#margaret waverton

[atomic-chronoscaph]

The Old Dark House (1932)

[byneddiedingo]

The Old Dark House (James Whale, 1932) Cast: Raymond Massey, Gloria Stuart, Melvyn Douglas, Boris Karloff, Ernest Thesinger, Eva Moore, Charles Laughton, Lilian Bond, Elspeth Dudgeon, Brember Wills. Screenplay: Benn W. Levy, based on a novel by J.B. Priestley. Cinematography: Arthur Edeson. Art direction: Charles D. Hall. Film editing: Clarence Kolster. The title itself has an air of gleefully giving away what you're about to see. It's an old dark house and it's the only refuge from a storm that has Philip and Margaret Waverton (Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart) and their friend Penderel (a slightly pudgy Melvyn Douglas) seeking shelter for the night. And when the disfigured butler Morgan (Boris Karloff, who else?) answers the door, you settle in for an evening of mostly tongue-in-cheek scary moments. The travelers are reluctantly invited in by Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger) and his sister, Rebecca (Eva Moore), and just as reluctantly given dinner. Their meal of roast beef and potatoes -- the line "Have a potato" has never been funnier -- is interrupted by another pair of shelter seekers, Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) and his companion Gladys (Lilian Bond). They're an odd couple but not a spooky one: He's an uncouth industrialist who earned his knighthood and she's a chorus girl. But she's not his mistress, she explains to Penderel as the two of them start to hit it off together. She and Porterhouse just like one another's company, she says, and he likes to appear "gay" -- in the older meaning of the word, though you can be sure that director James Whale knew the current meaning, since he and Laughton and Thesinger were. There's also a centenarian in the attic and a madman in a locked room, and of course the lights go out and everyone finds themselves in some kind of peril. The Old Dark House was thought to be lost for a long time, but it was discovered and restored, for which we all should be glad. 

[biblioquotables]

‘You see he happens to think I’m rather smart and fairly pretty. Probably you don’t.’

‘My dear Gladys, I think you’re astonishingly pretty. A staggerer.’ He didn’t though; and it suddenly occurred to him that he had met quite a number of prettier girls—belonging to his own class, as people still said—who hadn’t interested him at all, whereas this girl was most curiously attractive and exciting. Like a jolly good music-hall, he told himself. Well, whatever it was that drew him, it wasn’t the mere look of her, though that was agreeable enough.

‘You’d have to say that, wouldn’t you? Well, I don’t think I am very pretty, so there,’ she said, quite earnestly. ‘There’s honesty for you.’

‘Why, what’s the trouble?’

‘Oh, my face is too broad, to begin with; and my nose isn’t right. My figure isn’t either, not for these days when you ought to be very long and slender or a kind of boy.’

‘They’re all wrong. Don’t you worry about them,’ he remarked easily. ‘I detest these death’s head and crossbones women you see everywhere now.’ He remembered, with pleasure, her fine sturdiness, now so much neighbouring warmth. But he was still wondering what it was that attracted him. All her obvious characteristics, of course, her courage and common sense and jolly impudence, floated on a deep rich stream, a Thames itself, of feminine vitality. She made Margaret Waverton seem nothing but a faintly freshened and animated mummy. And the Thames must have come into his mind, because, in some queer fashion, she was mixed up with his feeling about London. It was as if his thought of her danced all the time before a backcloth of the London scene, the roaringly human streets of Cockneydom—of buses and evening papers and oyster bars and teashops and barrel organs and music-halls. That in itself, on such a night, might explain it all. But he had a feeling that it didn’t.

— J.B. Priestley, Benighted (1922)

[angelamontoo]

W-what if? The old dark house(1932) but instead of Phillip and Margaret Waverton and also the third guy, Herman and Jonathan went to the scary Femm house while on the run in the storm?

•Herman's really put through the wringer here. I'm thinking he mostly takes Margaret's role of being pestered by both Morgan and Rebecca in this version, but on top of that, he's fairly new to the whole murder business and his alliance with Jonathan at this point and is still constantly terrified of being caught and probably still not totally confident that he can trust Jonathan.

• I think Jonathan would be irritated by the weird family and end up arguing with Herman about the merit of killing them so they can at least sleep in peace while waiting for the storm to clear, but Einstein doesn't want to leave more of a trail than they already have and probably feels guilty about harming two eccentric old people and a mentally unwell man

•If chonny was annoyed by the Femms, lord knows how many years Porter would take off his life. Herman's not a fan either, but there are too many potential witnesses/bodies at this point

•I figure Jonathan doesn't know how he feels about Herman yet and wouldn't be comfortable expressing it infront of others-especially Porterhouse and Gladys, anyway(plus he'd be distracted wondering how easy it would be to kill Sir William and make it look like an accident so he doesnt have to bother killing everyone) So the fact that he continuously leaves poor Herm alone in this house full of weirdos probably makes more sense than Phillips lack of concern for Margaret's safety in the regular film

•Jonathan finally snaps and kills Morgan when he sees him chasing The doctor-convinced that the seething hatred he puts into every bash or stab or chop is totally just pent up frustration from dealing with those annoying chumps for the last few hours and in no way because he cares about Herman.

• It's only after Morgans dead that Horace says "You fool! Why do you think we kept him around??" And proceeds to tell them about Saul. To which Herman-whos been on edge since before they came to the house goes full cairo and shrieks something like "WHY THE BLEEDING CHRIST DIDNT YOU TELL US THAT BEFORE, YOU HAGGARD DOLT??" This takes Jonathan by slight surprise

•Ultimately Jonathan ends up being the one to kill Saul aswell and everyone else in the house remains comically oblivious to the fact that Herman and Jonathan are murderers-just assuming that Jonathan did what was right for the safety of everyone in the house in the moment. Porterhouse(with the sensitivity you'd expect from him, giving the fact that even if Saul was a terrible person, Rebecca and Horace lost a brother) claps Jobathan on the back and loudly congratulates him on his bravery. He's lucky Jonathan is very tired and had a good fill of murder for now

•Everyone sleeps and in the morning go their separate ways. Herman and Jonathan both have a lot to think about as they drive away from the old dark house

[filmabend]

Das Haus des Grauens – Film (1932)

In Das Haus des Grauens sind Margaret und Philip Waverton mit ihrem Freund Roger Penderel mit dem Auto auf dem Weg nach Shrewsbury.

In den Bergen von Wales werden sie von einem Sturm und sintflutartigem Regen überrascht.

Als die Straße weggespült wird, suchen sie schließlich Zuflucht im Hause der Femms...

[classicfilmfreak]

New Post has been published on http://www.classicfilmfreak.com/2018/10/18/the-old-dark-house-1932-starring-boris-karloff-charles-laughton-and-melvyn-douglas/

The Old Dark House (1932) starring Boris Karloff, Charles Laughton and Melvyn Douglas

If ever true, it’s true here: it’s “a dark and stormy night.”  O-O-O-o-o-o—

It’s October.  October is Halloween, and the best possible excuse to celebrate is to watch an old fright film.  To begin things, what about a motor drive through a storm?  How many horror films have thus started?  Countless ones.  So we arrive at this one house, knock on the door—there’s a cavernous echo from inside, of course—and we’re greeted by, hardly a lovely maid with a friendly smile, but by . . . well, it could be anyone from any number of movies and Gothic novels.

In this case—by some strange coincidence—we find ourselves in the plot of The Old Dark House.  Which means we’re greeted, neither by the aforementioned young lady nor anybody as inviting, but by a bearded, wild-eyed man with an unintelligible mumble.  Do we run in fear?  Ask for our money back, change channels? . . .

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No, as Alfred Hitchcock said so often, “It’s only a movie.”  No, we stay and meet some of the old gang from the horrors, this particular gang anyway.  After all, if the people we’ll meet—those already there and those who will arrive later, as uninvited guests always do in these films—if they aren’t part of any famous horror “gang,” like those from the Universal or RKO folks, then, to their credit or chagrin, they’ve appeared in at least one horror movie.

The few full-fledged horror society members in The Old Dark House who could be regarded as part of a “gang”—Boris Karloff, Ernest Thesiger and Gloria Stuart—have been assembled by their gang leader, that master of the macabre, Englishman James Whale.  This is his second horror film.  The year before, Frankenstein had begun his great trilogy in the genre that includes The Invisible Man (1933) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

The Old Dark House falls just a bit short of being in this esteemed company, but it’s still fascinatingly suggestive of things to come.  Critic William K. Everson wrote that it was better the second time and “is one of the real masterpieces of its genre.”  In the film’s general milieu and the style of the sets, it’s obviously from Universal and from producer Carl Laemmle (Jr.).  A horror gang member with undeniable credentials, he produced not only Whale’s great trio but also Dracula (1931), Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Mummy (1932) and many other similar titles.

Cinematographer Arthur Edeson, though perhaps more versatile, with a wider scope of genres than either Whale or Laemmle, shooting such diverse films as The Maltese Falcon (1941) andCasablanca (1942), does occasionally turn his camera toward the strange and terrible—in The Invisible Man and Frankenstein.  The Old Dark House contains some of his finest work.

In 1932, nearly all film scores were limited to opening and closing titles.  But in 1933, coming from RKO and with practically continuous music by Max Steiner, King Kong was something of an exception to the rule, an aberration, even.  Producers were still worried that audiences would wonder where the music was coming from.  While ground-breaking by its mere premature appearance, Steiner’s music isn’t particularly original.

In The Old Dark House, the main title is by the obscure David Broekman.  With no score heard again until the stock music of the end title, it’s assumed that the atmosphere, especially compared with the wall-to-wall scoring of later horror films, would be deprived of an essential support.  True in most cases, but here, taking music’s place, is the sound of rain and thunder, rustling curtains, banging shutters, slamming doors, creaking stairs and footsteps on hard floors.

For the first thirty-five minutes or so, nothing untoward really happens—a lot of talking and those unsettling sounds.  The screenplay, by Benn W. Levy, is based on Benighted by J. B. Priestley (not “Priestly” as listed in the credits), and additional dialogue is by R. C. Sherriff.  Whether from Priestley or Sherriff, the lines are often kinky and satirical, some even nonsensical, with presumed influence from Mr. Whale.

These characters and their actor-re-creators combine to make a simple enough plot.  There is an intentional pairing of the five weirdos of the household against the five strangers who, startlingly normal by contrast, show up to escape the pestilential rain.

But back to that fearsome man at the door. . . .

The Wavertons, man and wife, have driven through the storm in the Welsh countryside—Margaret (Stuart; her horror film credits include The Invisible Man and The Prisoner of Shark Island, 1936) and Philip (Raymond Massey, Arsenic and Old Lace, 1944).  With them, in the back seat, is their friend, Roger Penderel (Melvyn Douglas).

They had knocked on the door and been greeted by the mumbling Morgan (Karloff).  Now the head of the house, the quirky Horace Femm (the skeletal Thesiger, The Bride of Frankenstein, many more), comes to the door.  Inside, the Wavertons meet Horace’s crabby sister Rebecca (Eva Moore), who will later tell Margaret that living with them is her aged father, Sir Roderick Femm (played by actress  Elspeth Dudgeon, complete with beard!, and listed in the main title as John Dudgeon).

Then through the rainy night come two more travelers, Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton, Island of Lost Souls, 1932, and The Strange Door, 1951) and his girlfriend Gladys DuCane (Lilian Bond).

A lot begins to happen after those first thirty-five minutes, which have set the stage and titillated the audience with anticipation.  Roger romances Gladys, to Sir William’s indifference.  Hearing a voice like a child’s, Margaret and Philip discover Roderick in bed.  He warns them that an arsonist, his eldest son, Saul (Brember Wills), is locked in an upstairs room—overtones of the imprisoned wife in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.

Morgan sets Saul loose.  The clearly deranged Saul knocks Roger out and sets fire to a curtain.  When Roger regains consciousness, the two fight and fall from a balcony.  With Roger injured, Morgan tenderly cradles the dead Saul, then takes the body upstairs.

The storm finally over by morning, Gladys and Sir William tend to the injured Roger while Margaret and Philip drive off to find an ambulance.  As the Wavertons leave, Horace sardonically bids them farewell: “Goodbye.  Goodbye.  Bye.  Bye.  Nice to have met you.”  As if nothing has happened.  When Roger awakens, he asks Gladys to marry him.

But what of that wandering, mumbling Morgan?  And, oh—don’t forget!—Horace and his sister are still there, too, in this old dark house, perhaps ready to make mischief for any travelers who might—shall we say?—“foolishly” seek refuge from that next storm.

[valancourtbooks]

A torrential downpour forces Philip and Margaret Waverton and their friend Roger Penderel to seek shelter in an ancient, crumbling mansion inhabited by the strange and sinister Femm family. Determined to make the best of the circumstances, the benighted travellers drink and talk to pass the time while the storm rages outside. But as the night progresses and tensions rise, dangerous and unexpected secrets emerge. On the house’s top floor are two locked doors: behind one of them is the mysterious, unseen Sir Roderick Femm, while the other conceals something terrifying and deadly ... Benighted (1927), a classic ‘old dark house’ story of psychological terror, was the second novel by one of the most prolific and beloved British authors of the 20th century, J.B. Priestley (1894-1984). This edition includes an introduction by Orrin Grey, who discusses the connections between the novel and its film adaptation, James Whale’s The Old Dark House (1932).

Website

[theolddarkhouseanalysis]

The Old Dark House (1932)

The horror film, The Old Dark House, was released on October 20th, 1932. The director of the film was James Whale. Whale himself identified as a gay man at a time in which those who identified as a part of the LGBTQ+ community weren’t widely recognized nor accepted in society. Whale’s homosexuality plays an important role in the film and must be noted before deeper analysis. The Old Dark House tells the story of five travelers seeking shelter in a spooky house to withstand a storm. Philip and Margaret Waverton along with their friend Penderel are the first visitors to arrive. Later, they are joined by Gladys Perkins and Sir William Porterhouse. The travelers are hosted by the Femm family. Members of the Femm family include Horace, Rebecca, and Saul as well as their father Sir Roderick. In addition to the family living in the home, they have a butler named Morgan. The visitors quickly take notice of the family’s strange behaviors, appearance, marital and familial statuses, ages, mental and physical disabilities and much more. Although these things frighten the visitors merely on the fact that they differ from them, they have to remain in the house until the storm is over whilst holding onto the hope of making it out of the grip of the Femms. 

[nitrateglow]

All the movie questions with a 6 in them!

Top 5 performances of your favoriteactor and actress. 

I’ve answered for Buster Keaton and Barbara Stanwyck several times, so I’llgo with some other faves:

Lillian Gish

The Wind

The Night of the Hunter

Broken Blossoms

La Boheme

Way Down East

Boris Karloff:

Frankenstein/Bride of Frankenstein

The Mummy

The Black Cat

The Body Snatcher

Bedlam

Favorite [insertactor/actress/director] movies? 

Let’s say Jacques Demy!

Donkey Skin

The Young Girls of Rochefort

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

A Room in Town

Lola

Favorite movie characters. 

Lmao, here you go:

Nausicaa (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind); Mrs. Brisby (The Secret ofNIMH); Blizzard (The Penalty); Alex DeLarge (A Clockwork Orange); Lupin III andLady Clarisse (The Castle of Cagliostro); Erik (The Phantom of the Opera 1925); LukeSkywalker (the Star Wars movies); Boris Lermontov and Victoria Page (The RedShoes); Trina Sieppe (Greed); Letty (The Wind); Hjalamar Poelzig (The BlackCat); Susy Hendrix and Harry Roat Jr. (Wait Until Dark); Count Zaroff (The MostDangerous Game); the Monster and Henry Frankenstein (James Whale’s twoFrankenstein movies); Dr. Frankenstein (the Hammer Horror Frankenstein movies);Pazu, Sheeta, and Ma Dola (Castle in the Sky); Rick Blaine (Casablanca); LilyPowers (Baby Face); Kurt Anderson (Employees’ Entrance); the Boy/Sherlock Jrand the Girl (Sherlock Jr); Johnny Gray (The General); Steamboat Bill(Steamboat Bill Jr.); Alonzo the Armless and Nanon (The Unknown); Scarlett O’Hara(Gone with the Wind); Jack and Wendy Torrance (The Shining); Alice Hartford(Eyes Wide Shut); Kiki (Kiki’s Delivery Service); Carl Frederickson (Up); allthe kid characters (The Goonies); Farralone (Ace of Hearts); Igor (YoungFrankenstein); Georgia and Big Jim (The Gold Rush); Joan (The Passion of Joanof Arc); Irena (Cat People 1942); Mick Travis (If… and O Lucky Man!); ProfessorEcho (The Unholy Three 1925); Margaret Waverton and Rebecca Femm (The Old DarkHouse); Helen and Imhotep (The Mummy 1932); Frankie Bono (Blast of Silence);Clive Candy and Edith (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp); Belle and theBeast (Beauty and the Beast 1946 and 1991); Norma Desmond (Sunset Blvd);Scrooge (A Christmas Carol 1951); Judy/Madeline (Vertigo); Tajomaro and Masako(Rashomon); Catherine (Jules and Jim); Antoine (The 400 Blows); Sanjuro(Yojimbo); Hilda (Horus, Prince of the Sun); Anne Boleyn (Anne of the ThousandDays); Sheriff Bart (Blazing Saddles); Willy Wonka and Charlie (Willy Wonka andthe Chocolate Factory); Ayako (Osaka Elegy); Sam Lowry and Jill Layton(Brazil); Basil and Rattigan (The Great Mouse Detective); Henry Jones Sr.(Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade); Clark Griswold (Christmas Vacation);Eddie Valiant (Who Framed Roger Rabbit); Yondu (Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and2); Steve Zissou (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou); Marie Antoinette (MarieAntoinette 2006)

Sure even with this monster of a list, I’m forgetting some great characters!

Actress in need of new agent. 

Can’t think of anyone in particular.

A film that always makes you laugh.

Young Frankenstein

Best cinematography. 

Any post-1965 Kubrick movie.

[docrotten]

The Old Dark House (1932) - Episode 22 - Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“Have a potato.” So said Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger), one of our hosts as we all sat down to dinner. Join this episode’s Grue Crew as we seek shelter from the storm in The Old Dark House (1932). It seemed like a swell idea at the time. Erin Miskell was not able to join us on this one, so Chad Hunt, Joseph Perry, and Jeff Mohr had to do all the heavy lifting themselves. (They all shouted in their best impersonation of Joey Starrett in Shane,“Come back, Erin!”)

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 22 – The Old Dark House (1932)

The story of The Old Dark House begins with five weary travelers caught between avalanches on a stormy night and searching for a place to spend the night. The first to arrive are the Wavertons - Philip (Raymond Massey) and Margaret (Gloria Stuart) - and their travel companion, a light-hearted chap named Penderel (Melvyn Douglas). They are joined a short time later by Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) and his travel companion Gladys (Lilian Bond). Both groups of travelers are greeted at the door by Morgan (Boris Karloff), the owners’ mute and intimidating butler. They are soon joined by Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger) and his sister Emma (Eva Moore). Eventually, the Femms’ guests learn of the third Femm sibling, the insane and dangerous Saul (Brember Wills), and meet his 102-year-old, bedridden father, Sir Roderick Femm (Elspeth Dudgeon). Many high jinx ensue in tandem with seriously dreadful and life threatening encounters.

The second of director James Whale’s four entries in the Universal horror pantheon, The Old Dark House is rife with the director’s signature shadow play, comedic overtones, and attention to detail.  The entire film takes place during the clichéd dark and stormy night lit only by flickering candlelight, oil lamplight, and fireplace flame, but cinematographer Arthur Edeson still delivers clear but menacing depictions of the the goings-on in The Old Dark House. Boris Karloff receives star billing in contrast to his “hidden” credit in Frankenstein (1931), but still is not given a single line of dialogue to utter.

Chad and Jeff (he does go on) enthusiastically recommend repeated viewings of The Old Dark House. Joseph also recommends the film and promises repeated viewings in the future.

We plan to release a new episode every other week. The next episode in our very flexible schedule is The Ship of Monsters (1960) aka La Nave de los Monstruos, selected and hosted by Joseph Perry.

Please let us know what you think of Decades of Horror: The Classic Era and what films you’d like to hear us cover! We want to hear from you! After all, without you, we’re just four nutjobs talking about the films we love. Send us an email  (chadhunt@gruesomemagazine.com, erinmiskell@gruesomemagazine.com, jeffmohr@gruesomemagazine.com, or josephperry@gruesomemagazine.com) or leave us a message, a review, or a comment at GruesomeMagazine.com, iTunes, Stitcher, the Horror News Radio App, or the Horror News Radio Facebook group.

To each of you from each of us, “Thank you for listening!”

          Check out this episode!

[angelamontoo]

As long as I'm using this blog to talk about weird crossover headcanons I have that nobody asked for(I have a lot) how about Cairo and Phillip Waverton from The old dark house having had a fling at some point before the Maltese falcon takes place?

Ik Phillips with Margaret and this headcanon works just aswell if you assume it was before or after they were married, but while watching the movie I found Phillip to be a kind of a douche who does not seem to give a fuck about his wife, so I can see him just being a cheater. Whether Cairo knew about Margaret going into the affair or not is something I go back and fourth about.

This is another thing I go back and fourth on, but considering they're both British, I also like the idea of Phillip and Gutman being related-maybe Kaspers Phillips uncle or a much older cousin or something) and if so, Gutman could potentially be both how he and Cairo met and have something to do with how they broke up

[nitrateglow]

The Old Dark House is known for being quite comedic, a quality which disappointed 1932 audiences expecting a straightforward chiller like Whale’s previous horror movie Frankenstein, but which has made it a cult classic since its rediscovery in the 1960s. However, the film does boast creepy scenes which take a lot from the expressionist school of filmmaking. Case in point, the scene above.

As you might expect, TODH is about a group of travelers who are stranded at a creepy country mansion during a stormy night. Their hosts, the Femm family, are not the sort you’d want to be stuck with for an extended period of time, let alone for supper: the elderly Rebecca is a religious fanatic who reluctantly allows the guests to stay for dinner but “NO BEDS”; Horace is a cowardly but snarky non-believer who lives to torment his religious sister; and the butler Morgan is a mute loyal to the puritanical Rebecca but who goes full-on brute when drunk. In the scene above, Rebecca is leading Margaret Waverton (played by Gloria Stuart, who was just one of the most gorgeous women to ever appear on a movie screen) to a room so she can change out of her wet clothes.

As Margaret Waverton strips down to her slip, Rebecca decides to ignore her guest’s attempt at harmless small talk and instead drop her backstory. Most viewers probably figure by now that the Femms have issues; Rebecca shares that these issues are deep-seeded and date back decades. These issues include orgies, freak accidents, and long-seated resentment between the Femm family members. Then it gets creepy (creepier). Throughout this nasty expositional dialogue, Rebecca has been clinging to a (totally not phallic) bedpost, keeping her eyes locked on Margaret’s underclothes-clad form as she gets her evening gown together. Like the killjoy she is, she so helpfully reminds Mrs. Waverton that her dress will one day rot. Then Rebecca locks eyes on Margaret’s exposed upper chest and presses her fingers against Margaret’s bosom: “Finer stuff still, but it’ll rot too—in time!”Rebecca speaks much about sin and the need for sexual purity, but she seems to struggle with that throughout this entire scene.

Disgusted, Margaret orders Rebecca out (in a nice touch, Rebecca peeks into the mirror and preens herself quickly before leaving; another bit of hypocrisy), but that doesn’t stop the weirdness of this scene. No, things get WEIRDER and expressionistic. Margaret just wants to finish prepping herself up, but then (really for no reason) she opens the bedroom window; the rain and wind from outside buffet her body. She looks in the mirror and sees her own beautiful face distorted—eerily similar to Rebecca’s in fact. Margaret begins to hear Rebecca’s condemnation over and over in her mind (“Laughter and sin! Laughter and sin!”); images of the old woman’s warped reflection emerge, intercut with a close-up of Morgan’s scarred, leering face. It’s like a funhouse hall of mirrors from hell. The scene reminds me a lot of the drug-induced dream sequence from Murder, My Sweet, a film noir released twelve years after TODH, in which Dick Powell’s Philip Marlowe is pursued down a corridor by oversized, leering thugs and a white coat-clad doctor with a syringe.

Indeed this whole scene seems like a dream. Mental and physical reality blur. Is Morgan really peeping on Margaret or is this a part of her fevered hallucination? Already the film is creating a link between Rebecca and the brutish Morgan: both harbor repressed desires, though only the id-like Morgan will act on them once he hits the bottle.

I have come across some viewers who find Stuart lacking throughout the movie, but I enjoy her performance. This scene is a real highlight for her: so far, she’s been a spoiled, somewhat vain woman whose marital issues with her husband make her contrary and cranky. But after this encounter with the bitter, ugly Rebecca, it seems like Margaret is somewhat aware that she has just been awakened to the reality that her body will age and that old hurts can fester into something poisonous if left unchecked. I don’t believe Margaret Waverton is merely a decorative damsel. Like all the other travelers trapped in the mansion, she too has demons to face, now manifest in the form of the troubled Femm family.