House of Mystery

House of Mystery is a suspense/horror tale that unravels as it plods along. It starts off interesting, but falls apart. I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start with some plot.

Pendergast is an archaeologist, but he's also a thief. While on an expedition he steals a treasure from a Hindu temple, one that carries a curse, then vanishes.

Years later the people that financed his expedition find out he's living a life of wealth under an assumed name. They want their payoff, but when they arrive he spins a tale of misery and woe. He claims he even tried to return the treasure and appease the gods in an attempt to lift the curse but to no avail.

He promises to give everyone their fair share of the loot, but they must spend a week with him to see the curse first hand. If they still want their cut after that he'll deal them in. The very first night they're at the house people start dropping dead. Is it the curse killing them or a greedy thief?

This one shows promise at first. It's a cursed house murder mystery which can be a lot of fun when done well. It starts slipping when the apes enter the picture. Old horror/suspense movies love using apes since it's so easy to put a man in a suit and have him do whatever they need him to. Give him a fur suit and you've got instant wild animal acting strangely. It might not be a bad idea if it weren't used so frequently.

As the tiresome killer ape tale tapers on the writers decide to throw a few curve balls our way, but the more the plot twists the less interesting it becomes. In the end we get a Sherlock Holmes style explanation for it all, but Sir Doyle this writer is not. The end comes up lacking.

It's not the worst movie I've ever seen. Even though I ended up not liking the story all that much due to the killer ape cliché and unsatisfying conclusion I didn't find myself bored with the movie. As far as interest goes, though, it just barely keeps its head above water.

Some of the acting OK which helps keep the plot from dragging at a detrimental pace, but some of it is too over the top. The girl who seems to think the spirit of Pocahontas will save them gets annoying. And when she holds a séance to channel the princess's spirit somehow I doubt a Native American would be speaking in “thees” and “thous” as if quoting from the King James Bible. The loudmouth detective is a headache, too. Maybe the movie makers thought they were being humorous by including a guy such as this?

The movie opens in Asia. One thing I've noticed about movies from the 30's is that no matter where they take place the cast looks American. As usual those who are supposed to be a foreign nationality don't look the part.

MORALITY:

Typical of these old black and white movies there is no sex, nudity, or strong language. The violence amounts to little more than seeing a “gorilla” with its hands around someone's neck or something similar.

SPIRITUALITY:

I don't want to give away whether this all by the hands of man or if there are supernatural forces at work even though you'll most likely figure it out for yourself a few minutes into the story. What I will say is that the characters believe the supernatural curse could be real even if some of them need some convincing.

There is a séance with a girl who believes she can call on the spirits of the dead to help. This is, of course, a very bad idea. Whether or not she succeeds it's not a very convincing point of the plot.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

See House of Mystery only if you really like old 30's suspense flicks. I've definitely seen worse when it comes to similar films, but it's not a shining example of the era.

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