Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

      The Haunted House

      Released Feb 21, 1921 21m Comedy Horror List
      Reviews 84% 250+ Ratings Audience Score Buster foils a bank robbery by spilling glue over the money. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (25) audience reviews
      Valerii Ege D It is the first horror movie -to my knowledge- shot in California. A perfect horror comedy, a fantastic movie. Buster Keaton is a genius and underrated. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/13/23 Full Review sean l A slapdash of half-cooked ideas that really don't fit together as a greater whole, despite writer / director Buster Keaton's best efforts. The first reel is your typical simple Keaton scenario, involving a young, lovestruck bank teller who carelessly tips an unfortunately-placed jar of glue into the till. This leads to a zany, if predictable, tarring and feathering of angry customers and confused managers alike, accompanied by the standard cavalcade of pratfalls and sight gags. Lightly amusing and occasionally inventive, but not his best material. The same can be said of the second act, an abrupt shift to the titular spooky mansion that's set about by a fearful band of would-be bank robbers. There's some light fun to be had with the trick staircases, trap doors and false walls, but for the most part this detour is thin and disconnected, lacking the sharp wit and playful recklessness of Keaton's better work. I'd rather watch him make something of nothing than flail about with lame set pieces and hammy, overwrought themes. Bare-bones and repetitive, this is about as close as prime Buster gets to a mailed-in performance. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Glue was that strong LOL well done Buster Keaton :D Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Keaton did parkour before it was popular. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member One of Buster Keaton's weaker shorts of the period. While the story and the gags rest on a solid premise, the structure is far looser than Keaton's usual two-reelers and falls victim to its own incoherency. However, while the film as a whole isn't remarkable, it contains a number of quite funny jokes and plays around with some wonderful sight gags. Categorized today as one of his "house films", Keaton uses the titular setting as a character of its own, and sets it full of booby traps, allowing it to act both as Keaton's comic partner and prop supplier. A few memorable scenes include Buster throwing a pot up in the air and moving a man's head in the way to knock him out and a delightfully surprising dream sequence in which he goes first to Heaven and then to Hell. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member While the typical Keaton fair we're used to, I was disappointed the titled haunted house was not well utilized at all. Too much bank shenanigans, not enough ghost nuttiness. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

      Photos

      View All The Haunted House photos

      The Haunted House

      The Haunted House (1921) The Haunted House (1921) The Haunted House (1921) The Haunted House (1921) The Haunted House (1921) The Haunted House (1921) View more photos

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Buster foils a bank robbery by spilling glue over the money.
      Director
      Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton
      Screenwriter
      Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton
      Distributor
      Metro Pictures
      Genre
      Comedy, Horror
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Feb 21, 1921, Original
      Runtime
      21m