WoooOOOoooOOO... In the mood for a cheap, substandard rehash of the 1927 silent horror classic THE CAT AND THE CANARY? It's a dark and stormy night at an old, creepy mansion. The home's wealthy owner, a follower of the theories of Darwin for what it's worth, has just recently bought the farm. Assorted family members and the hired help all gather together to find out what kind of goodies the deceased has left them. Friend and attorney Herbert Wilkes (Sidney Bracey) presides over the reading of the will. Present and accounted for are the wimpy, overly emotional daughter Ruth (Vera Reynolds), her doctor boyfriend Ted (Rex Lease), wheelchair bound Uncle Robert (Sheldon Lewis), fraidy cat black chauffeur Exodus (Willie Best aka Sleep 'n' Eat), elderly maid Emma (Martha Mattox) and her very tall and menacing half wit son Hans (Mischa Auer), who... speaks... very... very... slowly... Even though the deceased made sure everyone basically got what they deserved, he left the majority of his cash (50,000 bucks) and his home to his daughter. One, or perhaps several, of the others decide they want poor Ruth dead so they can get her share of the inheritance. Did I forget to mention there's also a hyperactive "ape" (chimp) named Yogi locked up in the cellar? Everyone shudders in fear about the dreaded evil monkey being in the same home as them even though it never once leaves its cage. It basically just lets out the occasional shriek, bounces up and down, grabs the cage bars and shakes it all around, and later becomes an easy scapegoat when one of the characters ends up dead with hand prints around their throat. Exodus says "I had a grand pappy who looked somethin' like him!" Groan.
Fans of cheap old horror flix will be all-too-familiar with this film's set-up, plot and roster of stock characters. The whole thing is dull, lifeless, excessively talky, set-bound and hopelessly clichéd, and that's even when you put in context of the time it was made. The one pseudo scary moment, as a hairy arm reaches through the back of a bed toward the sleeping leading lady, is lifted directly from the aforementioned CAT/CANARY, the supposed comic relief isn't the least bit amusing, the revelation of the killer(s) is predictable and the acting is horribly stiff from nearly everyone concerned, with Bracey and Mattox being the least offensive of the bunch. The sound quality is also bad and the sets are so flimsy that when someone knocks on a door the whole wall shakes like it's about to fall over. It's only worth checking out for a couple of unintended laughs or for monkey movie fetishists.
Fans of cheap old horror flix will be all-too-familiar with this film's set-up, plot and roster of stock characters. The whole thing is dull, lifeless, excessively talky, set-bound and hopelessly clichéd, and that's even when you put in context of the time it was made. The one pseudo scary moment, as a hairy arm reaches through the back of a bed toward the sleeping leading lady, is lifted directly from the aforementioned CAT/CANARY, the supposed comic relief isn't the least bit amusing, the revelation of the killer(s) is predictable and the acting is horribly stiff from nearly everyone concerned, with Bracey and Mattox being the least offensive of the bunch. The sound quality is also bad and the sets are so flimsy that when someone knocks on a door the whole wall shakes like it's about to fall over. It's only worth checking out for a couple of unintended laughs or for monkey movie fetishists.