Rating: 15/20
Plot: On a dark and stormy night, some travelers get stuck at a house inhabited by lunatics, pyromaniacs, drunkards, and bearded ladies.
Is it just me or is this a really weird movie, especially for 1932? It's got a weird rhythm that is that 2930's rhythm but different. It's a lot of fun when stuff's going on, but the character development and the interactions between the characters are useless. It was hard not to turn this off during an opening scene with a car in the storm. The overacting and dialogue are both excruciating. There's also barely a story here, and it's not told very well. Still, just the odd flavor of this thing makes it worth checking out. You get to see Boris Karloff as the drunk butler, scar-faced and mute. His "speaking" cracked me up every time, and I'm still wondering what that coming-down-the-stairs-hand-trick thing was. You also get to see Gloria Stuart before she got really old and ruined Titanic with her wrinkles. She looks much better here, especially when changing into a nightgown during a scene which would probably give Leonardo DiCaprio the strangest erection he's ever had. Charles Laughton's odd here, too, with a big movie laugh and a melodic ode to roast beef. There's Raymond Massey imploring everybody to "Have a potato" and Lillian Bond cackling, "No beds! You can't have beds!" Loved watching Bond eat in this, by the way. There's "Are you interested in flame?" followed by storytelling session oddness, a character making shadow finger puppets, and, of course, the old lady with hair glued on her face (Elspeth Dudgeon) playing an old man and saying gems like "At any moment, you might die if you're as old as I am" before laughing maniacally. Everything in this movie--the acting, the dialogue, the characters' movements--is completely unnatural, and as one of the first attempts to mix horror and comedy, it really isn't humorous or scary. Still, it's a pretty nifty early-30s oddball of a film that is worth seeing. The house is cool, too, if you're into movie architecture.
I agree with everything you said. The whole thing is over-the-top and very stagey, but it is still a lot of kooky fun. I liked the sets, hammy acting, atmosphere and unpredictability. A 15 and a fun movie to watch on a stormy night.
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