THE OLD DARK HOUSE is the progenitor of every scary dark house movie that's ever been made. Since JANE EYRE and THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO, haunted houses and lunatics locked behind doors have pretty much been a staple of gothic literature. And of course, with silent films like THE BAT or THE CAT AND THE CANARY, these stories began to be explored in a new medium. But with this film, James Whale amplified everything, dialing it all up to eleven. And in addition to being a horror film, the comedy in it is as black as the jet bead necklaces around Rebecca Femm’s throat. I think there's something pretty magical from the very opening moments of this film where you see the old Universal Studios logo, the globe is spinning, the biplanes flying around it.
It conjures great feelings of nostalgia for me, who grew up watching these classic films in black and white. It was, for many, many years, considered a lost film. And then Curtis Harrington, who worked with James Whale, rediscovered and restored the negative. It wasn't until I was an adult that I actually saw the film for the first time, and I saw it at Film Forum in that beautiful restored print, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. And this is a pre-code film, so it gets away with a lot that it wouldn't have just a couple of years later. I think it plays with gender conventions in really interesting ways, and it went on to inspire many, many other imitators, like HAUNTED HONEYMOON, which is perhaps not so much an imitator as maybe a loving sort of celebration of this film.
And I think that it gets better as it goes on, with the introduction of every new character. It's continually surprising and a little bit nihilistic. I think that it draws from history in really interesting ways post World War I, and it really sets up all kinds of attributes and aspects of the horror genre that we've come to expect, the dangerous character who becomes more dangerous as it goes; scary laughter coming from way upstairs; electricity flickering on and off. I think also it inspired some of the design of Cocteau's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Of course, that film is also referenced in HAUNTED HONEYMOON, but I think Whale plays with objective and subjective reality in really cool ways.
I just think it's a classic seminal horror film and I am really pleased to have been able to introduce you to it.
To hear our episode on THE OLD DARK HOUSE, click here.
Bradford Louryk