The Old Dark House * (1963, Tom Poston, Janette Scott, Robert Morley, Joyce Grenfell, Mervyn Johns, Fenella Fielding, Peter Bull, Danny Green) – Classic Movie Review 6868

Universal Studios lost the rights to the original J B Priestley story in 1957 and director James Whale’s brilliant 1932 old dark comedy chiller The Old Dark House was duly remade by director William Castle in 1962 for Hammer, with Tom Poston, Janette Scott and Robert Morley.

It is a poor, updated reworking of the 1932 Boris Karloff/ Charles Laughton horror classic, based on J B Priestley’s novel Benighted (published in America as The Old Dark House), which it does not properly respect. The Old Dark House (1963) is hardly worth a look, despite the vintage cast.

Bug-eyed comedic actor Tom Poston (1921–2007) is an unwelcome star presence here as Tom Penderel, an American auto salesman selling sells cars in the UK, who is forced by a tempestuous storm to stay overnight at the creepy Femm mansion in darkest Wales. Janette Scott plays Cecily Femm, the charming cousin Tom falls for. Soon someone is dying each hour, but by the time Poston finds out who’s doinit, that person escapes, leaving time bombs everywhere.

With little in the way of mystery, comedy or horror, you know that things must be bad when there is little that even this great cast of British eccentric actors (Robert Morley, Joyce Grenfell, Mervyn Johns, Fenella Fielding, Peter Bull, Danny Green) can do to rescue it. The Old Dark House (1963) must be judged as a missed opportunity, though affection for the performers may help it squeeze through.

Also in the cast are John Harvey and Amy Dalby.

The Old Dark House is directed by William Castle, runs 86 minutes (cut to 77 minutes), is produced by Columbia Pictures Corporation, William Castle Productions and Hammer Films, distributed by Columbia Pictures, is written by Robert Dillon, shot by Arthur Grant, produced by William Castle and Anthony Hinds, is scored by Benjamin Frankel, and is designed by Bernard Robinson.

Although filmed with an Eastmancolor negative, the film was released in black-and-white.