''House of Horror'' is a 1929 American comedy

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

directed by

Benjamin Christensen Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 – 2 April 1959) was a Danish people, Danish film director, screenwriter and an actor, both in film and on the stage. As a director, he is best known for the 1922 film ''Häxan'' (aka ''Witchcraft Thr ...

. The film stars

Louise Fazenda Louise Fazenda (June 17, 1895 – April 17, 1962) was an American film actress, appearing chiefly in silent comedy films. Early life Fazenda was born in her maternal grandparents' house in Lafayette, Indiana, the daughter of merchandise broke ...

and

Chester Conklin Chester Cooper Conklin (January 11, 1886 – October 11, 1971) was an early American film comedian who started at Keystone Studios as one of Mack Sennett’s Keystone Cops, often paired with Mack Swain. He appeared in a series of films with ...

and was released in both a silent and sound version which featured a

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one th ...

soundtrack with talking sequences, music and sound effects. Both the silent and sound version of ''House of Horror'' is now presumed

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

Cast

Production

''The House of Horrors'' was released with both silent and sound versions of the film. The sound version of the film contained a brief talking sequence at the beginning of the feature but was otherwise just with sound effects and a music score from a Vitaphone disc.

Release

''The House of Horrors'' was distributed by First National Pictures on April 28, 1929. The film was Christensen's final Hollywood production as after completing the film he went to Denmark to handle some business ventures . Christensen had plans to make an independent production and return to the United States to follow-up with an American film but he returned to Denmark again 1934. As of 2018 both the sound and silent version of the film are considered

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

Reception

From contemporary reviews, ''Photoplay'' called the film a "cheap claptrap mystery movie which is saved by the comedy of

and

" A review in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' declared it "one of the weakest and most boring afterbirths of pseudo mystery-comedy grinds out of Hollywood. The thing actually rants and rambles, with audience of any mental caliber at sea until the last reel when the title writer makes a supreme effort to account with cart before horse angle." ''

Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...

'' declared the film "just a dud that develops nothing in a flat mystery story with a lot of phony situations" declaring its gags as "ancient". ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' called the film "a comedy-mystery melodrama, that does not hold the interest too much because the spectator suspects the ending almost from the beginning and is bored by the useless chasing in and out of rooms ..The familiar hokum of trap doors, mysterious falling objects and door slamming take place"

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:House Of Horror 1929 films 1929 lost films 1929 mystery films American mystery films American silent feature films American black-and-white films 1920s English-language films Films directed by Benjamin Christensen First National Pictures films Transitional sound films Lost American films Lost mystery films 1920s American films Silent mystery films