House of Mystery (1961)

Director:

Vernon Sewell

Writers:

Pierre Mills (play)
Vernon Sewell
(more)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A young couple go to check out a house they're thinking of buying. A somewhat mysterious woman tells the couple several stories of the fates that befell the house's previous owners. |

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Based On Play

Cast

Peter Dyneley	...	Mark Lemming
Jane Hylton	...	Stella Lemming
Nanette Newman	...	Joan Trevor
Maurice Kaufmann	...	Henry Trevor
Colin Gordon	...	Burdon
John Merivale	...	Clive
Ronald Hines	...	Young husband
Colette Wilde	...	Wife
Molly Urquhart	...	Mrs. Bucknall
George Selway	...	Constable
Freda Bamford
Roy Purcell
John Abineri	...	Milkman
Pearson Dodd

Directed by
Vernon Sewell

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Pierre Mills		play "L'Angoisse"
Vernon Sewell
C. Vylars		play "L'Angoisse"

Produced by
Leslie Parkyn	....	producer
Julian Wintle	....	producer

Original Music by
Stanley Black

Cinematography by
Ernest Steward		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John Trumper

Art Direction by
Jack Shampan

Makeup Department
Trevor Crole-Rees	....	makeup artist
Maude Onslow	....	hair stylist (as Maud Onslow)

Production Management
Arthur Alcott	....	production supervisor
Geoffrey Haine	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jan Saunders	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Ken Cameron	....	sound re-recordist
John W. Mitchell	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
James Bawden	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Vi Murray	....	wardrobe

Other crew
Joy Mercer	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Independent Artists

Distributors

• Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (1961) (UK) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1961) (USA) (TV)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

56 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U

Filming Locations:

Independent Artists Studios, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Independent Artists

Trivia:

First screened in 1961 as a second feature in British cinemas, it later turned up on American Television as an episode of "Kraft Mystery Theater" (1959).

overlooked gem

I saw this movie many years ago and thought it lost, but recently it showed up on a station listed but just out of range, so it's still around somewhere. Won't one of you obscurity specialists find it and put it on the market? An hour long (and thus consigned to the late show from word go) it's the best of Vernon Sewell's numerous little ghost stories. A pair of newlyweds show up to buy a house, and a shadowy lady tells them, in flashback, of the place's history. She starts with another couple who put up with insidious supernatural events, and came to learn, in a flashback within a flashback, the nasty happenings that turned this place into what it is. The finale, though not terribly surprising, delivers in terms of campfire tale creepiness. There isn't, of course, any rules to horror and people keep seeking that elusive formula of fright, but here's a quiet little piece that, with no evident artistic effort, presses just the right buttons. This is one obscurity that won't let you down when you find it.