The Cat And The Canary is a late 1920s Universal horror film, which helped define/ set the tropes for the old dark house genre. It’s a blend of mystery, light comedy, and creepy/cobweb-covered horror- with some moments of clever/ interventive flare. Here from Eureka’s Masters Of Cinema is a new Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in a 4k scan of the film, two commentary tracks, and a good selection of other extras.

The Cat And The Canary is a silent film from 1927. It was directed by Stuttgart, Germany-born Paul Leni. Between 1917 and 1928 he helmed fourteen features- these went from an early silent version of Sleeping Beauty(1917), to fantasy horror Waxworks(1924). Going onto mystery horror The Man Who Laughs (1928), through to theatre set murder mystery The Last Warning (1928).

The film regards the opening of the will of Cyrus West- a rich fellow who became slightly unhinged by his pestering greedy relatives.  As we see in a neat visual flashback of a selection of cats surrounding a tiny man- the text details that Cyrus felt like a canary constantly attacked by his cat-like relative. We also see his will, which details it should be open till twenty years after Cyrus' passing.

We then zoom forward to his mansion twenty years on- where the darkened house's corridor rattle with wind-blown windows, we see a touch light going towards a safe- with black-gloved hands removing, then replacing documents. We next see a hand knock on a cobweb-coated door- it’s opened by Cyrus’s stern-faced housekeeper Mammy Pleasant (Martha Mattox), who has seemingly been looking after the house since her master passed.  At the door is the family's ageing & jagged teeth lawyer Roger Crosby(Tully Marshall)- he goes to get the will, and finds a moth inside & the document’s seal ripped- so he clearly knows they have been tampered with.

As the film unfolds a selection of relatives turn up at the house- among them are geeky, twitchy, and bespectacled Paul( Creighton Hale), and  Cyrus’s glamorous/ though slightly mysterious daughter Annabelle(Laura La Plante).  We find out a madman has escaped from a nearby hospital- and as the will is read, the relatives go to bed the creepiness amps up. We have clawed hands dragging folk away from secret passageways,  eerier figures hovering in darkened corridors, and a few creepy visitors- like a bald and long ragged ragged-haired doctor.

The film runs at one hour & twenty-six minutes- starting off as a blend of creepy-edged mystery with touches of humour, later moving into more horror-bound tropes. I’d say the pacing is a little uneven at points with lulls/pile-ups of dialogue occurring- but the film is based on a play, so this can be excused. Without a doubt, it’s a highly influential & important film, and it’s great to see the origin of so many horror tropes which have been used again & again over the years.

Moving onto this recently released region B Blu-Ray, and we have a 4k scan of the picture- this looks truly amazing for a film from the 20s- with such clarity & detail in the print.

On the extras side, we get a nice selection of things-  first off we get two commentary tracks- each featuring two notable critics/ experts.  The first is with Kim Newman and Stephen Jones. And the second is with Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby. I played the latter of these two. They start off by talking about the use of hands in the film, and touching on the original 1922 play the film is based on.   We get quotes from the New York Times review of the time. They discuss the use of moveable camera work.  We get chat about the new colour tints in this scan, and they point out notable bit-part actors. They talk about elements that weren't in the original play, but in the film. They discuss similar plays, which were made into films like The Bat. Later on they talk about some of the lower shots, and how they were done.  They chat about storytelling use of lighting. Discuss its premiere in both the UK & US, as well as giving more review quotes.  A gold standard track.

Otherwise, we have Mysteries Mean Dark Corners ( 29.02) this is a video essay with David Cairns & Fiona Watson. This is split between a history of the old dark house trope in plays & films- dating back to The Ghost Breaker- the play in 1909 and the film in 1914. And the discussion regarding the film to hand- a most interesting extra!.  Next, we have Pamela Hutchinson on The Cat and the Canary(13.04) which finds the writer and film critic talking about the film. Phuong Le on The Cat and the Canary( 9.11)  it finds the film critic discussing the film. A Very Eccentric Man & Yeah, a Cat! – two extracts from John Willard’s original play( around five minutes). Lucky Strike ( 0.53) Paul Leni gives a full-throated endorsement to the product that got him through filming The Cat and the Canary.

The finished release comes with a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Richard Combs, Craig Ian Mann, and Imogen Sara Smith.

It’s wonderful to see this classy/ extras piled release of The Cat And The Canary from Eureka- with a marvellous 4k scan. This has an edition of 2000, which I’m sure won’t hang around long.