The Old Dark House

Not as great as its reputation, but still a good time. Laughter and sin, laughter and sin!

A curious blend of classic (gentle) horror and black humour, laced with some wit and charm originating from the fine cast. Nobody does scary-but-sympathetic shambling hulk quite like Karloff, and the others riff off each other most effectively; Douglas in particular is good value for money. Perhaps the ending felt a bit slight in relation to the scene-setting, but it was worth watching. I was never buying "John" Dudgeon, though...

Deliciously delirious & gorgeously gothic post-war pre-code madhouse. Sets up an increasingly bonkers scenario that doesn't really develop into anything coherent plotwise but the way it balances creepy tension & tongue-in-cheek parody creates an incessantly engaging atmosphere & witty tone. Great lighting & sound design along with the thoroughly awesome cast turn the disjointed oddball script into a unique treat. Wills as the psychopathic pyromaniac reminded me of Kubrick for some reason.

Anyone expecting a Universal horror film is likely to be very disappointed - like I was the first time I saw it. But a 2nd view after learning about Whale & that his unusual mixing of 2 disparate tones (horror & comedy) was his goal, I liked its genuine bizarreness. It seems Whale only found horror tolerable if he could put comedy into it & so you get alot of classic horror tropes (that probably started here) & creepy atmosphere w/ cinema's first? family of dangerous kooks a la Spider Baby & TCM

Fun characters and the right mix of scares and comedy makes this an enjoyable early talkie. The hilarious dubbing of Boris Karloff is priceless. Regrettably, the last act doesn't live up to the film's potential.

Loved watching this rainy movie on an actual rainy day. The characters are good and the creepiness builds well. The shadow play in the dining room was a highlight. the final reveal of horrors at the end wasn't worthy of the build up...but that could just be bc Im watching after 80 years of horror films have pushed past this. In any case Wills makes Saul a convincingly disturbed individual and his laugh was truly haunting.

Worthwhile as a curio, and notable for its eclectic cast, but too overwrought and stagey to really work as a successful horror film, though the androgynous patriarch is effectively creepy, and the truly bizarre characters (and characterisations) do maintain a level of interest.

The bad early 30s sound can be distracting at times, but it also helps with the atmosphere bringing with it a real sense of the power of the storm and there are some well used sound cues in a few places. As for the story it's an enjoyable one, with bits of comedy livening up the creepy surroundings.

Laced with deadpan wit, this spins on an even then hoary premise. It exudes more black humor and musty melancholy than full-blown scares, but the pic easily succeeds in living up to its advance rep as a prime showcase for Whale's directorial talents and his ensemble cast's considerable skills. At the time, though, Universal honchos were more obsessed with pushing Karloff, who, fresh from his triumph in _Frankenstein_, not only receives top billing but is the subject of a "Producer's Note"

Good creepy old movie with several people taking refuge together in a creepy old house. Dwelling there are a creepy old family and their Boris Karloff butler. The insane Saul at the end was good stuff.

Shockingly great old universal horror flick with Boris Karloff and a fun early appearance by Charles Laughton(!) I loved the look of this film too, very stylish.

James Whale is becoming one of my favorite classic film directors. The Old Dark House was a pure joy to watch. I had to triple check the release date which is a sign of how ahead of its time it was. I already want to watch it again

Disjointed but often brilliant horror comedy. It's basically pre-code Rocky Horror.

The cast was great. This film actually manages to bring tension. Ps. Karloff's appearance reminded me of Jeremy Irons... I know it's crazy, but he did.

Weird mix of american horror with british humor [and a touch of german expressionism] - I could see why this was too much for a 30s audience to handle. Good stuff.

An amusing comedy of manners in a spooky setting but it seems dated. Then again, the KINO rip I watched had horrible sound and image quality, so that could partially explain why I didn't find the atmosphere all that engrossing.

Dang. The front half was promising but the back third got soooo boring. Prime for a remake.

Bizarrely delightful.

A typically eccentric effort from Whale, T.O.D.H is closer to a suspenseful comedy of manners than a legitimate horror, but its atmosphere is tense and claustrophobic, built from impressive shadow play and awkward character interactions. The use of visual distortions and quick edits were surely ahead of its time, and Whale assembled a fine cast of actors that were perfectly attuned to his wavelength. However, its lack of great scenes prevents it from reaching the upper echelons of its genre.

Whale's directs with wit and atmosphere, Laughton and Thesiger camp it up, and Karloff is extremely creepy in this odd gothic tale that mixes drama and humor in equal portions.

This movie had about everything! Humor, scary old houses, weird servants, a rainstorm....even some romance :-)

This movie has a dark, creepy mood to it. And it should. Just look at the title: The Old Dark House. The movie lives up to that title by featuring people seeking shelter from a rainstorm into a creepy house in a quiet, remote location. The atmosphere is great, and the house is suitably strange.

Another example of fine old-school horror. Love the bright whites and inky blacks of this visual scheme

Like with Frankenstein, James Whale should've excelled at this. It's a Monster in the House film with secrets, romance, and good use of fire. But unlike his other Universal Monster movie, this one isn't well constructed with great sets and fantastic makeup. Especially glaring are the campy acting, bad cuts, and script humor that'll be silly for a modern audience. However, there's some tense suspense, including a Hitchockian use of stairs. A marginal recommendation for early horror fans.

Really light, funny, and entertaining. A classic about strangers taking shelter in a spooky house with a creepy family. Great cast, even if Karloff was maybe a little wasted under all that makeup with no lines to say. I think Ernest Thesiger was my favorite. And it's a very good looking film, great shadows and atmosphere in the house.

A stormy night and a dark old house the only sanctuary from the weather. Many a movie has been built around this plot. This film might be the basis for those stories.

Melvyn Douglas and Boris Karloff steal the show in this little gothic horror. Definitely worth a watch if you enjoy atmospheric horror!

James Whale's 2nd great horror film isn't startlingly original, but it assembles an absurdly great cast and lets them bounce off each other for an hour and half while the plot sorts itself out. It's superbly entertaining.

Ernest Thesiger rules

James Whale, the man behind Frankenstein (1931) cast Boris Karloff again as a scary creature. This time as a butler.... still looking like Frankenstein except with more hair. And it's a lovable little horror movie this. While not up there with his best work it has enough good actors and enough old style gloomy situations to make it a delight to follow the madness of the world inside The Old Dark House. It also has Brember Wills as the real monster in his biggest part in his limited movie career.

Have a poh-tay-toh.

Lighthearted horror. The horror isn't played for laughs, mind; the horror is horror and the humour is humour and it comes about quite naturally. Holds up very well for its age and is creative in evoking a creepy and unsettling atmosphere. Pacing flies by thanks to some great performances and some nice shocker moments catch you off guard; little things like a shadow without a body, a faint cackle in the night, a distorted face in a mirror - all serve to unnerve you despite the playful tone.

It's a pretty goofy film, but fun and atmospheric. Karloff seems a bit underused, though.

A bit underwhelming considering the talent. But just a bit. The conversation with Saul is incredibly well done.

It's a little disappointing for a Whale flix; just didn't seem like it was all that well conceived. Seemed like they were just setting stuff up but in the end none of it was ever really used. Just some strange stuff happens; in the end it was not all that weird though.

This is a really fun and funny old movie. Boris Karloff is great and each of the cast has a chance to shine.

den får 7 för den var så snygg

Spooky old house with some creepy inhabitants. Not exactly the most original thing (probably even in 1932). Nothing sticks out.

While easy to watch, the few campy moments don't add up to much.

Karloff is great. And I always love the woman doing shadow puppets about halfway into it.

"Aber das war noch lange nicht alles. Der Wahnsinn begann! Alle anderen um mich herum sind davon betroffen. Nur ich nicht. Alle verrückt, nur ich bin normal, hehehehe."

86.00

86.500

Peculiar early horror film that oozes with spookiness, yet once it feels like it's going somewhere, it seems to think "No, this is way too creepy for our audience" and comes to a jolting happy ending that leaves a little too much unexplained.

watched: 2017, 2022

I still can't understand how a movie with such great actors turned out so very, very BAD.

I'm gonna plant myself firmly in the minority here & say that I enjoyed William Castle's version more. That was fun, campy, & had...an actual plot. This kinda has a plot, but it's incredibly meandering & for the most part everybody is just running around the house for about an hour & you're not sure who the protagonist is or why certain characters disappear for chunks of time. It's well made & there's some fun in the performances, but overall I was underwhelmed.

Quite disappointed. Although the general feel is appealing and the characters are interesting, there's no real suspense that keeps the initial excitement going. The visual effects used are impressive at times and the setting perfect for a better horror story.

83.750

So much fun!