House of Horror (film)

Last updated

The House of Horror
Directed by Benjamin Christensen
Screenplay byBenjamin Christensen [1]
Story byBenjamin Christensen [1] [2]
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byFrank Ware [1]
Music by Louis Silvers [1]
Production
company
Distributed byFirst National Pictures, Inc. [2]
Release date
  • 28 April 1929 (1929-04-28)
CountryUnited States [2]

House of Horror is a 1929 American comedy mystery film directed by Benjamin Christensen. The film stars Louise Fazenda and Chester Conklin and was released in both a silent and sound version which featured a Vitaphone soundtrack with talking sequences, music and sound effects. Both the silent and sound version of House of Horror is now presumed lost.

Contents

Cast

Production

The House of Horrors was released with both silent and sound versions of the film. [1] The sound version of the film contained a brief talking sequence at the beginning of the feature but was otherwise just with sound effects and a music score from a Vitaphone disc. [1]

Release

The House of Horrors was distributed by First National Pictures on April 28, 1929. [2] The film was Christensen's final Hollywood production as after completing the film he went to Denmark to handle some business ventures . Christensen had plans to make an independent production and return to the United States to follow-up with an American film but he returned to Denmark again 1934. [3]

As of 2018 both the sound and silent version of the film are considered lost films. [1]

Reception

From contemporary reviews, Photoplay called the film a "cheap claptrap mystery movie which is saved by the comedy of Chester Conklin and Louise Fazenda" [1] A review in Variety declared it "one of the weakest and most boring afterbirths of pseudo mystery-comedy grinds out of Hollywood. The thing actually rants and rambles, with audience of any mental caliber at sea until the last reel when the title writer makes a supreme effort to account with cart before horse angle." [1] Film Daily declared the film "just a dud that develops nothing in a flat mystery story with a lot of phony situations" declaring its gags as "ancient". [3] Harrison's Reports called the film "a comedy-mystery melodrama, that does not hold the interest too much because the spectator suspects the ending almost from the beginning and is bored by the useless chasing in and out of rooms [...] The familiar hokum of trap doors, mysterious falling objects and door slamming take place" [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

The following is an overview of 1928 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. Although some films released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.

<i>The Bat</i> (1926 film) 1926 film

The Bat is a 1926 American silent comedy mystery film directed by Roland West and starring Jack Pickford and Louise Fazenda. The film is based on the 1920 Broadway hit play The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chester Conklin</span> American actor and comedian (1886-1971)

Chester Cooper Conklin was an early American film comedian who started at Keystone Studios as one of Mack Sennett’s Keystone Cops, often paired with Mack Swain. He appeared in a series of films with Mabel Normand and worked closely with Charlie Chaplin, both in silent and sound films.

<i>The Last Performance</i> 1929 film

The Last Performance is a 1929 American film directed by Paul Fejos and starring Conrad Veidt and Mary Philbin. The film was made in two version: a silent version and Movietone version complete with music, talking sequences, and sound effects with the talking sequences were confined only to the last reel.

<i>The Show of Shows</i> 1929 film

The Show of Shows is a 1929 American pre-Code musical revue film directed by John G. Adolfi and distributed by Warner Bros. The all-talking Vitaphone production cost almost $800,000 and was shot almost entirely in Technicolor.

<i>Paris</i> (1929 film) 1929 film

Paris is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film, featuring Irène Bordoni. It was filmed with Technicolor sequences: four of the film's ten reels were originally photographed in Technicolor.

<i>Tillies Punctured Romance</i> (1928 film) 1928 film by A. Edward Sutherland

Tillie's Punctured Romance is a lost 1928 American silent circus comedy film starring W. C. Fields as a ringmaster and Louise Fazenda as a runaway. Written by Monte Brice and Keene Thompson and directed by A. Edward Sutherland, this film has nothing to do with the 1914 Charlie Chaplin film aside from sharing the same title, but Chester Conklin and Mack Swain appear in both films.

<i>Seven Footprints to Satan</i> 1929 American mystery film

Seven Footprints to Satan is a 1929 American mystery film directed by Danish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen. Based on the 1928 story of the same name by Abraham Merritt, it stars Thelma Todd, Creighton Hale, William V. Mong and Sheldon Lewis. It was released both as a silent film with a Vitaphone synchronized music-and-effects accompaniment and also in an entirely silent version. The film survives in an alternate sound version known as an International Sound Version. The sound disks for this foreign sound version are apparently not extant.

<i>The Terror</i> (1928 film) 1928 American horror film

The Terror is a 1928 American pre-Code horror film written by Harvey Gates and directed by Roy Del Ruth, based on the 1927 play of the same name by Edgar Wallace. It was the second "all-talking" motion picture released by Warner Bros., following Lights of New York. It was also the first all-talking horror film, made using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.

Keystone Hotel (1935) is a two-reel comedy short subject, directed by Ralph Staub and released by the Vitaphone Corporation through Warner Bros. Pictures. Inspired by the silent comedies produced by Mack Sennett, the film reunites many of Sennett's former stars.

<i>Outcast</i> (1928 film) 1928 film

Outcast is a 1928 American sound drama film produced and distributed by First National Pictures. This sound film was released with a synchronized Vitaphone soundtrack of music and sound effects. It was directed by William A. Seiter and stars Corinne Griffith, often considered one of the most beautiful women in film. This story had been filmed in 1917 as The World and the Woman with Jeanne Eagels. In 1922 a Paramount film of the same name with Elsie Ferguson reprising her stage role was released. Both films were based on a 1914 play, Outcast, by Hubert Henry Davies which starred Ferguson. The Seiter/Griffith film was an all silent with Vitaphone music and sound effects. In the sound era the story was filmed once again as The Girl from 10th Avenue starring Bette Davis. According to the Library of Congress database shows a print surviving complete at Cineteca Italiana in Milan.

<i>A Sailors Sweetheart</i> 1927 film

A Sailor's Sweetheart is a 1927 Warner Bros. silent film comedy directed by Lloyd Bacon. It stars Louise Fazenda and Clyde Cook. It was released with a Vitaphone soundtrack with a music score and sound effects.

<i>Taxi 13</i> 1928 film

Taxi 13 is a 1928 silent film comedy produced and distributed by Film Booking Offices of America and directed by Marshall Neilan. The film stars Chester Conklin in what is FBO's first film with a pre-recorded soundtrack.

<i>The Haunted House</i> (1928 film) 1928 American film

The Haunted House is a 1928 American mystery film directed by Benjamin Christensen. The film stars Larry Kent and Thelma Todd and is based on Owen Davis's 1926 Broadway play of the same name. As of 2020, UCLA Film and Television Archive has a copy of the film.

<i>Stark Mad</i> 1929 film

Stark Mad is a 1929 American pre-Code adventure film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starring H. B. Warner, Louise Fazenda, Jacqueline Logan and Henry B. Walthall. This lurid jungle melodrama was an attempt to emulate the then-popular jungle horror films being made at the time by Tod Browning and Lon Chaney. The film was unusual in that it is set in the jungles of Central America rather than Africa.

<i>Ham and Eggs at the Front</i> 1927 film by Roy Del Ruth

Ham and Eggs at the Front is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Tom Wilson, Heinie Conklin and Myrna Loy - all in blackface. The film was released with a Vitaphone synchronized soundtrack with a music score and sound effects. Long thought to be a lost film, a print was screened at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in 2021 courtesy of the Cineteca Italiana.

Domestic Troubles is a lost 1928 American comedy film directed by Ray Enright and starring Clyde Cook, Louise Fazenda and Betty Blythe. It was produced and released by Warner Brothers with a Vitaphone musical track.

<i>The Galloping Fish</i> 1924 film directed by Del Andrews

The Galloping Fish is a 1924 American silent comedy film directed by Del Andrews and starring Louise Fazenda, Syd Chaplin, Ford Sterling, Chester Conklin, Lucille Ricksen, and John Steppling. It is based on the 1917 novel Friend Wife by Frank R. Adams. The film was released by First National Pictures on March 10, 1924.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pitts 2018, p. 117.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "The House of Horror". American Film Institute . Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Pitts 2018, p. 118.

Sources

  • Pitts, Michael R. (2018). Thrills Untapped: Neglected Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1928-1936. McFarland. ISBN   978-1476632896.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.