Format: VHS from Northern Illinois University Founders Memorial Library on big ol’ television.
Old horror films show up in the modern age with a serious problem: they aren’t that scary. Take The Old Dark House as a case in point. There are plenty of horror elements here, and there’s a set up for a horror film, but it’s just not that scary. It’s weird and even disturbing in places, or was for 1932, but now comes off as just goofy.
A trio of people are driving through a pounding rainstorm. These are Philip Waverton (Raymond Massey), his wife Margaret (Gloria Stuart) and their friend Penderel (Melvyn Douglas). The road becomes impassable thanks to a rockslide, and they’re forced to take shelter in a creepy old house near where the car is trapped.
