I never thought i would see the day when HOUSE OF THE LONG SHADOWS would ever look this good. After suffering through various abysmal VHS, DVD, and Instant Video transfers, SHADOWS is reborn in this new Blu-Ray transfer. It even looks better than when I saw it in the theaters back in the 1980s. Of course drive-in prints aren’t noted for their pristine quality but it was not bad which is why the cheap overly dark earlier incarnations were so appalling. Now that is no longer an issue and fans and soon-to-be-fans alike can enjoy this film for generations to come.
Is it a great movie? Hardly, but it is an old school horror fan’s dream come true as if gives you the opportunity to see a once-in-a-lifetime cast of legendary horror greats together in one movie. Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and John Carradine hold court in this old dark house mystery. The only one missing is Elsa Lanchester (BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN for those who don;t know) who was to have been Carradine’s wife but had to bow out due to ill health and was replaced by Pete Walker regular Sheila Keith who plays Carradine’s daughter.
The movie has its origins in a turn of the 20th century stage play called SEVEN KEYS TO BALDPATE which was written by Earl Derr Biggers of Charlie Chan fame and adapted by none other than Broadway legend George M. Cohan. It had been filmed at least three times before this but never with so distinguished a cast. They are the reason for the film’s existence but it’s very curious to see it helmed by Pete Walker whose earlier horror films were brutal and intense while it was written by Michael Armstrong whose MARK OF THE DEVIL was marketed in theaters with vomit bags.
The story concerns a bet between a writer and a publisher that he cannot stay in an uninhabited house and produce a manuscript in 24 hours. Of course the house isn’t uninhabited as members of the very bizarre Grisbane family keep turning up and it turns out there’s a homicidal maniac under lock and key upstairs. I won’t spoil it for those of you who have never seen it but if you know the old dark house genre than you know the drill. The film, like the original play, comes with an ending that has to be seen to be believed but it’s all part of the fun.
As the writer, Desi Arnaz Jr. is no revelation but he fits into the proceedings rather nicely. Old pro Richard Todd provides some fun as the publisher and the Brit TV actress Julie Peasgood gives us more than what is required of her. SHADOWS was way outdated when it was made and got lost among the more explicit material that had come to define the horror film but Golan-Globus of The Cannon Group deserve praise for giving these old favorites one last hurrah and Kino Lorber deserves praise for a quality transfer at last!
The Capsule Critic 