House of Mystery (1934)

HOUSE OF MYSTERY is one of a ton of 'old dark house' movies to be made during the 1930s, following the success of some popular Universal movies made at the outset of the decade. These typically feature an assembled group of people who visit a spooky, sprawling old mansion on a stormy night, only to find themselves assailed by perils either supernatural or man-made.This film's set-up is pretty bizarre and throws in Egyptian mumbo-jumbo and even an Indian devil worship cult. Once the action moves to the titular location it's quite the laugh, with a fast running time and plenty of inane action involving a killer ape roaming around and strangling people. The cast members are undistinguished but the dialogue is ladled on thick and fast and there's so much incident that you don't have time to realise how little sense it all really makes.

"The mansion of a retired adventurer is the scene of some mysterious happenings, all apparently caused by the 'Curse of Kali'. The authorities and the adventurer's relatives all end up caught in the middle of these bizarre events, with plenty of suspicious characters to choose from. It's going to take some clever detective work to uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. The film begins in 1913 Asia, where the Hindu curse begins. Twenty years later, this connects with a group of investors gathering at a spooky old mansion, to collect their share of the Hindi's treasure. Supposedly, the Hindu curse resurfaces, claiming the lives of greedy treasure-seekers. The curse manifests itself as a stuffed gorilla (first seen in 1913 Asia) seems to come alive, and kill people. "Pocahontas" is somehow involved. Honest Injun. *** House of Mystery (3/30/34) William Nigh ~ Clay Clement, Ed Lowry, Verna Hillie

The film starts in Asia, in 1913, when John Prendergast (Clay Clement), an archaeologist, in a drunken rage, kills one of the temple monkeys. He has a curse put on him by the temple priests. They predict that he will steal jewels and go off with them but he and his descendents will be cursed. His insolence seals his fate. A giant ape is ordered to kill him but Chandra (Joyzelle) the exotic dancer that he is involved with helps him escape.Twenty years later they are found and the relatives of the original expedition meet at John Pren's house (he is now going by that name) to demand their share of the wealth. Pren tells them of the curse (2 English relations had been given their share - within a month they had been murdered) and stipulates that to claim their share they must stay in the house a week.The first night a seance is held and one of the ladies, Mrs. Carfax, (Dale Fuller) the hypochondriac, is murdered. It is very clear that an ape has killed her. Gabby Hayes makes a surprise appearance as one of the guests - one with gambling debts - he is the next one murdered. He is found in an ape suit which immediately throws everyone off the scent. "I'm going to the zoo" "Sit down, you're in one right now!!!"Joyzelle is the most interesting character in the film - she plays the inscrutable Chandra. Why she was billed as Laya Joy instead of Joyzelle may be the real mystery???? She didn't make many films and in most of them she was billed as "exotic dancer" but in "Just Imagine" (1930) she had a memorable part as twins, one good and one evil!!! In "House of Mystery" she had the second female lead - I admit that in a film of 62 minutes that is not something to boast about!!!Things are not what they seem. Mr. Pren is not the benevolent old gentleman confined to a wheelchair - he is very predatory and wants the money for himself. The guests find a note and are persuaded to go to the police station - all except Ella Browning (Verna Hillie). She is persuaded to stay in the house by Mr. Pren, who wants to send Chandra away and marry Ella. Chandra has other ideas.The film is okay. Everything is tidied up very quickly. It is like "The Mummy" meets "The Old Dark House".

Years ago fortune hunter ran a foul of an Indian cult. Now years later he calls together the backers of his trip to try and make amends and to make right what happened.Or so he says.Actually there's more going on here than meets the eye, not to mention a potentially murderous gorilla.This is a very good, completely unremarkable and completely forgettable movie that is probably destined to end up lost in your memory. I know I have a hell of a hard time remembering which movie this is every time I run across it in my movie collection. I have to put it on to see what it is and more times than not I'll leave it on. Its not one that I actively search out to watch, even though I've seen it numerous times.Should you get the chance, you might want to give it a try, just don't expect to remember it in the morning.