Eva Moore's portrayal of Rebecca Femm was not only hilarious, but a perfect example of what I will be like in 30 years time.

It’s 7:59am I accidentally poured my coffee into my bowl of honeynut Cheerios, Marilyn Manson almost died on stage last night, it’s cold af out and I love it, my cat won’t stop loving me (that’s a good thing) and I’m watching The Old Dark House hung over from drinking 40’s last night while watching Halloween III and a killer donut movie. 

This is my Sunday, the 1st of October, 2017.

Keeping up with last years tradition, it’s Monday, 2:58 pm, earlier today I accidentally put the coffee carafe in the refrigerator while making waffles and poured orange juice into my coffee by mistake, thinking the mug was empty. It’s not as cold out as I’d like but it will be soon, My cat still loves me, I’m getting over a bad cold, and I’m nursing a hangover from the giant bottle of red wine I hedonistically drank last night while watching Jean Rollin movies.

This is my Monday, the 1st of October, 2018.

kind of like a reverse rocky horror where the sexy people seek shelter from a house of prudes. very funny without losing any creepiness. plus it has this amazing note at the beginning that basically says "yes, that's boris karloff, he played frankenstein too, you might not recognize him because he's so versatile but we're telling you now so you don't get into any arguments with your date later"

Watching The Invisible Man inspired me to dig deeper into James Whales' filmography. This one is one of the lesser known of the Universal horror movies, probably because there isn't a scary antagonist with a super power in the title. Nevertheless this was a very enjoyable movie. The script and concept was lacking at times, but the direction was incredible. For 1932, I was impressed by the creep factor this movie still packs.

Of all the Universal horrors, this one is by far the best cast, teaming Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, and Raymond Massey up with the usual crew including Boris Karloff. It also reminded me the most of a Roger Corman movie, as he would often focus on creepy houses that people were stuck in.

Very impressive technically, but a stronger script could have really elevated it.

The perfect watch on a stormy night.

James Whale’s classic ode to gothic horror uses light, shadow and reflection to warp and distort figures in an already immensely creepy setting, aided by the winds howling and thunder roaring. Creating the perfect atmosphere for a sinister night in the Welsh mountains.

The Old Dark House is the haunted house sub-genre of horror at its infancy, except what’s most peculiar about it is its living inhabitants which strikes a chord in me because other humans in my opinion are scarier than any ghost or supernatural being.

And Boris Karloff was born to play all his roles, his characters always leave such a lasting impact.

Hooptober 3.0 (2016) #33

Old creepy house in the middle of nowhere. Check.

Thunderbolts, lightning and torrential rain. Check.

A bunch of strangers of all different stripes and colours seek refuge from freaky weather in said creepy house. Check.

The residents of the old creepy house are also creepy and totally weird. Check.

Yep, a trope has definitely been born.

After watching 33 horror movies in less than 2 weeks am I too tired too write one last decent review before the end of Hooptober? Pretty much.

So all I got is this... The Old Dark House is good, OK.

Good night.

83

Honestly, not as weird as my house.

Finds a real ingenuity in combining atmospheric dominance alongside unsettling, darkly comic character dynamics. Frequently, the thunder claps tend to push dialogue forward or reconcile current discussion, and the shadows reveal more than the flickering candlelight. A highlight of 30s horror, and one of James Whale's finer pictures.

The shadows make the setting so much creepier. They dominate the background (effectively foregrounding it at times) and fill the atmosphere, doing as much for the house as the architecture, furniture, or characters. (And then it's lampshaded.)

October count: 10/31

The Criterion Challenge 4/52

The Old Dark House boasts good atmosphere through it's gloomy cinematography and creepy sound design but lacks in delivering the same punch that other better horror movies of the time managed to. Whereas in Bride of Frankenstein, also directed by James Whale, and movies like Dracula you have a compelling narrative that drives forward the rest of the movie The Old Dark House is slow and meandering for most of it's runtime, with a lot of camp elements and a forced romance that feels very of the time. This movie isn't awful but it's just fine and there's better horror from this era to check out aside from this one, would still recommend for genre fans.

Watched on The Criterion Channel

the shadows!!!

Criterion Challenge
43. "Queersighted: Queer Fear" series (Queersighted: Queer Fear)

how cool would it be to live in a house like this 😳

This dialogue was so stellar! What an underrated gem

What a bunch of kooks!

A gleeful and ghoulish tale made by the most gleefully ghoulish director of the era. The Old Dark House is a surprisingly discursive little horror movie despite its 71 minutes. It volleys from story to story and tone to tone with ease and tears its way through every gothic horror trope you can think of. James Whale is clearly a lover of both film and theater. His flair for both are on display here and so perfectly complementary.

A delightful "haunted" house movie.

James Whale doesn’t miss

Começa um pouco monótono enquanto apresenta os personagens e estabelece o local da ação (a casa do título), mas fica consideravelmente melhor após a cena com o velhinho de cama quando é revelada a existência de um novo personagem que acaba por ser o verdadeiro vilão. O principal conflito, que envolve uma tentativa de incêndio, é simples e se resolve de maneira fácil, mas há ideias de terror bastante interessantes, como o próprio suspense para apresentar esse vilão e também o personagem excêntrico de Boris Karloff. No fim, tanto a trama quanto os personagens são bastante funcionais e fazem um filme curtinho e divertido.

joaovitormoreno123.wordpress.com/

Some good characters, use of shadow, and a very haunted titular house, but overall boring. Though gotta give it up for that 72 minute run time, take a bow TODH.