THE RED HOUSE (1947) Blu-ray Review

The Red House (1947) d. Delmer Daves (USA) (100 min)

Pete Morgan (Edward G. Robinson), a struggling one-legged farmer who dotes on his adopted daughter Meg (Allene Roberts) to the point of smothering her, and while he grants her wish to have a schoolmate Nath (Lon McCallister) come over and help out with chores, it’s clear that he’s aware of her more-than-friendly feelings toward the lad. Luckily, he’s dating the local hottie Tibby (Julie London), so there’s less to fear, but when Nath insists on taking a shortcut through Pete’s backwoods property, we realize that the patriarch has some serious hangups about the woods and the secrets hidden therein. (No surprise, they include a certain red house.)

Daves, who directed the classic Westerns 3:10 to Yuma, Jubal, and Broken Arrow, got his start – like so many other directors in the 1940s – dabbling in the crisp shadows of film noir, and while this Robinson vehicle is not preoccupied with criminal underworlds and double-crosses, it’s steeped in atmosphere so thick you could swim in it.

While it’s arguable that the film (based on George Agnew Chamberlain’s 1945 novel of the same name) is not a genuine horror effort, there is no denying that the mysterious forest immediately announces itself as a strange and terrifying presence. Highlighted by Miklos Rozsa’s magnificent score (Double Indemnity, Ben Hur), the woods are always haunting Pete’s mind and creating a mystery for Nath and Meg to uncover, perhaps to their own detriment.

Hollywood legend Robinson (All My Sons, The Cincinnati Kid) is in superb, self-tortured form, with Judith Anderson (Rebecca, And Then There Were None) offering excellent support as his spinster sister. Roberts (making her screen debut) and McAllister (in one of his first credited roles after 10 years of bit parts) are likable young leads, and future torch singer and Emergency! TV star London lends just the right combination of self-centered entitlement and the wounded neediness of those who have spent their lives being perpetually sought after.

Western stalwart Rory Calhoun (The Silver Whip, TV’s The Texan), best known to horror fans as Farmer Vincent from Motel Hell, makes a smashing early appearance as the tall, dark, and sinister gatekeeper of the off-limits property.

Cinematographer Bert Glennon served as DP for House of Wax (1953), Stagecoach (1939) (and a bunch of other stuff for John Ford), and the 1923 version of The Ten Commandments for Cecil B. DeMille. (I’m not surprised at the pedigree, considering his outstanding work here, but still, DANG.) There is also an early scene that immediately had me thinking about a similar “running from nothing… or is it something?” sequence in 1957’s Curse of the Demon, and one can’t help but wonder if Jacques Tourneur was inspired by this earlier offering.

While there are not a wealth of extras as in Film Masters releases past (nor is the print anything special, with a fair amount of scratches and noise to the picture; unusual for an FM release), there is a marvelous audio commentary track from film noir scholar Karen Burroughs Hannsberry, who parses the differences between the source material and Daves’ completed script and celebrates the film’s ability to live in multiple subgenres as an asset rather than a detriment. The package is topped off with Chad Kennerk’s 10-page liner-notes insert and a cardboard slipcover featuring alternate artwork.

Well worth checking out for genre fans looking for something a little different than the usual black-and-white monster scares, The Red House is available now on Blu-ray from Film Masters (check out past reviews of Killer Shrews/Giant Gila Monster, Tormented, and The Devil’s Partner).

You can pick it up today at Movie Zyng Warehouse (because seriously, F*CK AMAZON).

Special Thanks to AV Entertainment as the sponsor of the review copy.