''Malpertuis'' (released in the US as ''The Legend of Doom House'') is a 1971 Belgian

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Harry Kümel Harry Kümel (born 27 January 1940) is a Belgian film director. His 1971 vampire feature ''Daughters of Darkness'' (''Les lèvres rouges''; Fr, "The Red Lips"), starring Delphine Seyrig became a cult hit in Europe and the United States. He als ...

, based on the 1943 novel of the same name. It was selected for the official selection and was presented "in competition" at the

1972 Cannes Film Festival The 25th annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 4 to 19 May 1972. The Palme d'Or went to the Italian films ''The Working Class Goes to Heaven'' by Elio Petri and ''The Mattei Affair'' by Francesco Rosi. The festival opened with the French film ...

. A Flemish "director's cut" version was released in 1973.

Plot

Jan (

Mathieu Carrière Mathieu Carrière (; born 2 August 1950) is a German actor. Life Carrière grew up in Berlin and Lübeck; he attended the Jesuit boarding school in Vannes, France, a school which had previously been attended by the director of Carrière's firs ...

), a young sailor, returns to land, and while searching for his childhood home, is mysteriously abducted. He awakens in an isolated old mansion called Malpertuis, where he find himself among various relatives, including his sister Nancy (

Susan Hampshire Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, (born 12 May 1937) is an English actress known for her many television and film roles. A three-time Emmy Award winner, she won for ''The Forsyte Saga'' in 1970, ''The First Churchills'' in 1969, and for '' Vani ...

), as well as a strange taxidermist and a resident madman called Lampernisse (

Jean-Pierre Cassel Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon; 27 October 1932 – 19 April 2007) was a French actor. Early life Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite (née Fabrègue), an opera si ...

). The mansion turns out to be a

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

of corridors, staircases, and secret chambers, belonging to his family. His bedridden occultist uncle Cassavius (

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

) is about to divide the estate to his heirs, but, as it turns out, only if they commit themselves never to leave the premises. They find themselves trapped in a mystery where they enact gods from

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, which Cassavius believes them to be, while anyone who tries to escape is found horribly murdered. The plot remains obscure to the end, as Jan tries to unravel the mystery and seems to spiral into a dreamlike madness.

Cast

as Cassavius *

as Nancy /

Euryale In Greek mythology, Euryale ( ; grc, Εὐρυάλη, lit=far-roaming") was the name of the following characters: * Euryale, one of the Gorgons. * Euryale, daughter of Minos, possible mother of the great hunter Orion. * Euryale, one of the Ama ...

/ Alice (

Alecto Alecto ( grc, Ἀληκτώ, Alēktṓ, the implacable or unceasing anger) is one of the Erinyes (Furies) in Greek mythology. Family and description According to Hesiod, Alecto was the daughter of Gaea fertilized by the blood spilled from Uranu ...

) / Nurse / Charlotte *

Michel Bouquet Michel Bouquet (6 November 1925 – 13 April 2022) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1947 to 2020. He won the Best Actor European Film Award for '' Toto the Hero'' in 1991 and two Best Actor Césars fo ...

as Dideloo *

as Jan *

as Lampernisse *

Daniel Pilon Daniel Pilon (November 13, 1940 – June 26, 2018) was a Canadian actor, known for his role on ''Dallas'' as Renaldo "Naldo" Marchetta. Pilon was born in Montreal, Quebec. In addition to ''Dallas'', he has appeared in daytime soap operas such as ...

as Mathias Crook *

Walter Rilla Walter Rilla (22 August 1894 – 21 November 1980) was a German film actor of Jewish descent. Siegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), pg. 213 He appe ...

as Eisengott *

Dora van der Groen Dora van der Groen (10 March 1927 – 8 November 2015) was a Belgian actress and theatre director. She appeared in more than 120 films and television shows between 1945 and 2003. She played Vrouw Coene in ''Wij, Heren van Zichem'' and st ...

as Sylvie Dideloo * Charles Janssens as Philarette *

Sylvie Vartan Sylvie Vartan (; born Sylvie Georges Vartanian; hy, Սիլվի Ժորժ Վարդանյան. on 15 August 1944) is an Armenian-Bulgarian-French singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. ...

as Bets

Versions

The English language version of the film that premiered at the 1972

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

was 100 minutes, as it had been edited by the American distributor from the original 1971 version, and retitled ''The Legend of Doom House''. It was subsequently edited further by other distributors. The Royal Belgian Film Archive, together with director

, worked to restore the uncut Flemish version of the film, which was released in 1973 as "the director's cut". This version is 20 minutes longer, containing some of the best scenes of the film, which had been edited out. Although this version is more complete, the original voice of Orson Welles is missing from it.

Reception

Neil Smith of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

gave the film 2/5 stars, calling it "Bizarre, lurid and baffling". Michael Barrett from ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' rated it 7/10 stars, calling it "ragged and dizzy, full of sharp zooms and frantic cuts." On his website ''Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings'', Dave Sindelar called it " disorienting, slightly disturbing and sometimes infuriating movie"

References

External links