I come out in favour of Midnight Faces, and even though I agree with both of the two previous posts makes it 2 - 1 for the moment! I too got this from AV, I'd not heard of it before and it was too irresistible and beguiling a title for me: to get it right I even watched it at midnight. The DVD is a budget release, so when the initial film frame wobble didn't go away I feared the worst, but it was suppressed after about 5 minutes, and although the print isn't in the best of shape it's bearable.
The story itself? Likable, implausible, utter nonsense, but you can clearly see the links from Phantom Of The Opera to The Bat and Cat And The Canary, and as such I suppose makes it perhaps more interesting from the historical point of view. The "hero" Ralph Bushman was a bit of a serious wimp, but his "man" Martin Turner still had to call him Boss dozens of times throughout - and even he was under mortal threat from the mysterious figure lunging about the house: no favourites here! What I really liked about MF though is the atmosphere of the spooky old house, and the outside shots of it, a splendid wooden Gothic pile - it was fascinating watching the endless fight on the roof - for the house itself! Incidentally Bushman was rather hard pressed fighting a cloaked figure who insisted on continuously holding one arm up to hide his face.
What a shame it wasn't just 10 minutes longer, and also what a shame if there isn't a better print extant.
The story itself? Likable, implausible, utter nonsense, but you can clearly see the links from Phantom Of The Opera to The Bat and Cat And The Canary, and as such I suppose makes it perhaps more interesting from the historical point of view. The "hero" Ralph Bushman was a bit of a serious wimp, but his "man" Martin Turner still had to call him Boss dozens of times throughout - and even he was under mortal threat from the mysterious figure lunging about the house: no favourites here! What I really liked about MF though is the atmosphere of the spooky old house, and the outside shots of it, a splendid wooden Gothic pile - it was fascinating watching the endless fight on the roof - for the house itself! Incidentally Bushman was rather hard pressed fighting a cloaked figure who insisted on continuously holding one arm up to hide his face.
What a shame it wasn't just 10 minutes longer, and also what a shame if there isn't a better print extant.