The Old Dark House - Masters of Cinema Limited Edition 4K UHD (UK Import)

I love a good, spooky gothic movie about a big, creepy house. And I love movies about travelers needing to seek refuge in these big, creepy houses—personal safety be damned. They’ll take a chance with the weirdo owners over the madness of the outside world. The Old Dark House almost feels like a parody of these kinds of movies because everything here is cranked to 11, but really, it’s just a story that knows what the audience wants, so it gives it to them, without any nonsense. It’s almost like the “creepy gothic castle” genre has been boiled down to its pure essence, where it can be mainlined in a brisk 71-minute runtime. The movie begins in excitement, introduces us to the premise, and then wraps everything up in a nice bow before we ever have a chance to be bored. Now that’s filmmaking!

The Old Dark House is directed by James Whale, who most famously directed the Universal movie monster classic Frankenstein. Here, he teams up once again with Boris Karloff, who doesn’t have a leading role this time around, but is in a more thankless background creep supporting part. He’s basically the Igor of this movie. The Old Dark House begins with a bizarre disclaimer that, yes, this is indeed the very same Boris Karloff, despite rumors to the contrary. He’s just that good! I think production on both movies was just so tight that Universal didn’t realize what a hit Frankenstein was until The Old Dark House had wrapped and this was their way of sneakily suggesting audiences see both movies, because why not?

During a freak rainstorm, three travelers seek refuge inside the titular old, dark house and find a very odd family inside, one that is harboring (or imprisoning, however you see it) a maniacal killer who will, of course, break free in this evening where anything is possible. With these kinds of movies, you just know that it’s going to end with flames engulfing at least part of the castle walls. Whale & Co. know why you’re here and they’re giving you the goods.

The Old Dark House packs one hell of a cast, with Gloria Stuart (Titanic), Charles Laughton (Mutiny on the Bounty), and of course, Frankenstein’s Monster himself, Boris Karloff. Like Frankenstein, The Old Dark House is a pre-Code film, but it’s one of the tamer ones. Innuendo and sexuality are at an all-time low, and on-screen violence is limited. The Old Dark House is simply a good old-fashioned creepy picture that reminds me a bit of the Val Lewton pictures that would be produced over a decade later. The Old Dark House, like Lewton’s productions, favors atmosphere over outright payoff. This is the kind of movie that delights in what might lurk in the shadows. The imagination is infinitely more terrifying than reality.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
For this review, I was provided with a check disc and not the actual packaging of the release that will hit shelves. The Old Dark House will be released on a single disc in a standard case with a removable slip, both containing newly commissioned artwork, leaning into the gothic aesthetic of this film.

I could gush about the video transfer here all day. I was unable to find much information about the restoration process involved, but it looks like Eureka has used a scan of the film’s original camera negatives that has been used for other releases in the past. None of those releases can hold a candelabra to this presentation, though, I guarantee it. Richly detailed in 4K UHD, every surface is intricate in its realization. Graded in Dolby Vision HDR, shadows are a thick, inky black, while the whites of faces gleam brilliantly. While this presentation is cleaned up a considerable amount, to remove scratches and debris, there’s a fine layer of film grain throughout. Director James Whale and cinematographer Arthur Edeson milk a lot of material from the projection of shadows onto the wall—one segment, in particular, feels like a direct inspiration to Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula.

I’m torn on giving the audio a higher rating because it does everything an audio mix of this era should do, and this release does an incredible job of being faithful to its original theatrical release in a lossless format, but it does have some drawbacks of its era. Namely, some of the dialogue sounds a bit muffled, with consonants pop and hiss from the actors’ mouths from time to time. The only way to have rectified this would have been to totally rebuild the sound design from the ground up, which I’m not a fan of. I prefer to take the good with the bad, because this is an old movie. It should be rough around the edges.

For a mono mix, the overall soundstage is surprisingly nuanced and jam-packed with ambient effects like the pitter-patter of rainfall just outside the castle walls, a whistling wind or the distant rumble of thunder. Louder effects pack a punch without being overloud, just enough to shock in all the right places when the story decides to throw the viewer a curveball.

The team at Eureka Entertainment have outdone themselves in their curation of supplements for The Old Dark House, with a whopping three audio commentaries (including one from Gloria Stuart!), video essays and interviews.

• Audio Commentary - Critic and author Kim Newman and Stephen Jones
• Audio Commentary - Gloria Stuart
• Audio Commentary - James Whale biographer James Curtis
• Meet the Femms - Video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns
• Daughter of Frankenstein - Interview with Sara Karloff
• Rescuing a Classic - Archival interview with director Curtis Harrington focused on his efforts to save The Old Dark House, then considered a lost film
• 2018 Re-release Trailer
• Stills Gallery

The Old Dark House is one of the best, purest “spooky house” pictures, directed with no nonsense and workmanlike flair by James Whale. Eureka Entertainment’s release has jaw-dropping video quality and an incredible amount of supplemental features to help contextualize the historical importance of the film and its lasting legacy nearly a century later. The Old Dark House from Eureka Entertainment is Highly Recommended!

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