Popular reviews

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  Review by Ryan Rosu ★★

  An unnecessary remake of The Last Warning. It’s an okay plot but, without Paul Leni’s direction, the film really suffers. Leni’s wonderfully expressionistic sets and dynamic camerawork made that previous film among the best of the Universal silent horrors, second only to his own The Cat and the Canary, and Joe May’s version simply cannot compare.

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  Review by Kari ★★½

  I wish the copy I saw was better. There is nothing like watching a crisp black and white movie! I found this to be an entertaining whodunnit. Even though he plays about the same character in everything I've seen him in, I get a kick out of El Brendel every time.

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  Review by PUNQ ★★★

  A sound remake of one of my silent (part-talkie) favorites The Last Warning (1929). A murder mystery taking place in a seemingly haunted theater with the police staging a stage production to catch the murderer! Tiny bit routine, but this was always a good mystery and the actors put on enough of an effort to make it a fun one! I would still go for the 1929 version of the story, but if one is allergic to silents then this is a worthy replacement.

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  Review by Paul Petroskey ★

  Horror month movie #10
  Far far inferior remake of 1929's THE LAST WARNING. Regurgitating (by this time) over-used plot contrivances in the blandest way.

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  Review by Jessica Pickens ★★★½

  This was a surprisingly good time with some eerie moments.
  It IS pretty scary to see El Brendel's name in any film cast, but thankfully his role is pretty small.
  More here: cometoverhollywood.com/2021/10/28/watching-1939-the-house-of-fear-1939/

  While not streaming anywhere (of course), you can find this through the grey market DVDs easily.

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  Review by Josh Dean ★★★

  A throwaway mystery plot just serves as a vehicle for secret passageways and poison darts. More of a comedy than one might expect going in. Ultimately an easy and fun watch despite being very messy.

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  Review by Samantha Glasser ★★★½

  The leading man is mysteriously murdered on stage. Years later, someone agrees to produce the show with the same cast in order to find the killer. It is an exciting film with a fast pace and an exciting ending.

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  Review by Richard Nelson ★★

  This took some tracking down (it seems to only be available as a VHS rip, and even then it’s not easy to find), but after Kim Newman and Stephen Jones recommended it on their Last Warning audio commentary, I really wanted to see it.

  Unfortunately, I thought their praise was misplaced: compared to the Leni film, this has all the cinematic quality of a mediocre TV movie. Maybe if I wasn’t watching it in almost direct comparison it would come off as an ok murder mystery, but even given that benefit it’s sorely lacking in tension or atmosphere. As it soulessly re-enacts the plot beat-for-beat, the only other thing it can offer is an increase in comedy, but that it isn’t even particularly funny.