Funny, frightening, and fabulous, this movie is the first and best of the “dark secret in the attic of the old creepy house” movies. Starring Boris Karloff and directed by James Whale, it‘s pretty easy to see why this movie is the cult hit that it is. With a whopping ten main characters and a low budget, this film could have easily been a catastrophe. It took the Whale touch to make it what it was.

The plot isn’t anything earth-shattering. People get into a storm. People spend a night at a spooky house. People find out about the scary family‘s dirty secret. Mayhem ensues. The film’s charm is not the story itself, but how the story is told. First of all, the film has 10 main characters. This is a daunting task for any writer, as he/she has to develop ten characters while keeping the story going, all in a mere 72 minutes. However, Benn W. Levy had no problem doing this. You never got confused with the characters and everyone had a purpose. That alone is commendable in a horror flick. The second reason this film is so unique is that it is done very much like a stage play. This film doesn‘t rely on special effects and background scenery to create its atmosphere. Instead, the atmosphere is created through the magnificent dialogue. The script is razor sharp and remains timeless to this very day.

The film is a step above other haunted house films of the day because it is incredibly witty. I got to see this little gem at the Monster Bash and the audience was literally laughing out loud in all the right spots. However, everyone was spellbound when the horror atmosphere cranked up. It is a rarity that a film can be as funny as it is horrific. In fact, I dare say it wasn’t accomplished successfully again until Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The majority of the horror is psychological horror, which has always been much more effective than “jump out at you scares”. Having been to many Monsterbashes, I have heard many interviews with the guests of honors reliving their most frightening horror flick scenes. The Old Dark House always seems to come up, and will continue to be mentioned for years to come.

Like many film classics, this film opened to negative reviews. This doesn’t surprise me as this film seems like it would have been quite ahead of its time. In the 30s, when movie-making was just getting out of its “childhood”, movies always fell in one specific genre, and no more. Then, here comes a film which straddles horror, comedy, and a touch of drama, and it’s no big shock that it bombed. Like other films that are considered “classics”, it grew into cult status much later (in this case, in the 60s). As one watches this film now, it’s easy to see that it will look as “fresh” 100 years from now as it did way back in the 30’s.

The Old Dark House remains as one of my favorite Universal Studios films. Difficult to find in stores, it is available on DVD and VHS, though slightly costly (the VHS is around $20, the DVD is $25-$30). Regardless, it’s well worth the price. Completely remastered and with a bunch of interesting extras, this film is a “must own”. Go ahead, let yourself “have a potato”.