Haunted House (1940)

One of my all time favorites.

Memorable, crazy movie

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Mildred Henshew, the ravishing niece of a town reporter, arrives for her summer holiday, and she's welcomed by a youngster who promptly leaves his girlfriend, to befriend the newcomer. The storyline follows the teenage sexuality's logic, with Mildred being promoted from brat to 'young woman', after she and the boy visit the murder scene. Mildred threatened with leaving, the boy tempted her with a secret swimming hole, and a descent in a dark house follows, with both teenagers getting dirty. Monogram treats the audience with a comedy about teenage detectives, in a small town, and while the romance was enjoyable, the denouement, with the teenagers in the modest dark house during a thunderstorm, is neat, and the only reason to give the movie the name it has; except that, unlike other comedies, here the mystery plot makes sense.Marcia Mae plays a girl from the city, during a holiday; she's a bit vain, being a young woman played as such, and has a strongly peculiar voice.Like many other movies, this vehicle with an exploitative title was made to be enjoyed, not analyzed.

By any standard I can think of, I cannot call Haunted House much more than a below average movie. First, there is no haunted house in Haunted House. Instead, there is a fairly normal house where a murder took place. Jimmie Atkins (Jackie Moran) and Millie Henshaw (Marcia Mae Jones) are convinced the wrong man has been convicted of the murder. The pair begin investigating, only to come up with a couple of false leads. Thanks to dumb luck, they conveniently find themselves in the right place at the right time and solve the crime.As a rule, I'm not a fan of calling a movie "outdated". I'd rather try to look at a film in the context of the time it was made. With Haunted House, it was probably outdated when it was made. Other movies made in 1940 like Rebecca, Foreign Correspondent, and His Girl Friday make Haunted House feel "old" in comparison. I usually go for these older mystery movies, but there's not a lot of mystery in this one. With only three or four characters, it's not hard to spot the one that did it. I much prefer the mystery in something like Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum - also made in 1940. The acting in Haunted House also leaves a lot to be desired. Jackie Moran overacts and overreacts in almost every scene he appears. The rest of the cast is just there and not really memorable - with Marcia Mae Jones being the one exception. And the comedy in Haunted House is anything but funny. The repeated jokes involving Moran's old beater of a car have all the subtlety of a Three Stooges poke in the eye. Overall, Haunted House may be harmless enough, but there are better ways to spend 67 minutes of your life. This one is almost instantly forgettable.

This is the story of two kids who try to get their friend Olaf cleared of murder charges. Olaf worked for a rich old lady who turned up dead. Despite Olaf being a jovial guy he appears to be the only suspect and so was brought up on charges. Jimmy and Millie are the only two people who believe in their friends innocence and so begin to snoop around and find out that all is not as it seems.I somehow think this film seemed nostalgic even in 1940 when it came out. This is very much a period piece who's period has long gone. It seems aimed at the juvenile market than the adult market. The mystery, while strong is hampered by the gosh, gee attitude of the kids, who seem stuck somewhere around twelve despite being old enough to drive. The friction between the adult murder mystery and the childishness and imaginativeness of much of the proceedings make for an odd mix where everyone loses.I know that sounds like a stupid reason for not liking the movie, but if you saw the film you'd probably understand what I was getting at.This is one of those films that almost works but doesn't quite do so. By almost working it doesn't quite reach the level of watchablity and so falls into the pit of "why am I bothering". This isn't to say that the film is a total write off, its not (the mystery in a different frame work would be great), its just the whole thing doesn't quite work the way it should. If you run across it and are curious try it it may strike you differently,

A fun film produced to cash in on the popularity of mysteries that swept the late '30's / early '40's. Very well done for an obvious "low budget" b-film. "Want-to-be" reporter and editor's niece do their best to prove innocence of accused murderer. Much circumstantial evidence leads them down several wrong paths, causing frustration and chastizing from elders. Perserverance pays off as they finally convince the law of friend's innocence, surprising everyone with the guilt of the real culprit. Definitely worth viewing.