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Hammer Films teams with gimmicky American horror director William Castle (The House on Haunted Hill, I Saw What You Did) for a film atypically goofy for either party. Tom Poston (Newhart, Mork & Mindy) stars as a car salesman who gets stranded at a client’s remote mansion in England for a night of murder and mayhem. The oddball family who lives there are shut-ins who convene every night at midnight to show their individual commitments to inheriting the family fortune. But on the night Poston visits, someone decides to hasten the disbursement of that fortune by killing off everyone else — one by one.
I’m all for a Clue-like murder comedy or another ‘night at the mansion’ horror story, but The Old Dark House doesn’t work for me as either a horror movie or a comedy. The comedy leans heavily into cartoon-like antics that feel incredibly dated by today’s standards and the characters are so unmoored from reality, that there are no genuine stakes to ground the story and keep you invested in any resolution. The result is a film that just grinds its gears until it the credits roll — a sketch comedy skit that hastily wears out its welcome. Poston is a dreadful lead. Supporting players Peter Bull and Joyce Grenfell fare better in supporting roles but neither gets enough screen time to save the movie.
With Robert Morley, Janette Scott, Mervyn Johns, and Fenella Fielding as the family sexpot. While the film bears the title of a great 1932 film (based on a 1927 novel), it should not be considered a remake. It shares only the core concept — characters in a mansion over the course of one night. The opening credits are illustrated by Charles Addams, creator of The Addams Family — a tidbit far more interesting than anything in the movie.