There's no such thing as a laughing Karloff

The Old Dark House

     My first B&W horror movie of this annual fest, and a Karloff movie to boot! Ah, but all is not as it seems! This is a Horror Comedy, so...yeah...whatever that means. Actually, I get it, but I'm surprised they were doing this in the 30's. That era of horror films were typically very serious but also young enough to still be defining the genre. I'll be right up front, I never laughed once, and I found only one scene amusing. In fact, this is a great movie if you just wanted to watch a black and white movie but not actually pay any attention to it.
    To sum this film up, some dorks traveling across the Welsh countryside are stranded in a strange old house do to weather and impassable roads. It's naturally a very weird house filled with weird people. A Lurch-like character (played by Karloff) decides to hit the bottle and starts going on a rampage. Then, someones brother is let loose out of a locked room (see Man in the Iron Mask) and starts setting things on fire. OK, I take it back. This isn't a horror comedy, it's a crappy b&w from 1932 that will put you to sleep. G'night and sweet dreams!