This movie is almost two different films in one. The first half sets up the plot, and is a bit stiff. Something curious happens in the opening dinner scene. There's a lightning strike, and the lights go out. Then they go back on. Then in the next shot, they're out again. And then on. it's never clear what's going on with the lights, but they come back on for the rest of the movie. Odd.
The movie is about a rich, crotchety old man and the dispersal of his fortune. Once the premise is set up and the murder occurs, a bumbling detective (Fred Kelsey, from multiple Three Stooges shorts) shows up and the film gradually shifts into an old house/mystery/comedy, with strange, masked figures chased through the house, screaming women and dramatic music. The change certainly wakes up the film, and is quite entertaining.
If you like this genre and you stick with it, the movie pays off pretty good. It's not great cinema, but worth watching after the lights go out.
The movie is about a rich, crotchety old man and the dispersal of his fortune. Once the premise is set up and the murder occurs, a bumbling detective (Fred Kelsey, from multiple Three Stooges shorts) shows up and the film gradually shifts into an old house/mystery/comedy, with strange, masked figures chased through the house, screaming women and dramatic music. The change certainly wakes up the film, and is quite entertaining.
If you like this genre and you stick with it, the movie pays off pretty good. It's not great cinema, but worth watching after the lights go out.