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The Old Dark House

The Old Dark House

Comedy · Horror · Mystery · 1963

An American car salesman in London becomes mixed up in a series of fatal occurrences at a secluded mansion.

Movie details

The Old Dark House

“READY! SET! LAUGH! Join the fun in a nut-house of terror!”

1963 Comedy · Horror · Mystery 1h 26m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.9 / 10

Community rating

An American car salesman in London becomes mixed up in a series of fatal occurrences at a secluded mansion.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Old Dark House?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Private Eyes

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Comedy · 2015

Teenage friends must resist the spell of an evil showman staging a house of horrors show in their small town.

House of the Long Shadows

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Horror · 1983

An American writer goes to a remote Welsh manor on a $20,000 bet that he can write a classic novel like 'Wuthering Heights' in 24 hours. However, upon his arrival he discovers that the apparently empty manor has several rather odd inhabitants.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

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Comedy · 2024

After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Betelgeuse, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.

The Fearless Vampire Killers

The Fearless Vampire Killers

Comedy · 1967

A noted professor and his dim-witted apprentice fall prey to their inquiring vampires, while on the trail of the ominous damsel in distress.

Who's Harry Crumb?

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Comedy · 1989

Harry Crumb is a bumbling and inept private investigator who is hired to solve the kidnapping of a young heiress which he's not expected to solve because his employer is the mastermind behind the kidnapping.

Night Watch

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Mystery · 1973

A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.

Dave Made a Maze

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Comedy · 2017

Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation. Ignoring his warnings, Dave’s girlfriend Annie leads a band of oddball explorers on a rescue mission. Once inside, they find themselves trapped in an ever-changing supernatural world, threatened by booby traps and pursued by a bloodthirsty Minotaur.

Zero Effect

Zero Effect

Comedy · 1998

Daryl Zero is a private investigator and—along with his assistant, Steve Arlo—he solves impossible crimes and puzzles. Although Daryl's a master investigator, he doesn't know what to do with himself when he's not working; he has no social skills, writes bad music and drives Steve crazy.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

William Castle

Written by

Robert Dillon

Tom Poston

Tom Poston

Tom Penderel

Robert Morley

Robert Morley

Roderick Femm

Janette Scott

Janette Scott

Cecily Femm

Joyce Grenfell

Joyce Grenfell

Agatha Femm

Mervyn Johns

Mervyn Johns

Potiphar Femm

F

Fenella Fielding

Morgana Femm

Peter Bull

Peter Bull

Caspar Femm / Jasper Femm

Court is in session

Put The Old Dark House on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.