The Cat and the Canary (1927)

Studio: Image Entertainment

DVD Release Date: February 1, 2005

Directed By: Paul Leni

Cast: Laura La Plante, Creighton Hale, Martha Mattox, Flora Finch, Forrest Stanley

Brutal As Hell Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars

Review By: Annie Riordan

When a filthy rich old man dies, his greedy relatives can hardly wait to get their piggy little hands all over his vast fortune. But they have a twenty year wait before the Last Will & Testament of Cyrus West is removed from its vault and read aloud to the surviving family members. When the day finally arrives, the scattered cousins and siblings reunite at West’s huge mansion on the Hudson River to hear the reading. As midnight strikes, the fortune is bequeathed to innocent little Annabelle West, a wide eyed blond without a trace of greed or corruption. However, since Cyrus was dismissed as insane by his family, the Will also stipulates that Annabelle must undergo a psychiatric evaluation before she inherits her fortune. If she is found insane, the money will go to the second choice, whose name has been sealed inside of a super secret envelope!

But then, the lawyer goes missing, the envelope is stolen, the famous West diamonds are swiped and a cat-clawed madman is sneaking about the place, determined to get Annabelle out of the way and claim the loot for himself!

Silent film fans won’t want to miss this Old Dark House gem from Paul (The Man Who Laughs) Leni. Released in 1927, it would set the stage for such films as The House On Haunted Hill, Thirteen Ghosts and every other film which features a bunch of dopes forced to spend the night in a spooky old house. Modern hack n’ slash fans will be bored stiff by this one hour and twenty seven minute long murder mystery – there’s only one murder and it happens off screen – but fans of the genre will be entertained by the colorful cast, spooked by the dreary Expressionistic sets and downright amused by the horrors of Edwardian undergarments.

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