1961 British film by Vernon Sewell
House of Mystery (also known as Das Landhaus des Dr. Lemming) is a 1961 British supernatural mystery film direcred by Vernon Sewell and starring Jane Hylton, Peter Dyneley and Nanette Newman.[1] It was based on the play The Medium which Sewell had filmed three times before.[2][3] It aired in the U.S. as an episode of the TV series Kraft Mystery Theatre.[4]
Plot
A pair of newlyweds visit an old cottage for sale in the country, and hear the housekeeper's account of its macabre history. The previous owners had been disturbed by paranormal activity, and on calling in a medium, the ghost was identified as an eccentric and vengeful scientist, once resident in the cottage. The scientist was obsessed with electricity, and when his unfaithful wife and her lover attempted to murder him, he responded by electrifying the living room floor and fixtures, and challenging the couple to escape.[5]
Cast
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Though far less stylish in presentation than another of Vernon Sewell's grand guignol exercises, Latin Quarter, this is nonetheless a gripping little film, with a fairly unusual plot and some good touches – mainly in the séance, nicely underplayed by Colin Gordon and Molly Urquhart, and in its revelation, made visual, of the murders. Not all the pitfalls of the flashback device have been avoided, so that there are occasional longueurs, and one or two of the supporting performances are weak. But in the main the narrative is ingeniously worked out, giving full credit to the supernatural, and is full of satisfying yet unsensational surprises."[6]
The Radio Times gave the film three out of five stars, saying, "this is a neat little spine-tingler from writer/director Vernon Sewell, who was something of a dab hand at summoning up demons from beyond, whether benign as in The Ghosts of Berkeley Square or downright menacing as in The Blood Beast Terror. Some aficionados would insist that if it ain't Hammer it ain't horror, but there are plenty of uneasy moments in this haunting story, in which a couple of newlyweds learn the grim secret of their dream house."[7]
Britmovie called the film an "effectively macabre little b-movie narrated in several multi-layered flashbacks."[5]
References
External links
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