The Haunted House

1921
6.9| 0h19m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 21 February 1921 Released
Producted By: Joseph M. Schenck Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

A bank teller who becomes involved with a hold-up, counterfeiters and a theatrical troupe posing as spooks in a haunted house.

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Joseph M. Schenck Productions

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Reviews

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Tom Gooderson-A'Court Buster Keaton's 1921 short stars the actor/director as a New York City bank teller. Keaton being Keaton soon gets into trouble, spilling glue all over the counter and accidentally stopping a robbery before ending up in a haunted house.The film begins with a shot of 1921 Wall Street. I always like to see exterior shots in silent movies as it's a rare chance to see the real world as it was back then. The action then goes inside a small bank. One of the funniest moments in this sequence is the sight of a customer with glue on his trousers getting stuck, backside to backside with another bank teller.The second part of the film takes place in a large house in which counterfeiters have set up shop. This is the funniest part of the film and features a recurring gag about some collapsing stairs which doesn't get old. The counterfeiters have filled the house with pretend ghosts in order to scare off police and intruders and Keaton finds himself confronted with scare after scare, none of which are really scary but in fact quite funny. We're talking men with sheets over their heads and others dressed as skeletons. The best part of the second act is two such skeletons who construct a man who appears, through cunning editing to come to life. The film ends with a classic scene which has Keaton receive a blow to the head and climb stairs to heaven. When he gets to the top, the stairs collapse (again) and he plummets into hell. All is well in the end though as when he wakes up in the arms of his love interest.This isn't the best Keaton film but I've also seen worse. Its well worth checking out and at only 21 minutes won't take too much time to do so. I laughed about nine or ten times in those 21 minutes which is a very good laugh per minute ratio and much higher than any 21st Century comedy I've seen.http://attheback.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/haunted-house.html
MartinHafer This is one of MANY shorts that buster Keaton made over his long career. None of them were intended as deep entertainment but contained a lot of funny low-brow humor--full of pratfalls galore! Well, this one is certainly no different.Buster is a bank teller who is accused of cheating the bank and having passed forged money. The interminably long scene involving glue and money, by the way, is the absolutely WORST part of the film--it goes on way too long. However, once he is fired and accidentally goes to the haunted house (how he knew to go there since it was the crooks' hideout is amazing), the film picks up a lot of speed. The fun intensifies as the crooks try very hard to scare Buster. When he quickly figures that the ghosts are fake, then the crooks try to kill him! Watch the film to find out the cute conclusion and have a few laughs along the way.
Polaris_DiB I have to give Buster (more) props: carrying on a single gag through many different encounters and many different characters and keeping the looks of confusion and chaos fresh the entire time is very hard to do, but he does it here, and admirably. Anyone who's seen this and Benny and Joon will recognize that little flick Keaton does with his arm was mimicked so incredibly perfectly by Depp that it's difficult to separate the two images as distinct.But about this, that is, this short, it's typical Keaton fun-fest: machinery, badguys, booby traps, and hilarity, all intersperced with really clever titles. However, this one's plot didn't really flow as well as most of the stuff I've seen of his. I'm still rather unclear as to how Keaton's character ended up in the house in the first place. That said, the surreal moment with the skeletons building the living man made it all very worth it. Watch that shot, it's amazing.--PolarisDiB
Snow Leopard This is a fun short feature notable for some particularly good visual gags. The plot is featherweight, and is just an excuse for getting the characters together in the same place, but there is some good comic material. The introductory part drags on a little; it has some funny moments but draws out the same gag much longer than it warranted. It's when everyone gets to "The Haunted House" that the real fun begins. There are lots of creative visuals and plenty of zany activity, and there are some carefully designed gags worth watching a couple of times. There's also a recurring gag that works well and that sets up a clever finale. If you're a Keaton fan, you will probably enjoy this one.