German director Paul Leni seems, from my personal experience with his films, to be one of the more lighthearted directors to apply expressionist horror techniques to his films. At first glance this might make his films appear as somewhat routine, but there has to be something said for taking horrific subjects and turning them into comedy or adventure, as he's done here in this much-imitated mystery/suspense vehicle derived from the Broadway hit. He exists in roughly the same tradition as the French "Grand Guignol" -- the elaborate setup makes it possible for the audience to have fun with being "chilled." In this case, we have what would today be a very standard haunted house situation. Relatives of an old man who went insane return to his mansion 20 years later to hear the reading of his Will. As part of the Will's conditions, the person receiving the inheritance (who turns out to be a character played by lovely Laura La Plante) must be adjudged sane by a doctor, so someone in the group is trying to drive her insane or make her appear insane so that they can win the money.
It's very obvious to the audience from the beginning that there are no real ghosts, so the fun in the movie is largely watching the way that the characters are scared by the possibility. There is one character, played by Creighton Hale (who later made B movies for AIP and other companies) who is just completely there for comic relief, and yet he is also the only man in the movie who's sincere and wants to help Annabelle (La Plante). A lot of elements in the movie were probably cliché already by the time it came out, but others were inventive.
I didn't find the film visually as exciting as some other films in the same genre such as Roland West's "The Bat" or James Whale's "The Old Dark House". Also the performances are pretty much by rote. However there's just a kind of breeziness to the whole thing that makes it fun. And a couple of scenes were very well done visually, such as the scene with Annabelle's pearls being stolen. The use of the looming title card there would be an ideal example of how title cards were used to enhance film artistry rather than as a limitation. In fact that scene in particular very much reminded me of the way Alfred Hitchcock shot the very beginning of "To Catch a Thief" with the jewelry theft. None of the images are quite as disturbing today as those in Whale's and West's films.
It's very obvious to the audience from the beginning that there are no real ghosts, so the fun in the movie is largely watching the way that the characters are scared by the possibility. There is one character, played by Creighton Hale (who later made B movies for AIP and other companies) who is just completely there for comic relief, and yet he is also the only man in the movie who's sincere and wants to help Annabelle (La Plante). A lot of elements in the movie were probably cliché already by the time it came out, but others were inventive.
I didn't find the film visually as exciting as some other films in the same genre such as Roland West's "The Bat" or James Whale's "The Old Dark House". Also the performances are pretty much by rote. However there's just a kind of breeziness to the whole thing that makes it fun. And a couple of scenes were very well done visually, such as the scene with Annabelle's pearls being stolen. The use of the looming title card there would be an ideal example of how title cards were used to enhance film artistry rather than as a limitation. In fact that scene in particular very much reminded me of the way Alfred Hitchcock shot the very beginning of "To Catch a Thief" with the jewelry theft. None of the images are quite as disturbing today as those in Whale's and West's films.