Another movie of the Occupation days.There are harsh words said of this film ,although it retains a small cult among horror and fantasy buffs.First of all ,it's an escapism movie,like so many others in occupied country: "Les Visiteurs du Soir" ,although it did include veiled hints at the country's plight ,was an escapism movie;so was "L'Eternel Retour" which also featured Madeleine Sologne.
Hindsight displays a certain charm:the director is not Marcel Carné or Jean Delannoy/Jean Cocteau ,but he can create an atmosphere.He is abetted by a good cast .More than the young leads ( Madeleine Sologne and Michel Marsay,whose career was short-lived),it's the old guard who saves the film:Gabrielle Dorziat is as excellent as ever,Pierre REnoir is sinister-looking,Marcelle Géniat is no longer the nice old lady but a deaf and dumb disturbing servant.
There's a curse on the Malveneur family.There's a black legend which tells that one of their ancestors sold his soul to the devil and he was cursed: man by day ,wolf by night.These doomed aristocrats were hunters ,hence their name (Malveneur = evil venerer).But it also rhymes with "Malheur" (=misfortune).
The Last of the Malveneur is a scientist who carries out strange experiments on ...nobody knows exactly what the does in the subterranean.Up comes a governess who 's got to take care of the master's daughter.The wife has a heart condition ,her sister-in-law is a masculine authoritarian lady .And nights in the old castle are not exactly peaceful.
Based on Conan Doyle's "Hound Of Baskerville pattern,the script lacks focus and the writers can spare 2 or 3 contradictions:for instance,the Malveneur are outcast,they must not be buried in the cemetery ,a consecrated place;however they (or at least the sister-in-law and her niece) go to church on Sunday! There's a laudable attempt to link the legend with the last of the Malveneur's fate and ,all in all,it's not that much bad after all.