''The Haunted House'' is a 1928 American

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 sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...

directed by

Benjamin Christensen Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 – 2 April 1959) was a 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 Through the Ages' ...

. The film stars Larry Kent and

Thelma Todd Thelma Alice Todd (July 29, 1906 – December 16, 1935) was an American actress and businesswoman who carried the nicknames "The Ice Cream Blonde" and "Hot Toddy". Appearing in about 120 feature films and shorts between 1926 and 1935, sh ...

and is based on

Owen Davis Owen Gould Davis (January 29, 1874 – October 14, 1956) was an American dramatist known for writing more than 200 plays and having most produced. In 1919, he became the first elected president of the Dramatists Guild of America. He received t ...

's 1926 Broadway play of the same name. As of 2020,

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the ar ...

has a copy of the film.The house of horror (Film, 1929) - WildCat.org
/ref>

Plot

A group of heirs to a family fortune are summoned to an old dark house to attend the reading of a will. Weird events occur, leading the group to believe the house is haunted. The house features sliding panels, hidden rooms, weird attendants and even a mad scientist. It turns out to be just a gang of crooks trying to scare them off before they can inherit their money.

Cast

Background

After his success in Europe with his 1922 film '' Haxan'', director Christensen relocated to Hollywood in 1926, where he directed

in ''The Devil's Circus'' who would appear again in ''The Haunted House''. The screenplay for the film was written by Lajos Biro and Benjamin Christensen who used the name Richard Bee. Production started on the film on July 26, 1928. ''The Haunted House'' was Christensen's first attempt at using sound in filme with the feature containing sound effects and a music score, in addition to

Eve Southern Eve Southern (born Elva L. McDowell; August 23, 1900 – November 29, 1972) was an American film actress. She appeared in 38 films from 1916 to 1936. In 1930 she was selected by portrait artist Rolf Armstrong as one of the film industry's ...

mouthing two songs in the film which according to an article 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), ...

'', were added in post-production. ''Variety'' also noted that the synchronization of the songs was "badly handled, with the player and the sound always out of kilter and neither starting out for finishing together."

Release

''The Haunted House'' was released on November 4, 1928. The film was released as both a silent feature and a feature with the sound additions.

Reception

From contemporary reviews, ''Variety'' felt the film "played legitimately and with no attempt to get a tongue-in-the cheek laugh. It holds every form of sliding panel and rainstorm mystery material, as did the play, but holds it all with deadly seriousness." The review felt overall it was not as "good a film as another recent boogy-man thriller, ''

The Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

''." A review in ''Photoplay'' commented that the film was "Too much

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 Ma ...

and not enough mystery" '' Film Daily'' praised camera work by

Sol Polito Sol Polito, A.S.C. (born Salvatore Polito, November 12, 1892 – May 23, 1960) was a Sicilian-American cinematographer. He is best known for his work with directors Michael Curtiz and Mervyn LeRoy at Warner Bros. studios in the 1930s and 1940s. ...

, declaring him "a genius on atmospheric effects" concluding that the film had "thrills and laughs" in "abundance" despite "the plot standing still for several reels." The film was reviewed twice in ''The Film Spectator'', with the first reviewer stating that ''The Haunted House'' was "a resume of all the mystery thrillers ever done, but it can be heartily recommended as entertaining, since its undoubtedly the best to burst fort in all its horror". The second review found the film to be "a clever picture" with Christensen giving "an eerie quality to his characters, an intelligent treatment of a story that is designed to give brave men goose-flesh and make cowards shriek". '' Harrison's Reports'' found the reviewer would be "held in tense suspense. Here and there the action shows some tendency to lag for those that are hard-boiled, but the general public seemed to enjoy it immensely. Children may get scared out of their wits by the mysterious happenings."

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * *

External links

* * *
Vitaphone Varieties Collection
at the archive.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Haunted House 1928 films 1928 mystery films American mystery films American silent feature films American black-and-white films American films based on plays Films directed by Benjamin Christensen First National Pictures films Lost American films Transitional sound films 1920s American films Silent mystery films