Plot
James Herbert (Edmund Breese), a wealthy and eccentric old man believed to be on his deathbed, summons his four potential heirs: Billy (Larry Kent), a good-natured young man; Tully (Sidney Bracy), a nervous opportunist; Nancy (Barbara Bedford), a gentle and curious relative; and the meddlesome Mrs. Rackham (Flora Finch). Each is given sealed instructions—and a stern warning: they must not, under any circumstances, enter the abandoned house on the cliffs overlooking the sea, long rumored to be haunted.
Tempted by the prospect of hidden valuables—particularly a stash of missing bonds—Mrs. Rackham, Tully, and Nancy all ignore the warning and venture into the foreboding house. Billy follows as well, but only to monitor their behavior and see what mischief they might be up to.
Inside the house, a chaotic series of eerie and surreal events begins. Mr. Rackham (Chester Conklin), dragged along by his domineering wife, quickly regrets entering the spooky mansion. The group is soon confronted by a string of unsettling phenomena: flickering lights, strange moans, and ghostly appearances.
Among the strange characters inside the house are a mysterious and beautiful nurse (Thelma Todd), a deranged mad doctor (Montagu Love), a sleepwalking girl (Eve Southern), and a creepy caretaker (William V. Mong). Additional confusion is stirred by Jack the Chauffeur (Johnnie Gough), who appears and vanishes at odd moments. The atmosphere grows increasingly dangerous with secret panels revealing masked figures, and suspicious signals from a boat offshore. The mad doctor is locked up—but then escapes—heightening the sense of menace.
Just as events spiral into full-blown hysteria, James Herbert, the supposedly dying man, makes a dramatic reappearance. He reveals that the entire haunting was a carefully orchestrated charade, designed to test the integrity of his would-be heirs. The strange apparitions and threats were all performed by actors he had hired.
In the end, Billy is identified as the only heir who behaved honorably throughout the ordeal. As a reward for his honesty and restraint, he becomes the primary beneficiary of Herbert’s estate. It is also gently suggested that a romantic future may await him with the lovely nurse, who was also part of the elaborate deception.
Reception
From contemporary reviews, Variety felt the film "played legitimately and with no attempt to get a tongue-in-the cheek laugh. It holds every form of sliding panel and rainstorm mystery material, as did the play, but holds it all with deadly seriousness." The review felt overall it was not as "good a film as another recent boogy-man thriller, The Terror ." A review in Photoplay commented that the film was "Too much Chester Conklin and not enough mystery" Film Daily praised camera work by Sol Polito, declaring him "a genius on atmospheric effects" concluding that the film had "thrills and laughs" in "abundance" despite "the plot standing still for several reels." The film was reviewed twice in The Film Spectator, with the first reviewer stating that The Haunted House was "a resume of all the mystery thrillers ever done, but it can be heartily recommended as entertaining, since its undoubtedly the best to burst fort in all its horror". The second review found the film to be "a clever picture" with Christensen giving "an eerie quality to his characters, an intelligent treatment of a story that is designed to give brave men goose-flesh and make cowards shriek". Harrison's Reports found the reviewer would be "held in tense suspense. Here and there the action shows some tendency to lag for those that are hard-boiled, but the general public seemed to enjoy it immensely. Children may get scared out of their wits by the mysterious happenings."
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