Old Dark House, The (1932): Limited Edition (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Aug 06, 2025
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
James WhaleRelease Date(s)
1932 (July 28, 2025)Studio(s)
Universal Pictures/Cohen Film Collection (Eureka! Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: A-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A-
- Extras Grade: A-
Review
[Editor’s Note: This is a Region-Free British 4K Ultra HD import.]
“Have a potato.”
Director James Whale’s new home at Universal had been fully assured after the success of Frankenstein in 1931. He had made three war films prior to that and a more traditional drama in Frankenstein’s wake before returning to “terror” films the following year with The Old Dark House. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the success that Frankenstein had been. It quickly faded from the public eye and was withdrawn once the rights to the original novel, Benighted by J. B. Priestley, had lapsed. As for the film’s longevity, it was remade by William Castle in 1963 for Columbia Pictures and Hammer Film Productions, leaning much more heavily on the comedy than its predecessor, and was ultimately forgotten until it was rediscovered decades later. Today, it’s considered one of James Whale’s finest works, on par if not surpassing his other beloved horror films Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man.
Happily married couple Philip (Raymond Massey) and Margaret Waverton (Gloria Stuart), along with their devil-may-care friend Penderel (Melvyn Douglas), are traveling through the Welsh countryside when they’re caught in a torrential downpour that not only impairs their ability to drive through it, but washes out the road and prevents them from going further. They come upon a secluded old home, wherein they’re wearily welcomed by the nervous and fidgeting Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger) and his mostly deaf and devoutly religious sister Rebecca (Eva Moore), as well their frightening-looking mute butler Morgan (Boris Karloff). Once they begin to settle in, another pair of strangers seeking shelter from the storm drop in: the boisterous Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) and his chorus girl friend Gladys (Lilian Bond), whom Penderel takes a liking to and later reveals her real last name to be Perkins. As the storm rages outside and the electricity flickers, Rebecca warns of her family’s wicked past, which includes their maniacal brother Saul (Brember Wills), who’s locked away in his room, their elder bed-ridden father Roderick (Elspeth Dudgeon, credited as “John Dudgeon”), but also Morgan, who is said to become unreasonably violent late at night when he drinks.
Like many pre-Code films, especially genre-based films, The Old Dark House touches upon and alludes to ideas that wouldn’t fly during the Motion Picture Production Code era, which would fully go into effect only two years later. There are definite but subtle homosexual undertones, and even a bit of foot fetishism, but there are also aspects that were toned down from the original novel. One of the key changes was making Perkins a “chorus girl” instead of an escort, though the implications are still there if you’re reading between the lines. It also inadvertently heightens the homosexual nuances when it comes to Porterhouse, who is described more as a platonic friend to Perkins. Perhaps this is due to Whale’s openly-gay status, or Laughton’s closeted bisexual/homosexual status (a matter of debate among those who knew him), but it’s nonetheless there in the final film. In the scene in which Penderel speaks to Porterhouse about his romantic interest in Perkins, there’s an odd tension between them, not helped by how closely they’re sitting with each other and how locked their gaze is. Never mind the moment when Gladys and Perkins are shoved into a closet together and told not to come out for fear of harm from a man.
Regardless of any intended or unintended connotations, The Old Dark House works squarely as a witty and lightly-comic horror film with engaging performances and gorgeous cinematography, courtesy of Arthur Edison, going uncredited—as does the vast majority of the film’s crew. James Whale’s use of camera movement and large sets filled with atmosphere is in full bloom here, even more so than his previous works, including Frankenstein. Sadly, it went underappreciated upon its theatrical release. Despite the presence of Boris Karloff, the film failed to find an audience after its first week. Audiences expecting a monster movie were possibly deterred by the lack of one, likely due to the success of Frankenstein and Karloff’s top billing. It took many years before the film would be rediscovered and more appreciated by critics and audiences, mostly due to Universal’s inability to re-release it after the rights to the original novel had expired. Essentially rotting in a vault for decades, it wasn’t until director Curtis Harrington, who was a friend and protege to James Whale, rediscovered the film that it was revived, especially on home video. Unfortunately, Universal Pictures still doesn’t have the rights to market it in any way, so despite its availability nowadays, it’s still considered the “lost” Universal horror film.
The Old Dark House was shot by cinematographer Arthur Edeson on 35mm black-and-white film, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.37:1. Eureka! Entertainment brings the film to 4K Ultra HD for a second time, following the NSM Records release in Germany, and utilizing the Cohen Film Collection’s 4K restoration, which has been graded for High Dynamic Range in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, encoded and authored by David Mackenzie of Fidelity in Motion, QC’d by Esteban Medaglia of QC Boutique, and presented on a dual-layered BD-66 disc. The source of this restoration appears to be mostly from the original camera negative aside from the first reel, which had purportedly deteriorated, and a fine grain positive was likely used in its place.
Cohen Media’s and Eureka! Entertainment’s Blu-ray releases of the film in 2017 and 2018 respectively were a revelation over the previously duped presentation sourced from a 35mm blow-up from 16mm. It was a much more stable and cleaner presentation with a massive uptick in fine detail. Now that detail is even more tightly-woven on the UHD with only minor fluctuations, which are so negligible that they’re barely worth mentioning. Grain is tight and the bitrate sits mostly in the 80 to 100Mbps range. Gradations are much more distinct, thanks in no small part to the HDR passes, especially in Dolby Vision which takes slightly more advantage of nuances in the shadows. Both HDR grades are marvelous-looking, nonetheless. Aside from a minor stray scratch or here or there, this is the definitive presentation of the film going forward, full stop. It’s also worth mentioning that the “Producer’s Note” at the beginning of the film about Boris Karloff’s appearance has been re-instated, which wasn’t a part of the previous Blu-ray presentations.
Audio is included in English mono LPCM with optional subtitles in English SDH. The film’s soundtrack has been considerably cleaned up and repaired, but not to the detriment of the quality of the original audio. Dialogue, sound effects, and score are offered plenty of support, lacking any instances of sibilance, distortion, or crackle, but with a mild natural hiss.
The Eureka! Entertainment Region-Free 4K Ultra HD release of The Old Dark House, a part of the Masters of Cinema series, sits in a black Amaray case alongside a 28-page insert booklet with cast and crew information, the essays A Very Long Night: A History of The Old Dark House by Craig Ian Mann and Shadow Play: Whale, Priestley and The Old Dark House by Philip Kemp, various marketing ephemera, viewing notes, and a set of release credits. The double-sided insert features artwork by Graham Humphreys on one side (previously used on the slipcover for Eureka’s 2018 Blu-ray release) and the main US theatrical poster artwork on the reverse. Everything is housed in a slipcover with new artwork by Sara Deck. The following extras are included on the disc:
- Audio Commentary with Kim Newman and Stephen Jones
- Audio Commentary with James Curtis
- Audio Commentary with Gloria Stuart
- Meet the Femms (HD – 37:58)
- Daughter of Frankenstein: Sara Karloff and Dean Otto on The Old Dark House and Boris Karloff (HD – 14:45)
- Rescuing a Classic: Curtis Harrington (Upscaled SD – 7:04)
- 2018 UK Re-Release Theatrical Trailer (HD – 1:36)
- Still Gallery (HD – 13 in all)
The audio commentary with writers and film historians Kim Newman and Stephen Jones from 2006 is more of a fan commentary, but a scholarly one. The pair settle in for, what was then, a lesser presentation at the time of the recording, but still manage to provide a thoughtful analysis while bringing their good humor into the mix. The next two commentaries date back to the film’s 1996 LaserDisc release, one featuring James Whale biographer James Curtis, and the other featuring actress Gloria Stuart. The James Curtis commentary is a more straightforward track filled with details about the production and its cast and crew, while the Gloria Stuart solo track is a wonderfully charming listen as she watches the film and recalls her memories of making it.
Meet the Femms is a 2018 video essay by film historian David Cairns that acts more as a Tom Weaver-style audio commentary, highlighting the careers of the cast and crew, analyzing the film’s thematics, making comparisons to the source novel, and providing audio clips of the key players via re-enactments by Steven McNicoll and Angela Hardie. In Daughter of Frankenstein, daughter of Boris Karloff, Sara Karloff, and curator of film at The Speed Art Museum, Dean Otto, discuss Karloff’s career and his abilities as an actor at the time The Old Dark House was released. Rescuing a Classic features a 1996 interview with Curtis Harrington who talks about his love of horror films, becoming a filmmaker at Universal, and being in a position to be able to find the missing film materials for The Old Dark House. Last is the 2018 UK Re-Release Theatrical Trailer and a Still Gallery containing 13 images of production and publicity photographs.
It’s worth noting that Cohen Media Group’s 2017 Blu-ray release included a 2017 Re-Release Trailer and a 12-page insert booklet featuring excerpts of an interview with Curtis Harrington by David Del Valle. Some Region 2 DVD releases also feature interviews with Ian McKellen, likely because of his portrayal of James Whale in the 1998 film Gods and Monsters.
I personally make no bones about the fact that The Old Dark House is one of my favorite films, horror or otherwise, and having such a pristine presentation of it seemed like a pipe dream until fairly recently. Cohen Media will likely bring the film to the 4K Ultra HD format sometime in the future stateside, but for now, Eureka! Entertainment’s release is the definitive presentation of the film on home video. In fact, it’s an essential disc and comes very highly recommended.
- Tim Salmons
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