Main Cast: Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Janette Scott, Joyce Grenfell, Peter Bull, Peter Bull
Release Year: 1963
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 86 minutes
Plot
Set in the title manse, this chilling comedy chronicles the spooky exploits of a Yankee car salesman working in London who sets out to deliver a car to a remote and very creepy Welsh estate. Unfortunately he discovers the owner dead. While attempting to leave a fierce storm erupts and he has a wreck. He returns to the mansion to seek shelter from the disparate sisters therein. Once warm and dry, he meets the rest of their strange family, including twins, a looney who is building an ark, and the matriarch of the household. The storm rages on and as the grim night slowly passes, family members are bumped off at appallingly regular intervals leaving the American to solve the crimes.. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review
When compared with the James Whale original upon which it's based, this remake of The Old Dark House is pretty sorry stuff. But if taken entirely on its own terms, it's an adequate little chiller with a smattering of laughs along the way. The basic story is a familiar one, exploited much more fully in other William Castle films like The House on Haunted Hill, but there are enough interesting details -- the living arrangements between Tom and Casper, for example -- to liven things up. Unfortunately, for a horror film, there are next to no good scares, and many of the intended fright scenes lack sufficient punch to deliver the goods. Even at 86 minutes, the film feels as if it's been padded. The cast, at least, is good, even if no one is turning in a stellar performance. Tom Poston has a certain innocence and appeal that work nicely here, and Robert Morley is clearly having fun as Uncle Roderick. Even better is potty Mervyn Johns and the wildly overprotective Danny Green. The actors can't make one want to move into this House, but they do make it a tolerable place to visit. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Bernard Robinson - Art Director, William Castle - Director, James Needs - Editor, Benjamin Frankel - Composer (Music Score), Benjamin Frankel - Musical Direction/Supervision, Arthur Grant - Cinematographer, William Castle - Producer, Anthony Hinds - Producer, Les Bowie - Special Effects, Robert Dillon - Screenwriter, J.B. Priestley - Book Author
Tom Penderel, an American car salesman in London, delivers a car to an old mansion in Wales and discovers that his eccentric client, Casper Femm, is dead. The car crashes in a raging storm, and Tom is invited to stay at the house by members of Casper's family, including his nieces, the demure young Cecily and the seductive Morgana, and his Uncle Potiphar, who has been building an ark in anticipation of another great flood.
Each of the relatives is required to return to the dilapidated mansion before midnight each evening or forfeit his share of the family fortune. During the night, one of the Femm family dies every hour. First Agatha Femm, Casper's mother, is discovered with her knitting needles stuck in her throat. Casper's twin brother, Jasper, is the next victim, followed by Roderick, the head of the family.
Tom stumbles upon the fact that the killer is a woman, and he accuses Morgana, but Cecily confesses, explaining that she wanted the entire family estate. Cecily runs from the house, and Tom discovers that she has placed time bombs in all of the clocks in the house. Racing against time, he frantically defuses each of the bombs. With moments to spare, he hurls the last bomb out of the window, and it explodes at Cecily's feet.
DVD release
On October 20, 2009, The Old Dark House will be released on DVD for the first time by Sony Pictures.
The Chance of a Lifetime (1943) ·Klondike Kate (1943) ·The Whistler (1944) ·She's a Soldier Too (1944) ·When Strangers Marry (1944) ·The Mark of the Whistler (1944) ·Crime Doctor's Warning (1945) ·Voice of the Whistler (1945) ·Just Before Dawn (1946) ·Mysterious Intruder (1946) ·The Return of Rusty (1946) Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven (1948) Crime Doctor's Gamble (1947) Crime Doctor's Man Hunt (1946) ·The Gentleman from Nowhere (1948) ·Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) Undertow (1949) ·It's a Small World (1950) ·The Fat Man (1951) ·Hollywood Story (1951) ·Cave of Outlaws (1951) ·Fort Ti(3-D) (1953) ·Serpent of the Nile (1953) ·Conquest of Cochise (1953) ·Slaves of Babylon (1953) ·Charge of the Lancers (1954) ·The Battle of Rogue River (1954) ·Jesse James vs. the Daltons(3-D) (1954) ·Drums of Tahiti(3-D) (1954) ·The Iron Glove (1954) ·The Saracen Blade (1954) ·The Law vs. Billy the Kid (1954) ·Masterson of Kansas (1954) ·The Americano (1955) ·New Orleans Uncensored (1955) ·The Gun That Won the West (1955) ·Duel on the Mississippi (1955) ·The Houston Story (1956) ·Uranium Boom (1956) ·Macabre (1958) ·House on Haunted Hill (1959) ·The Tingler (1959) ·13 Ghosts (1960) ·Homicidal (1961) ·Mr. Sardonicus (1961) ·Zotz! (1962) * 13 Frightened Girls (1963) * The Old Dark House (1963) ·Strait-Jacket (1964) ·Night Walker (1964) ·I Saw What You Did (1965) ·Let's Kill Uncle (1966) ·The Busy Body (1967) ·The Spirit Is Willing (1967) Project X (1968) ·Shanks (1974)
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