Underplayed Gems

The Old Dark House (1963)

The Old Dark House poster
Directed by
William Castle
Genre
drama film, comedy film, horror film, comedy drama, mystery film, thriller film
Country
United Kingdom, United States
Runtime
1h 30m
Rated
PG
Rating
5.9 of 10 from 65 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like thisWatch the trailer

or watch the trailer on YouTube

How it feels

A London salesman visits his roommate's family mansion in Dartmoor after the roommate's death. He stays the night as various family members are killed off, each an heir to the estate hoping to inherit alone.

campydarkly comicspookydatedslow-burnquirkysuspensefulgothic

What happens

The Old Dark House is a 1963 comedy horror film directed by William Castle for Hammer Films. A remake of Universal's 1932 film of the same name directed by James Whale, the film is based on the 1927 novel by J. B. Priestley originally published under the name Benighted, and the new screenplay was written by Robert Dillon. The film was made in 1962, but was only distributed in the U.S. in 1963. It was not distributed in England until 1966. The opening title art was drawn by legendary macabre cartoonist Charles Addams, whose signature is painted by a hairy hand. The film is set in Dartmoor, Devon. A London salesman plans to visit his roommate and his roommate's family at an old mansion, but arrives shortly after the roommate's death. He is invited to spend the night with the family, but the family members are then killed one by one. They were all heirs to the family estate, and one family member wants to be the sole surviving heir. They resort to familicide to get their inheritance. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.