Customer Reviews

The Haunted Castle (1921)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is extremely rare to be able to see a silent film that looks as good as this one does much less one of this vintage (1921). The movie looks as if it were shot yesterday and that's without a ton of restoration work. Only David Shepard's 1999 release of Rudolph Valentino's COBRA (1925) looks this good under those conditions. It shows us what all silent films would have looked like if we could see them in first generation prints that have been speed corrected.

As far as the movies of Murnau are concerned, this is definitely a minor offering but that has to do with the material not the director. Murnau is honing his skills here which would burst forth in his next film, the legendary NOSFERATU (1922). The sets are elaborate with just a touch of Expressionism. The performances though are very Expressionistic and might be too much for someone unfamiliar with German silent film technique. The plot loosely reminds me of Jean Renoir's RULES OF THE GAME though not as refined.

THE HAUNTED CASTLE (not a horror film but a psychological study) is not the ideal place to start if you want to see what Murnau was capable of. Try NOSFERATU, THE LAST LAUGH, or FAUST for that but it is a great way to see how beautiful a silent film could be, even for one that's not a classic. In fact its lesser status may be why it has survived in such good shape since it wasn't popular enough for the prints to get worn out.

If you are looking for a haunted house-type horror film, this isn't one of them. Its instead a murder-mystery: a murder has occurred a few years ago, several people are now assembled within a castle, most of them assume a certain one of them committed the murder. One of the group disappears, a shot rings out.....

While not on par with Murnau's more well-known films, such as Nosferatu, Faust, or The Last Laugh, this one is still worth watching. The restoration is excellent with only a few scratches here and there, and as always, Kino has done a superb job in the transfer. The special features are minimal, consisting of some passages from the original novel and a few photos of set design paintings.

If you are building a collection of Murnau films or German expressionism films (this barely qualifies as one), then you need to have a copy of this.

Those familiar with the recent movie Shadow of the Vampire are also happily familiar with Director F. W. Murnau and his 1922 masterpiece Nosferatu.

What many viewers might not though is that Murnau directed other excellent films in the 1920s. One of them, Sunset, went on to recieve honors at the first academy awards ceremonies for being the most artistic film. (Because of how easily this category could be confused with best film period, it was never given again making Murnau its one lone recipient in the entire academy's history.) Sunset, of course, was not a horror film per se but rather a slice of life story about a man's affair and ultimate realization that his wife was after all, the one for him.

In terms of dark films, though Murnau does remain best known for Nosferatu he also directed the very excellent Faust and of course this classic from 1921, Haunted House.

Unlike his later films, Haunted House uses more traditional filming styles to tell the story of who was really responsible for a man's death. Was it the creepy guy everyone suspected or was it...someone else? And if it was someone else...why them? Though the answers to these questions are best left for a viewing of this film, it does bear noting that this movie does stand on its own and entertaining silent movie going fare.

For those who may be new to silent cinema or even silent German cinema, I would probably not recommend this as a first film. Though I love this genre I still found this film a little slow at points and I really didn't find myself becoming engaged until we got nearer to the end of the story.

If I were really new to German silent cinema, I'd probably start with the biggies: Nosferatu and of course Fritz Lang's Metropolis. If I'd seen and liked those movies I'd probably proceed on to Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Destiny (the first film directed by Lang), Faust, and Woman on the Moon (also by Lang).

But who knows? Even first timers might like this movie. If they're like me, they'll certainly like the fact that this movie has the nice extras it does including a long report on the book version the film version of this story along with interesting tidbits about its making.

I was SO looking forward to this one because I love silents and my favorite talkie genre is The Haunted House. This one is b o r i n g. The print, however, is gorgeous...