Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Pretty Good

Absolutely Fantastic

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Boy! It took me quite some time to track down a copy of this film that I remembered seeing on HBO in the early 80's. I saw it then and remembered I rather liked the film as a small(OK not so small) young man. The film is obviously a remake of a film that has been done by the same title at least twice - really three times. Paul Leni's silent masterpiece from 1927. The Bob Hope version that is easily the most fun. Those two used the same title but John Willard's play was also used in 1930's The Cat Creeps. Let us not be naive; however, that this is it. The Willard ply has been the basis for any and all haunted house pictures since the 1927 version(The Old Dark House and James Whale owe it immensely). Creaky doors. Hidden panels. Masked killers. A will reading at night. A hand from a hidden panel. Eyes moving in pictures. All these and many more are due to the many versions of this wonderful play. Now, I digress with a brief history of the play to say that I do not agree with those that this film, the 1978 version, was unnecessary and trivial. Having just watched it again, I found it withstands the test of time rather well. Is it as good as the silent film or the Hope film? Probably not(definitely not the silent), but it is an enjoyable film nonetheless. The plot has been changed a bit here, but the general spirit is basically the same. What I do think is that this film clearly has the best acting. We get a nice array of British acting stalwarts: Dame Wendy Hiller as the lawyer Allison Crosby(Is it just me or did anyone else find her quite alluring in that well-tailored business suit?) I love Hiller's vocal intonations and think she is a might good actress and, even though she is an Oscar-winner, a generally forgotten actress. Anyway, she is in top form here. Then there is Daniel Massey playing what he plays best: irritating, gruffy, huffy-puffy men. Lovely, and I mean just lovely Carol Lynley. She looks like an angel in this film. She is an adequate actress as well and does a pretty good job with the comedic by-play she has with Michael Callan as the Bob Hope funny person. Callan desperately tries to be funny but mostly misfires. He is not horrible though. Honor Blackman and lovely Olivia Hussey(somewhat wasted I thought) play a "couple" in every sense of that word. Strangely I do not remember that at all in the 1927 or 1939 film versions. Spooky Beatrix Lehmann looks like she just walked out of her sarcophagus. She definitely has an air about her. Then we get Edward Fox chewing up the scenery in his small role as only he can, and Wilfred Hyde-White stealing the show, so to speak, as the deceased who talks to his relatives contemptuously through a film. He is always wonderful. The director Radley Metzger does a good job working with his cast(it is actually his screenplay being used here). Metzger uses his own vision for many things in the play - I mean he changes things quite a bit but the general spirit of the Willard play remains intact. There are some very creepy scenes from Hiller's body being found to the closing one with Fox, Lynley, and Peter McEnery. There is also a plethora of wonderful images from the icy vault that kept the secret films in tact for twenty years to the set pieces, costumes, etc... Producer Richard Gordon obviously used what financial resources he had well as this film looks very stylish. It is a stylish, fun film. Really its only real flaw was when it came out. Audiences were really not looking for stylish film in 1978. After all it was the dawn of the 1980's - what for me is the least stylish decade in all film history.

Spoilers, perhaps.What I found to be quite off-putting was the incestuous relationships of the cousins. All the male cousins dated Carol Lynley at one time in the past and Olivia Hussey and Honor Blackman have a homo-erotic type relationship as well, with Olivia playing the lipstick lesbian and Honor the butch. And no one even bats an eye about it all. Now I've never been to Britain but I can't imagine the single's pool is so dry one has to give a cousin a call.This film is a remake of an old stage play and it clearly has the stage setting: one location and an assortment of characters spending the entire evening there. Descendents of Cyrus West (Hyde-White) gather at his estate twenty years after his death to hear his will read by none other than Mr. West himself. Cyrus recorded himself before his death so he could call all his descendants a bunch of lecherous bastards--which he does often. One of the six relatives gathered at the house will inherit his fortune but if said individual doesn't survive the night or is deemed insane, everything goes to the next in line, who Cyrus will reveal in the morning.The plot thickens when a doctor from an insane asylum (Fox) visits warning the relatives of a homicidal maniac who believes himself a cat on the prowl. When Carol Lynley is awarded the inheritance, relatives become quite charming towards her again but all could be plotting her demise. But with the maniac hiding out inside the mansion, they may not have to plot too heavily for the cat-man may make Miss Lynley's evening her last.STORY: $$ (I fail to see why this stageplay was made for the screen as many times as it was. The entire twist ending is all but revealed when the insane asylum doctor shows up to issue his warning. He knows far too much about Cyrus' descendants than a person should. It doesn't take a seasoned mystery buff to pick up on the fact he is more than he lets on. Also the "kissing cousins" thing was off-putting and the attempts at comedy seemed too forced. They seemed like perfect antics for Bob Hope (who starred in the 1939 version) and not these actors).ACTING: $$$$ (The acting is top notch even if the screenplay isn't. Everyone does a fine job. I thoroughly enjoyed the cameo of Wilfird Hyde-White as the eccentric Cyrus West. He belittles his relatives from beyond the grave, calling them all leeches. Carol Lynley is in fine form as winner of the inheritance. Michael Callan does a good job as the only descendant of Cyrus who isn't a fixture in the papers. Wendy Hiller, as Cyrus' lawyer, was difficult to understand at times given her thick British accent. Olivia Hussey is marvelous as the aloof descendant who plays the doe-eyed dame bit perfectly. And Peter McEnery shines as Charlie the pseudo war hero. Seems he trumped up his war record to impress ol' Cyrus).NUDITY: None. There is plenty titillation however. Carol Lynley in her lowcut nighty, showing off as much cleavage as modesty will allow. There is also a homo-erotic lesbian scene when Honor rubs down Olivia Hussey in bed. They may not be kissing cousins but they sure are touch-and-rub-in-your-nighty cousins).

A will is read in a big, old, dark house. The beneficiary can only claim the inheritance if she survives the night. Otherwise, the fortune goes to a secondary beneficiary who will only be named should the first beneficiary die. Anyone could be that secondary beneficiary - and someone is willing to kill to find out who it is.The house is wonderful - lots of rooms and secret passages. I love a house with a sliding bookcase and that's exactly what you get here. The house creates a perfect setting for a murder mystery. Surprisingly, there is some pretty good atmosphere.Much of the movie is meant to be a comedy and that's where The Cat and the Canary falters. Had it been played straight, it might have been more enjoyable.The movie was directed by Radley Metzger. The fact that a porn director was able assemble a cast including Edward Fox, Olivia Hussey, Honor Blackman, and the wonderful Wendy Hiller is amazing. The fact that he was able to pull the whole thing off as well as he did is a miracle.

This old theatrical warhorse gets another outing in what is (to date) the only colour version of a classic play.There are some pleasantly swish performances from a good cast and neat direction from Metzger. Film takes a while to get going but the last reel packs in the action.Wilfred Hyde-White's appearance on film is a nice touch and he even gets to "host" the end credits. But the best moment is Edward Fox's spectacular entrance and his scene-stealing thereafter : a moment to treasure, especially his delivery of the line "We're just up the road"! (It'll make sense when you watch it).