What begins as a feel-good-human-interest story turns into a mystery, then a tragedy, and ultimately an outrage.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

An obnoxious archaeologist insults the locals in Asia and has to flee, but not before grabbing a hoard of Asian treasures as he scurries back to the U.S. His investors back home want part of the fortune that he brings back with him. So he invites them all to his two-story mansion, but informs them that an Asian "curse" befalls those in possession of the fortune. His proposition is that the investors stay in his house for awhile and see for themselves what happens.It's a silly story concept. But it does offer a neat little puzzle for whodunit fans to solve. The plot involves a séance, some incense, and tom-tom drums. There are multiple plot holes, at least one of which is revealed by means of dialogue. The solution to the puzzle includes a psychological concept called "conditioned response". But the application of it to this story is not very credible.Characters are poorly developed, which is not surprising, given the short runtime. There are eight or so suspects, none very interesting, apart from a grouchy old woman lording over her henpecked husband. The insurance salesman is a bit annoying. The cops are rather nondescript and bumbling. I could have wished for a Charlie Chan.In the version I watched, sound quality was not very good, and neither was the B&W cinematography. The visuals tended to be unnecessarily dark and somewhat blurry, probably a result of inferior technology in the 1930s. Casting is okay. But acting is exaggerated, also likely resulting from an era just emerging from silent films.Aside from poor visuals and sound, which we might expect for that era, the main problem is a not very credible story premise, compounded by poor characterization. Even so, the film might still appeal to viewers who like animated puzzles, which is what a whodunit film really is.

During the 1930s, there were quite a few spooky old house and murder mystery films--so the bizarre plot of this turkey isn't all that bizarre for the time. However, I call it a turkey because the film is so badly made on so many levels--you can't help but laugh at the ineptitude of the film makers and actors.The film begins in Asia. A really stupid white guy not only invades the sacred Temple of the Ape, but he killed one of the creatures there as well. When he's confronted by the priest, the idiot basically says he could care less about it. No wonder this jerk soon finds himself cursed! Oddly, throughout this entire scene you see gorillas--yes, African gorillas around the place. And, during the course of the film, they appear again. No, not real gorillas but the lame 1930s guy in a gorilla costume variety of gorillas.I was surprised but the folks in the temple did not kill the idiot and he soon returned home. Apparently, though, he appeared to believe in the 'curse of Kali (oddly, pronounced 'Kay-lie'--though a teeny bit of research would have shown them that this was the wrong pronunciation). Now if you believe you are cursed and those around you are cursed, what would you expect him to do? Yep, invite a whole bunch of folks to his house and see them one after the other brutally murdered. And, if you are one of the folks invited, you'd naturally stick around and just wait to be murdered--at least in the stupid bizarro world!! In addition to this awful plot (though it does have a bit of a nice twist near the end), you have very, very bad acting and direction. A few of the 'actors' had trouble delivering their lines and two of the characters were beyond poorly written. The insurance guy was a one-note obnoxious jerk and the sickly lady just sounded like she could have used a good rap in the mouth--both were incredibly annoying and seemed less real than having Huckleberry Hound play their parts. The only character I liked at all, and she WAY overplayed the role, was the grouchy old lady with the henpecked husband--at least she was entertaining. But otherwise, the best actor might just have been the guy in the gorilla suit--it was THAT bad!By the way, I was really torn by this film. Part of me wanted to give it a well-deserved score of 2. But, the film did have one nice twist and although bad, there are much worse films out there, so I'll be generous and score it 3. Too bad I can't give it a 2.5!

House of Mystery is ok as a 1934 mystery movie with a respectful dose of comedy thrown in. I was hoping for something a little scarier but that never came about. As a mystery, I thought it was below average but the strange and often comedic characters did keep things interesting. The movie doesn't drag or bog down, but that may be in large part to the fact that the film is only 62 minutes long. It never really met my expectations but had enough going for it that it managed to keep my interest. My impression of this movie is that it was just an ok movie, nothing special, but certainly not bad. If you see it, I think you might get some enjoyment out of it, but if you don't see it, you're really not missing too much. A respectable but forgettable 30s mystery movie.

The movie begins in Asia (India) in 1913, where the main character (a Mr. Prendergast) kills a monkey, & then moves ahead to 1932-33 in the US, where the Curse of Kahli follows him. This is a solid old dark house kind of movie that has comic elements & a seance. It's a treat for fans of the Hopalong Cassidy B western series to see a 47 year young beardless George Hayes in a small role. There are lots of murders, several surprises, & the mandatory man in the gorilla suit. Chanda (played by Laya Joy, AKA Joyzelle Joyner), after an early stint in the movie as an exotic dancer (she's does a good job at that) walks around the rest of the movie zombie-like, almost speechless. Fans of the old dark house genre will certainly enjoy this one.