Film number two in the Dark Crimes collection is The Red House, a 1947 adaptation of a novel by the same name written by George Agnew Chamberlain. The plot revolves around high school chums Meg (Allene Roberts) and Nath (Lon McCallister). Nath is in need of part time employment due to a decrease in business at his mother's shop, so Meg encourages him to come work for her adoptive father, Pete (Edward G. Robinson).
At the end of his first day on the job, Nath intends on taking a shortcut through the woods to quicken his journey home. Pete warns against it, spinning a tale of screams in the night; terrors unknown to the outside world. The Red House is out there, Pete tells Nath, and all who encounter it are sent fleeing into the night.
I really enjoyed The Red House. The basic premise is instantly intriguing, but as with The Mandarin Mystery, the tone initially feels cockeyed. When Nath announces his decision to venture into the woods, it feels more like you're watching an old-school horror film than a dark crimes thriller. The way dialog, music and sound effects are used to ratchet up suspense in those early scenes made me feel as though the Wolfman or the Mummy would come shuffling out of the woods. Talk about mixed messages.
Speaking of sound, the Mill Creek Entertainment version of the film features a disaster area where the audio track should be. For the most part I was able to follow what was going on, but there are moments scattered throughout when the dialog is completely indecipherable. This is particularly problematic when music and sound effects are being utilized at the same time. It's one thing for an elderly sound mix to be in rough shape, but it's another thing entirely for a third of your film's audio to sound like the blasting static you encounter on a portable radio while vacationing in Silent Hill. With a 100 minute runtime, this kind of audio quality can turn even the most engaging movie into an extremely long sit.
Picture fidelity isn't much better. The film print looks as though it was run through a briar patch on its way to be transferred to a digital format, and I suspect Mill Creek Entertainment used a duplicate of a duplicate of a duplicate. Scenes set at night tend to be much too dark, while daytime scenes look as though they were lit by the gentle, soft-focused glow of a nuclear explosion. I spent about two-thirds of the movie wondering why the skin wasn't painfully peeling from the actor's bones, as well as waiting for Ghouls, Super Mutants and Radscorpions to invade Pete's farm.
At the end of his first day on the job, Nath intends on taking a shortcut through the woods to quicken his journey home. Pete warns against it, spinning a tale of screams in the night; terrors unknown to the outside world. The Red House is out there, Pete tells Nath, and all who encounter it are sent fleeing into the night.
I really enjoyed The Red House. The basic premise is instantly intriguing, but as with The Mandarin Mystery, the tone initially feels cockeyed. When Nath announces his decision to venture into the woods, it feels more like you're watching an old-school horror film than a dark crimes thriller. The way dialog, music and sound effects are used to ratchet up suspense in those early scenes made me feel as though the Wolfman or the Mummy would come shuffling out of the woods. Talk about mixed messages.
Speaking of sound, the Mill Creek Entertainment version of the film features a disaster area where the audio track should be. For the most part I was able to follow what was going on, but there are moments scattered throughout when the dialog is completely indecipherable. This is particularly problematic when music and sound effects are being utilized at the same time. It's one thing for an elderly sound mix to be in rough shape, but it's another thing entirely for a third of your film's audio to sound like the blasting static you encounter on a portable radio while vacationing in Silent Hill. With a 100 minute runtime, this kind of audio quality can turn even the most engaging movie into an extremely long sit.
Picture fidelity isn't much better. The film print looks as though it was run through a briar patch on its way to be transferred to a digital format, and I suspect Mill Creek Entertainment used a duplicate of a duplicate of a duplicate. Scenes set at night tend to be much too dark, while daytime scenes look as though they were lit by the gentle, soft-focused glow of a nuclear explosion. I spent about two-thirds of the movie wondering why the skin wasn't painfully peeling from the actor's bones, as well as waiting for Ghouls, Super Mutants and Radscorpions to invade Pete's farm.
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| That's the grin of a man who hasn't yet realized the sun has exploded. |
Having said all of that, there is a bright side: in 2012, a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack was released by Film Chest and HD Cinema Classics. The movie was restored using the original 35mm elements, which means that despite aggressive use of DNR to clean up film grain, the Blu-ray looks and sounds far better than the el cheapo DVD included in the Mill Creek Entertainment collection. These 50 movie sets tend to MSRP for around $10, so you get what you pay for.
Moving away from technical specs, I have to give a shout out to the film's cast. Everyone involved gives a fairly good performance, but special mention must be made of Edward G. Robinson. A performer known largely for playing mob heavies and gruff curmudgeons, Robinson gives a performance here that is equal parts tender and uncanny. I can't say too much without spoiling the plot -- that's right, I refuse to spoil a 67-year-old movie -- but he manages to flip from sympathetic to unnerving and back again at the drop of a hat. It takes a certain kind of performer to pull that off, and Robinson definitely fits the bill.
Allene Roberts also deserves praise for her turn as Meg. She easily embodies a character who is stoic yet vulnerable; reserved yet warm. When she smiles it lights up the screen, but when her demeanor shifts toward a broodier mood she takes on the icy stillness of a porcelain doll. She never smolders for the camera in the same way as co-star Julie London -- an actress who absolutely scorches the screen with her femme fatale allure -- but there's something extremely appealing about her nevertheless. It's kind of amazing that Nath never notices Meg noticing him. Teenage boys are dumb.
So that's The Red House, done and dusted. If you're into film noir and psychological thrillers, I suggest picking up the stand alone blu-ray version. I probably will, as it'd be nice to see the thing again with dialog that isn't about 30% incomprehensible.
Star Rating: 4/5
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