The Old Dark House (1963)

An American who sells cars in England receives a mysterious invitation from an old, excentric millionaire to visit his house in which he lives with his twin brother.

Director:

William Castle

Writers:

Robert Dillon (screenplay), J.B. Priestley (book)

Stars:

Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Janette Scott

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Tom Poston	...	Tom Penderel
Robert Morley	...	Roderick Femm
Janette Scott	...	Cecily Femm
Joyce Grenfell	...	Agatha Femm
Mervyn Johns	...	Potiphar Femm
Fenella Fielding	...	Morgana Femm
Peter Bull	...	Caspar Femm / Jasper Femm
Danny Green	...	Morgan Femm
John Harvey	...	Club Receptionist

Storyline

An American who sells cars in England receives a mysterious invitation from an old, excentric millionaire to visit his house in which he lives with his twin brother.

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Plot Keywords:

camp | leaky roof | corpse | knitting needle | seal | 

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Taglines:

Scared stiff? Take a coffin-break!... to steady your nerves...and stifle your laughter! (movie poster)

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

Hammer Films

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Velha Casa Assombrada

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, William Castle Productions, Hammer Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was originally passed as an uncut 'X' by the BBFC in April 1963 and an accompanying poster produced, though for various reasons the film was not released in the UK until 1966. It was then passed with heavy cuts to remove some of the darker elements with an 'A' certificate and released in September 1966. The 1996 Encore video version (now rated PG) featured the original uncut print.

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Goofs

When Jasper claims his mother "never spent a penny!", the dubbed word we hear is 'penny', yet the word he clearly says with his mouth is 'shilling', probably because American audiences would not understand what a 'shilling' is.

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Connections

Referenced in The Persuaders!: Someone Waiting (1971)

User Reviews

Amusing and entertaining camp horror-thriller!

In this creepy horror-comedy directed by William Castle we meet Tom Penderel (Tom Poston), an American residing in England from where he sells cars. During a visit to a casino, where he informs his eccentric flatmate Caspar Femm (Peter Bull) that Tom has now acquired for Caspar a brand new American car, Tom is invited to Femm House, home of Caspar and his family. Reluctantly he accepts the invitation and makes his way to Femm House, only to find murder and very creepy family.

The rating on IMDb for 'The Old Dark House' (1963) simply is not an accurate assessment of this films quality in my opinion. Though quite obviously camp and with a unique charm all of its own this movie delivers an entertaining storyline and amusing comic scenes from beginning to end. Upon encountering the oddball charm of Caspar it becomes apparent that this horror movie is not going to be an all out scarefest, in fact its quality lies in the intermingling of a tight `whodunit' thriller with so many humorous sequences.

Tom Poston is cast perfectly as the nervous American trying desperately to make sense of the madness going on around him and his continuing encounters with overprotective and psychotic father Morgan Femm (Danny Green) make for some of the best comedy I have seen in a horror movie for a long time. The whole Femm family have a distinctly creepy charm to them from the gun-nut Uncle Roderick (an inspired performance from Robert Morley) to the charmingly deranged Petiphar (Mervyn Johns). Also worth noting is the performance from Janette Scott (The Day of the Triffiads) as the sweet and innocent Cecily Femm.

'The Old Dark House' is a wonderfully accomplished camp, horror-thriller in my opinion. The storyline is entertaining throughout and the comedy does not seem forced but instead works as a light-hearted diversion from what was actually an interesting and slightly complex plot. All this is complimented by a beautifully arranged and often apt musical score. While not really delivering any scares 'The Old Dark House' delivers entertainment and is certainly worth watching in my opinion. Despite some rather suspect special effects (though considering the year it was made one can hardly hold poor effects against it) and camp quality I recommend this to horror fans. My rating for 'The Old Dark House' (1963) - 7.5/10