Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

binapiraeus 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!

csteidler Some nice plot twists keep the viewer sitting up through this old dark house mystery featuring John Miljan as a playwright with a new play to read—a thriller, this time! Among a supporting cast of vaguely familiar faces, Richard Carle and Johnny Arthur lend comic relief as a Broadway producer and assistant accompanying Miljan. Producer Carle is constantly firing and un-firing assistant Arthur, which is cute but predictable; on another level entirely is their merry insistence for a good chunk of the film that the entire "mystery" taking place is part of Miljan's presentation of his new play, put on for their benefit!Nothing particularly unusual here, otherwise, but those of us who enjoy being trapped in a dark house on a stormy night with an escaped lunatic in the neighborhood will find an hour of fun. As a bonus, the final few minutes feature a couple of bursts of really ripe maniacal laughter.

Paul Andrews The Ghost Walks starts late on stormy night as theatrical producer Herman Wood (Richard Carle) & his secretary Homer Erskine (Johnny Arthur) are being driven from New York to Cragdale by playwright Prescott Ames (John Miljan) who is going to read Wood his latest play. However a fallen tree on the road prevents that as their car becomes stranded, the three decide to head to the nearest house for help & shelter. They arrive at a large mansion where Dr. Kent (Henry Kolker) lives, he is treating a patient named Beatrice (Eve Southern) who has psychological problems after the murder of her husband three years ago in that very mansion. With other assorted guests Ames, Woods & Erskine decide to stay the night but strange things begin to happen & when Beatrice is found dead it seems that there is a killer amongst them...Directed by Frank R. Strayer this obscure hard to find old dark haunted house type horror mystery from the 30's is alright but nothing overly special. The script by Charles Belden shoots it's load far too early for my liking, the main plot twist is revealed about 20 minutes in & isn't a bad twist at all but afterwards the films becomes a rather bog standard mystery with an extremely predictable & routine ending which I was surprised the makers went for purely because it is so obvious & because they tried to inject some mystery & suspense in the film which the ending is totally at odds with. Maybe back in the mid 30's audiences hadn't seen too many films like this but then again you would have to be pretty dumb not to figure this one out even back in the 30's. The character's are alright but the comedy relief Woods & his secretary Erskine become extremely annoying, the running gag about being stuck in a play is frankly irritating. On the bright side it only lasts for 63 minutes so at least it's short & sweet, it's watchable I suppose & will pass an hour harmlessly enough but it's not something that I think is anything special or would want to watch again anytime soon.Director Strayer does OK but of course you need to take into account the fact it was made back in the early 30's, just think about that for a moment because that's over 75 years ago. It was released on December 1st 1934 & that's literally a lifetime ago. The scenes set outside at night during a thunderstorm are quite atmospheric but the interior scenes are dull & bland. Unfortunately I think The Ghost Walks is a public domain film & therefore the print is not going to get cleaned up anytime soon, the print quality is atrocious with a huge whacking great white line running down the right hand side of the picture for the first 15 minutes & plenty of scratches, pops, crackles & damage for the rest of it. Even if a big Hollywood company decided to release it would they bother to remaster it? Would they really spend time, effort & money cleaning the prints up? I seriously doubt it'll ever happen & therefore The Ghost Walks will probably alway look terrible. Being shot in the 30's this is squeaky clean without any death's, violence or profanity so it's family friendly stuff all the way.Technically the film is fine considering it was made over 75 years ago, the black and white photography is alright although as I've mentioned the quality of the prints make it sometimes hard to sit through. The acting is OK but there are a few wooden performances here, actually now I think about it there's lots of wooden performances.The Ghost Walks is an OK time waster, it passes an hour but I doubt the twists will surprise anyone these days & I doubt it'll live that long in anyone's memory either. If you can actually find a copy & can live with the bad picture quality then it's just about worth a watch.

MartinHafer The film begins with a cranky old Broadway producer (exceptionally well-played by veteran character actor Richard Carle) being driven by a man hoping to sell him a story for an upcoming play. However, there is a bad storm and their car becomes stuck in the mud and so they are forced to look for some place to spend the night. Fortunately, there's a mansion nearby though it seems pretty odd that the people inside know the writer and he says he didn't realize this was the home of a man he knew (and despised). However, while this seems like bad and contrived writing, it is not....as this is all part of an elaborate ruse by the writer to have a group of actors in the home act out his plot. However, part-way through the ruse, the producer and his browbeaten assistant figure out that the murder mystery taking place in the home is fake and think the whole affair is pretty funny. What no one realizes, though, is that an escaped maniac is loose and he is about to enter this contrived little plot--making for some wonderful twists and turns. So when it seems that there is a real murder, the actors are truly terrified while Carle and his sidekick are convinced it's all a hoax. While I have explained some of the plot, there are many more aspects of the film you'll just have to figure out yourself--and it's surely to keep you entertained and guessing.Considering that this is a B-movie in the public domain, I certainly did NOT have very high hopes for this little film. However, I was thrilled when the film turned out to be a much better than average flick--with a very interesting and novel twist on the old clichéd plot about a dark and stormy night spent in a mansion. Plus, while the plotting of the film was very good, the dialog was even better--with lots of sparkling wit and a nice light-hearted pace. Full of pleasant surprises and well worth your time.