashing and handsome cad phase.
As I was watching The Old Dark House, I kept waiting for the horror reveal and by the time it happens, there’s tension, and the possibility of death, and a practical stunt. Overall, this is a fun old time at the movies, clocking in at 72 minutes, a precursor to horror-cloaked tomfoolery like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue or The Addams Family. Available to stream on Kanopy and Tubi. Recommended.
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