source: The Old Dark House

The last time I saw this film was 22 years ago. I still remember it with a smile. For those folks that like a riddle or two, this films for you. Some where a killer is killing their family, watch this film to find out who is doing it. But more important to me and the reason I remember this place, is the strange people that live there.

This horrible "Remake" of the James Whale masterpiece bears no resemblance to the earlier film, and has a terrible contrived plot. It can be endured only for the performances of some excellent comedy players, Tom Poston (An underrated comedy genius - not that you could tell that from this mess), Robert Morley, Peter Bull, Joyce Grenfell and Finnella Fielding. Whereas the humor in the Whale version was understated and subtle, here it is hammered into you with a sledge hammer, and emphasized with a ham-fisted musical score that hollers at you that something is funny, which is actually a help, as it's the only way to tell when it's supposed to be funny, since it never actually is. Nor is it scary. William Castle, the Hitchcock of hacks, has made MUCH better movies, such as "Rosemary's Baby". Rocky Horror fans will recognize Janette Scott from "Day of the Triffids" (As well as Mervyn John from that same movie) and that the exterior of the house is the same house as used in Rocky Horror. When it was released, this film was thought so little of by it's makers that it was released in black and white. Only now can you see it in color. But why would you want to?

An extremely strained and wholly indifferent comedy-thriller. Most of the labored jokes and the way overdone comic relief situations back fire or fizz out like damp squibs, despite (or maybe because of) desperate play-acting by the inept hero who has no charisma whatever. I will admit that the inept script, plus the heavily way-overdone and over emphatic direction does not help. Nor do most of the players come to the hero's rescue. Even normally reliable people are defeated by the totally unfunny script and the producer's labored direction. Admittedly, the film has been lensed on a copious budget. and production values are not bad. Unfortunately, the charmless hero figures in just about every scene and thus succeeds in spoiling just about all of the producer's attempts to make this old dark house shine with genuine merriment and even a bit of suspense. In fact, I am puzzled. Who is this movie actually designed to entertain?

I have three great memories of watching horror movies when I was a kid - the first was seeing House of Dark Shadows in the movie theater and having an incredibly, intense nightmare and sleepwalking episode that night. The second was seeing House on Haunted Hill on Creature Features and shivering throughout the movie because I was so scared. Both of those memories have stood up after seeing those movies again. The one that did not was my memory of The Old Dark House by William Castle. I remember the day I watched it and how deliciously scared it made me with people being bumped off left and right and Tom Posten (SPOILERS AHEAD) running around near the end of the movie looking for the bombs hidden in the clock. I even remember being shocked when the mastermind behind all the killings was blown up at the end. Well, I finally saw the movie for the first time in more than 30 years and while it was mildly amusing, I found it to be amazingly dull. The original - with Boris Karloff - is a great spooky house chiller, but in the remake Castle went more for humor and gimmickry and it failed badly. When the movie was over, all I could think was, "There goes a cherished childhood memory."

Of course this film doesn't hold a candle to the James Whale film from 1932, but if you put that film out of your mind and go into this William Castle film and take if for what it is - a William Castle film - you'll probably enjoy it. Like no other film I can think of, this "Old Dark House" is like a Mad magazine movie satire come to life. Actually, it's more like Mad magazine when it was a comic book back in the 1950s. It has none of the sophistication and witty dialog that mark the James Whale film, and neither does it have much to do with the J. B. Priestly book 'Benighted' that the earlier film followed so closely, but it does have a highly surreal wackiness that has more in common with a Tex Avery cartoon than a live action horror comedy. As a Hammer Film, it is also sumptuously art directed, with nicely dressed, if overly-lit, sets. Whereas the original film was about a group of travelers who find themselves stuck in a strange house inhabited by some insane, and in some cases, psychotic and dangerous family members, the William Castle film focuses on a single visitor, played by Tom Poston, who delivers a car to the Femm mansion to give the roommate friend who happens to be a member of the family. Upon arriving at the mansion, the car is ruined and Penderel is instantly "invited" into the house via a trap door at the front porch (that becomes a running gag); and he proceeds to watch family members killed off one by one. Each family member, you see, must stay in the house, or forfeit the family fortune. Does it make any sense? Only in weird William Castle logic. The film does have a bit of the Charles Addams black humor to it, particularly when the family keeps lowering the flag at half mast every time one of their members dies. These family members, while not as frighteningly bizarre as in Whale's film, are indeed a strange bunch. There's Roderick Femm, avid gun and canon collector, played by Robert Morley; Petiphar Femm, who plans on saving the world by building a new ark and populating it with Tom Penderel (Poston) and Morgana Femm (Fenella Fielding), as the ark's human specimens; Tom's roommate friend Caspar Femm and his twin brother, Jaspar, both played by Peter Bull eventually laying side by side dead in coffins, one strangled by fireplace stokers; crazy knitter Agatha Femm, played by Joyce Grenfell, who is offed by her own knitting needles; totally crazy and psychotic Morgan Femm (Danny Green), who seems to fill the threatening role of crazy Saul from the first film; but it is Cecily Femm, played by the sexy and beautiful Janette Scott (of "Day of the Triffids" fame) who brings the biggest surprise by being revealed as the actual psycho murderer amongst this crazy bunch. No, this is not a classic, but the atmospheric surroundings, a stuffed animal being shaken by someone off screen to suggest a fearsome hyena (the audacity of the cheapness!), the weird Noah's ark thing, and the sheer oddness of the whole production makes it very watchable. And it has a very good score by Benjamin Frankel, of all people. Only William Castle could have put something together so utterly surreal as this. Truly bizarre. Don't expect James Whale, and know what you're getting yourself in for and you'll probably have a good time.

Hadn't expected the rigmarole I'd have to go through to snag this film on video, several years ago. I'd seen this two or three times as a child and reveled in the dark comedy of it. The plot is silly, but it's not nearly as important as the production itself. The charming performances by the many delightful character actors are the highlights of "The Old Dark House" -- Robert Morely, Joyce Grenfell, Peter Bull. Who would ever think that Tom Poston would appear as the romantic (?!) hero of a movie, but there he is. And Oo, that Fenella Fielding! What a dish! This film isn't for everyone, but I'll never forget it, and neither will you!

I watched this movie expecting to see an old school horror, but what I found was one of the greatest comedies to have ever been made! I could not help but lay on the floor crying because it was so hilarious. If only the writers of modern day shows were to write like they did for this show, they would find that their ratings would go sky high and people would start going out to the movies again for a great comedy. Even the 'dirty' parts of this film will have you laughing and wish that there was more movie to watch. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who wants to watch a comedy that does not make you feel uncomfortable. I would recommend not drinking anything before watching this, because you just may find your pants soaking wet from laughing so hard by the time it is over!

One would expect a collaboration between the American director William Castle and the British production studios Hammer to result in a terrific must-see film, considering they were both horror genre giants in their respective continents during the early sixties. Castle became world famous and appreciated thanks to his morbidly themed but nevertheless light-headed Gothic horror spectacles ("House on Haunted Hill", "Mr. Sardonicus", "13 Ghosts"…), and on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Hammer studios boomed with the gruesome re-imaging of the legendary Universal classics from the thirties ("Dracula", "The Mummy", "Frankenstein"…). Knowing this, "The Old Dark House" seems to be the ideal marriage, since it's more or less a remake of the underrated 1932 Universal masterpiece and a great opportunity for a director like Castle to showcase his creativity. Strangely enough, however, the film is somewhat of a disappointment and it's only rescued from inglorious mediocrity thanks to a handful of nice gags and an entertaining final act; including a surprising plot-twist and an exciting race against the clock – literally! The rest of the film clumsily bounces back and forth between talkative mystery and immature comedy. Please don't get me wrong, "The Old Dark House" is never boring and I still prefer it over most of the soulless horror junk being released nowadays, but I simply expected a little bit more… American car salesman Tom Penderel drives out to the god-forsaken British countryside in order to deliver a car at the request of his odd pal Caspar Femm. The two share an apartment, but they never see each other since Caspar always mysteriously vanishes before midnight. When he arrives at the sinister Femm country estate, he learns that all the eccentric family members are obliged to stay at the house and gather at midnight, or otherwise they lose the rights to their part of the inheritance of their notorious ancestor (a pirate). Synchronous with Tom's arrival, the family members are being killed off one by one. Tom should leave while, but he fell for the charming cousin Cecily and the remaining Femms suspect him to be the killer. "The Old Dark House" begins delightfully, with animated opening credits by none other than Charles Addams – the creator of the immortal blackly comical series "The Addams Family – and brings forward several great Gothic aspects, like a moody old castle and never-ending thunderstorms. Some of the supportive characters are also uniquely bizarre, like the crazy uncle who's building an arc or the grandmother that doesn't stop knitting, but overall the film isn't absurd or spooky enough. The actual "horror" footage in the film is limited, a few inventive death scenes and a laughably inept moment with a stuffed hyena.

In this creepy horror-comedy directed by William Castle we meet Tom Penderel (Tom Poston), an American residing in England from where he sells cars. During a visit to a casino, where he informs his eccentric flatmate Caspar Femm (Peter Bull) that Tom has now acquired for Caspar a brand new American car, Tom is invited to Femm House, home of Caspar and his family. Reluctantly he accepts the invitation and makes his way to Femm House, only to find murder and very creepy family. The rating on IMDb for 'The Old Dark House' (1963) simply is not an accurate assessment of this films quality in my opinion. Though quite obviously camp and with a unique charm all of its own this movie delivers an entertaining storyline and amusing comic scenes from beginning to end. Upon encountering the oddball charm of Caspar it becomes apparent that this horror movie is not going to be an all out scarefest, in fact its quality lies in the intermingling of a tight `whodunit' thriller with so many humorous sequences. Tom Poston is cast perfectly as the nervous American trying desperately to make sense of the madness going on around him and his continuing encounters with overprotective and psychotic father Morgan Femm (Danny Green) make for some of the best comedy I have seen in a horror movie for a long time. The whole Femm family have a distinctly creepy charm to them from the gun-nut Uncle Roderick (an inspired performance from Robert Morley) to the charmingly deranged Petiphar (Mervyn Johns). Also worth noting is the performance from Janette Scott (The Day of the Triffiads) as the sweet and innocent Cecily Femm. 'The Old Dark House' is a wonderfully accomplished camp, horror-thriller in my opinion. The storyline is entertaining throughout and the comedy does not seem forced but instead works as a light-hearted diversion from what was actually an interesting and slightly complex plot. All this is complimented by a beautifully arranged and often apt musical score. While not really delivering any scares 'The Old Dark House' delivers entertainment and is certainly worth watching in my opinion. Despite some rather suspect special effects (though considering the year it was made one can hardly hold poor effects against it) and camp quality I recommend this to horror fans. My rating for 'The Old Dark House' (1963) - 7.5/10