The Ghost Walks

In THE GHOST WALKS, a group of travelers gets stranded at a huge mansion on a -wait for it- dark and stormy night.

A strange, apparently unbalanced woman named Beatrice (Eve Southern), just happens to be staying at the house on the anniversary of her husband's murder. She spends most of her time wandering around the place, and speaking to someone that only she can see.

During dinner, the lights go out, and the fun begins. Mystery, murder, and thrills commence.

This is indeed another take on the "old dark house" idea, only this time there's a nice twist involved. The horror and comedic elements are balanced well. Throw in an escaped mental patient and a "shock" finale, and we're off!...

Now, this movie, made in the middle of the great wave of 30s' mysteries, certainly has got ALL the 'necessary' ingredients: the isolated old house, the thunderstorm outside, psychic ongoings, turning bookshelves, eyes staring out of portraits, secret passages... But at the same time it's also one of the very first, and best, spoofs on the genre - and the scary moments are really masterfully mixed with the comic ones!

It all starts (once again) with a car being stuck in the mud in the middle of nowhere, with only an old mansion for the three travelers to seek shelter from the rain: a theatrical producer, his secretary, and a playwright. But the scenery changes as soon as the inhabitants of the house greet the playwright: they're old acquaintances, although not all of them seem to be on very friendly terms with him. And then a strange woman makes her appearance: dressed all in black and staring in an absent-minded way, she steps down the stairs - and scares the travelers with her strange talk about danger and murders in this very house... The host explains that she's his sister, and she's been mentally disturbed ever since her husband was murdered right there in the dining room three years ago - and as soon as they sit down to dinner, she starts talking to her invisible dead husband, a chair starts to move all by itself, the lights turn out, a frightening death mask is seen; and when the lights are on again, the mysterious woman has disappeared...

But as soon as the producer and the secretary, both scared to death, have disappeared into their room, the atmosphere changes: the playwright and his friends, who turn out to be actors, are very much amused and pleased by their 'rehearsal' of his new play, which he hopes the producer will accept this way! Meanwhile, the producer finds a copy of the script in his room, and so he also thinks he knows what's going on, and decides to join in with the 'fun' - only that a short while later, the 'play' is ended suddenly when they find the actress who had impersonated the disturbed woman is found dead behind a door...

From this point on, the movie keeps confusing us so much that sometimes we really don't know where the 'plot within the plot' stops and the 'real' horror begins... But the balance between mystery and comedy is being held really perfectly throughout the whole movie, so it should provide unforgettable entertainment for ALL classic movie fans with a sense of humor - a much underestimated little B movie gem that should certainly get more attention by film historians, so that a wider audience will be able to get to know and enjoy it!

This is a surprisingly entertaining comic mystery, given that it is mostly low-budget and has a low-profile cast. "The Ghost Walks" is an old-fashioned gloomy house mystery story. Although a lot of the plot elements are old standbys of the genre, there are some nice twists, and the low-key humor usually works fairly well, too.

The film begins with a playwright, a theatrical producer, and the producer's assistant getting stranded in the country and seeking refuge in a large, gloomy old house. The playwright happens to know the occupants, and it turns out that the house had been the scene of a still-unsolved murder some years previously. At dinner, the producer and his assistant listen uncomfortably as everyone else discusses the old murder. Suddenly the lights go out, and then - then comes a pretty nice twist, which most viewers should find surprising and satisfying. It sets the stage for the rest of the action, and is quickly followed by some other twists.

The story that follows is routine in parts, but it is entertaining and has just enough unpredictability to keep the viewer's attention until the end. There is a lot of light humor, most of which is handled pretty well by the cast.

If you like old-fashioned mystery stories that do not take themselves too seriously, you will probably find "The Ghost Walks" worth watching.

I have this movie on a collection of inexpensive B-movies. It's not restored, in fact, the audio was difficult to discern for the first few minutes.

At first, it seemed like a typical haunted house film, and feels very much like the forerunner of Clue, Murder by Death, House on Haunted Hill, etc.

About a half hour into the film, the storyline takes a really interesting twist--and it goes from being a cliché melodrama to something entirely different, and far more entertaining than I had initially thought.

Check it out, it's a great deal of fun, even if the long clips and wider shots (and near lack of music score) make it feel a bit creaky by today's standards.

Your average story of people being stranded in the road on a dark and stormy night and they seek nearby shelter with a stranger who happens to have a very large mansion. Then strange and spooky things happen. I actually enjoy this clichéd scenario with horror films.

This one is cute. It's sometimes funny, sometimes interesting, sometimes with neat imagery. The story of course is nothing special but it's a fun movie to watch. Although it's not a film to seek out but it is one that is pretty good to watch from a film pack or a free copy to view online if you happen upon the film and like older cute "dark and stormy night" films.

I would describe this film as a comedy-mystery horror - and if you like that kind of movie then you might like this one.

6/10