The Cat and the Canary

Paul Leni' first Hollywood film was a fun, charming, classic old-dark-house style mystery/thriller/comedy. The good use of camera movement, lighting and shadows, superimposed images, and animated titles brought a unique life to this surprisingly funny spooky silent film. Although, the distant kissing cousins happily-ever-after ending felt a bit weird.

Both a goof and legitimate entry into the haunted house subgenre, TCATC shows its age, but Leni's technical skill largely compensates for its narrative shortcomings and dated elements. Mood setting scenes of cameras gliding through dark corridors helped establish the grammar and lexis that horror directors still draw on today, and the general mobility of movement was beyond what was commonly achieved in its time, with perhaps only Murnau equalling it. Corny humour aside, it's a fun ride.

Very expressionistic, excellent use of super-impositions and clever title cards. The comedy moments are a bit hammy, but it's also fascinating to see how well they blend with the mystery.

The most notable aspects of this film are the impressive technical skills on display of Paul Leni and Gilbert Warrenton (cinematographer) as evident in the moving camera (the first scene in the house is almost like a first-person video game) and framing of shots (depth of field, close-ups, low and high angles). All of which, it must be said, is used to serve the spooky story. Mammy Pleasant will be in my nightmares tonight!

The granddaddy of all those creaky reading-of-the-will-in-the-old-dark-house mystery thrillers first presented on the Broadway stage in 1922. The film is heavily burdened with often disruptive comic relief but is visually stunning, with wonderful scenes of billowing draperies, clutching claws, and wide-eyed, corridor-roaming heroines. This is the best of the plethora of silent old-house chillers.

It's got influence and fine craftsmanship to spare, that's for sure. Kind of old hat for the nowadays, though, but not enough for it to matter.

The granddaddy of the body count genre suffers a bit from tiresome character interactions and bad comedy while it waits to get to the climax, but it has some really outstanding visuals thanks to German expressionist director Paul Leni being at the helm. (It's his American debut.) Since it inspired so many other films (James Whale's "The Old Dark House" is an obvious offspring), it can't help but feel overly familiar, but Leni's extremely strong visuals overcome that.

Silly and fun and much better than the Bob Hope version.

72.5.

Featured some filmmaking techniques that I don't often see in silent films. Some camera movements, some animated title cards, some image overlays. It's overall more engaging than your typical non-comedy silent film, though this one does have comedic elements as well.

I watched the remake thinking since it was a comedy it wouldn't be too similar, but it turns out the plotting is nearly identical. It's not a bad horror story, but it lacks genuine mystery and all the secondary characters are forgettable. The film's great strength is its visual style, and that counts for a lot in a silent, but it's not so great that it makes up for the lackluster story and characters. It also feels like something that was much more original at the time than it seems now.

This is actually the first silent film I've seen, and it was a chore. The premise is interesting, but the execution is far from good IMO.

78.000

An early haunted house film and a locked room mystery with a great work of cinematography. film also part of black comedy genre.

A dark and forboding mansion, an excentric millionaire, a will, greedy relatives, an escaped lunitic, windblown curtains, secret passages.... This is a great horror/mystery movie, but the pacing leaves much to be desired. There are a lot of places where the characters simply talk or make faces to pass the time. This movie would have been much better with either more plot to fill the time or less time in telling the story.

Good absorbing spooky old mystery. More watchable than many other silents.

The film has a great, old fashioned spooky mood throughout that I really enjoyed. There are some great camera shots and movements, such as a long tracking shot near the beginning, that highlight the creepy old house and create the perfect haunted house atmosphere. One of the more fun silents I've seen.

Leni knew his craft. As has been noted, the use of super-impositions and flashy title cards is effective. The haunted house genre went down hill quick but this specimen still has freshness and is genuinely atmospheric and amusing.

Keeps pace with itself throughout, only breaking up the spooks with its scared silly routines. One of the few Hollywood horrors able to indulge in its atmosphere completely.