The Cat And The Canary (1927)

On a dark and stormy night, a group of greedy relatives gather at a gloomy mansion for the reading of a will. A young cousin (Laura La Plante) is named the heir to the fortune but will she survive the night with not only the avaricious relatives but a homicidal maniac on the loose escaped from the local asylum. Based on the play by Jack Willard and directed by Paul Leni (THE MAN WHO LAUGHS). This horror comedy is quite influential in the horror genre. Leni's expressionism lends a sense of creepiness to the whole affair and while I didn't find the humor particularly amusing, it adds some levity to the enterprise. I'm a fan of these old dark house with hidden passages while a storm rages outside movies so I'm partial to the genre. Willard's vehicle is popular enough to have been remade three more times as well as TV adaptations and stage revivals. Alas, the transfer I saw was compromised by a mediocre score by Franklin Stover. It would have been more effective with a stronger underscore. With Creighton Hale, Forrest Stanley, Tully Marshall and Gertrude Astor.