The Old Dark House 4K 1932 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

Seeking shelter from a rainstorm that has caused landslides and washed out all the roads in a remote area of Wales, several lost travelers find shelter in a gloomy mansion. It belongs to the strange Femme family - atheist Horace and his sister Rebecca, a religious fanatic and vicious fury.

Travelers Roger Penderel, Philip and Margaret Waverton are so tired and drenched that they suppress their fear when they meet the door-opener, a scary-looking servant or butler, a mute and lame Morgan. They are soon joined by the rather frisky and eccentric Sir William Porterhouse and his fiery friend Gladys DuCane, who also hasten to take shelter from the rain in the house. None of them would have stayed in this old house for anything if not for dire need.

Review 4K Movie

The director of this wonderful picture James Whale is an iconic and very talented person in the “scary” genre, who gave the world a true classic, which forever remained an imperishable standard of horror with a dash of science fiction. It is thanks to him that we can enjoy the franchise of the golden genre era of Universal Studios about the spawn of Baron Frankenstein, not to mention other works of the author.

The plot of the movie tells about a group of people, caught in a terrible inclement weather, forced to ask to stay overnight with the owners of a gloomy house. Its occupants will be the dark soul of the spacious building, deservedly put in the title of the tape, beautifully decorated by decorators, producing a powerful depressing atmosphere. The actual dominant aspect of the production, designed to intimidate the audience, works faithfully, reaching the pain points of the viewer, masterfully dissecting the situation described. Small details of the intimidating unkind aura weave a unified genre canvas, when you can almost physically feel the ominous mystery hanging over you, as if some fatal mysticism has settled in black rooms, impenetrable nooks, behind heavy locks on massive doors, on the top floors, where even the owners of the dwelling do not dare to set foot. Constant hints, innuendos, creaks, voices, suspicions, and unspecified fear soak into every frame.

The author deliberately avoids giving a name to the horror for almost the entire timeline until the climactic denouement, but professionally manages its aura, skillfully avoiding any monsters, delineating the effect of creepiness in the unspoken threat to a group of people, both obviously positive - the guests, and for those who know the secret - the owners. And this is worth a lot, that in the classic 30's, when special effects were almost completely absent, and it was necessary to press the ominous situation at the expense of the atmosphere, the more so now in contrast to the saturation of the visual riot, sometimes going completely in lieu of the ideological content.

The cast is selected on a par with the director mentioned at the beginning of the text, being accurately deduced characters, often falsely changing “color” from villains to victims and vice versa. Absolutely everyone copes in the played part, being perfectly recognizable for fans of the black-and-white era. It is, of course, the face of the genre, Boris Karloff, who texturally brings out a sullen, mute butler who doesn't bode well if he's humming. And since the weather is foul, such a thing is bound to happen! What's funny is that before the film is shown, there is a producer's note explaining the actor's identity to reveal to the audience one significant nuance that helps to recognize Karloff as the performer of Frankenstein's monster from the recent popular box office mega-hit. After all, we all remember that there his name in the credits hidden by an intriguing sign “?”. Despite the enduring spirit of fear, the picture is not devoid of a bit of comic elements, harmoniously presented by Charles Laughton (Charles Laughton), who managed to bring a funny fat character into the story. The apogee with the scene of conversations with a visually unexpectedly atypical but believable madman is somewhere on the verge of a small masterpiece of the genre, pleasantly surprising with the play on contrasts, when the skinny old man deliberately outshines the taller Karloff in thick makeup.

On the whole, the movie makes the most pleasant impressions for its intelligent work, even surprising with much less attention from the audience than the director's cult films, to which this one is not inferior in the intensity of the necessary passions. In a way, this movie became a universal ground for the future of many other pictures in a similar plot, because very small adjustments can easily expand the initial concept for the same brutal Texas Chainsaw Massacre, comic extravaganza of the musical Rocky Horror or parody Addams Family .... Personally, I am irrevocably in love with the “scary” cinematography of the golden era, and so it was with great pleasure that I felt the wonderful lingering feeling of staying for an endless night in an old house overflowing with fear and mystery, which I wish for future viewers who appreciate the classics.