Summary
Lucy Knowles, a socialite of considerable means, finds herself the unexpected proprietor of a grim historical relic: an authentic Chinese prison ship. Rather than a vessel for the high seas, this ship serves as a macabre centerpiece for a local amusement park, turning a tidy profit through the curiosity of the morbid. Enter Charlie Bong, a predatory opportunist who recognizes the ship's untapped financial potential and attempts to coerce Lucy into a quick sale. Sensing a rat, Lucy enlists a legal duo, George and Phil, to inspect her new asset. Their journey to the waterfront devolves into a kinetic nightmare when their taxi fails on a steep incline, triggering a slapstick pursuit that ends with the lawyers—and an unfortunate bystander—literally launched onto the ship's deck. What begins as a routine property walkthrough quickly turns into a survival exercise as a paranoid caretaker activates the ship’s ancient torture mechanisms, trapping the group in a subterranean labyrinth of trapdoors and iron maidens.
Synopsis
Lucy Knowles, a rich young girl, has just fallen heir to a Chinese prison ship and she hires a couple of lawyers to look after her interests. The prison ship is a valuable piece of property as it is a money-maker-a concession at a local amusement park. Charlie Bong, a half -breed Chinese, realizes its value and tries to induce Lucy to sell it to him. She refuses and starts with her lawyers to see the ship. On the way the lawyers take a cab but run out of gas on a hill. The car chases them down one hill and up another, finally cooping them up on the rear bumpers and depositing them, along with a gentleman of color they have picked up on the way, on the gang-plank of the ship. At the entrance of the ship they are greeted by the sight of several of the instruments of torture u d on the old ship and the colored gent gets the first shock. While they are looking over the ship a trap door opens, depositing the visitors into the under-deck dungeons filled with more torture instruments. George and Phil, the lawyers get separated from each other and find themselves in various parts of the ship. An old Chinese caretaker, seeing the strangers tries to entrap them in the various torture machines while the visitors seek to escape.
Review Excerpt
"Is Much Mystery worth your time in the modern era? Short answer: No, unless you are a dedicated historian of silent-era slapstick or possess an academic interest in 1920s racial caricatures. This film is a frantic, often baffling artifact that prioritizes physical momentum over narrative logic.This film is for the silent cinema completist who enjoys the 'Old Dark House' genre and early physical comedy. It is absolutely not for anyone seeking a coherent plot or those who are easily offended by th..."
