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5.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Unholy Night remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Is this worth watching today? Honestly, yeah, but only if you have a soft spot for movies that feel like they were filmed inside a giant humid humidor.
If you need fast pacing or clear audio, you are going to absolutely hate this thing. It is slow as molasses and everyone speaks with that weird, forced clarity of early sound films. 🌫️
The story starts with these officers from the same regiment getting strangled one by one in the London fog. It is a classic 'Old Dark House' setup where they all go to Lord Montague's estate to solve the mystery.
The fog in the opening scenes is so thick you can barely see the actors. It looks like someone left a theatrical smoke machine on high and just walked away to grab lunch. 🥪
You can almost hear the director, Lionel Barrymore, screaming at everyone to stand perfectly still so the hidden microphones can pick up their lines. It creates this very stiff, awkward energy that actually makes the movie feel creepier than it probably should.
Roland Young plays Lord Montague and he is basically the only person who feels like a real human being. He has this dry, tired delivery that makes it seem like he’s bored of being in a murder mystery. 🥱
I noticed that one guy, I think it was John Loder, spends about five minutes just staring at a doorway with the most intense expression I've ever seen. The camera just lingers on him for way too long until it becomes funny.
Then there is Boris Karloff. He isn't the star here, but he shows up as a fake mystic named Abdul and he is easily the best part of the whole hour and a half.
Even with a giant fake beard and a turban, his voice is just so distinctive and cool. He brings this weird gravity to a scene involving a seance that would have been totally ridiculous otherwise. 🔮
The seance scene is probably the highlight for me. Everyone is sitting around a table in the dark, and the shadows on the wall are actually pretty effective for 1929.
There is a moment where a hand reaches out from behind a curtain and it is so obviously a stage hand, but I didn't even mind. It reminded me of those older silent films like Born to Battle where the stunts were just... right there in your face.
The audio quality is... well, it's 1929. There is a constant hissing sound in the background that sounds like someone is frying bacon in the next room. 🥓
Sometimes the actors shout their lines at the furniture because that’s where the mics were hidden. It makes the emotional scenes feel like a shouting match between people who don't really like each other.
The plot is a bit of a mess if you think about it for more than five seconds. The killer’s motivation is basically 'I am crazy and I hate my friends,' which is a bit of a letdown.
But the atmosphere is what keeps it going. It feels much more 'British' than some of the other stuff from this era, like Heart to Heart or Midnight Lovers, which were trying way too hard to be glamorous.
There is a weird scene where they all talk about their 'regimental honor' while sitting in a room that looks like it hasn't been dusted since the 1800s. The set design is actually really cool, with all these high ceilings and heavy velvet curtains that probably smelled like old cigarettes. 🚬
One of the characters keeps fiddling with his monocle every time he gets nervous. I counted him doing it at least six times in one scene.
The ending is very abrupt. Like, they find the killer and then the movie basically just... stops. 🛑
It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a great example of that weird transition period where movies didn't know if they wanted to be plays or films. If you like spooky vibes and don't mind a bit of clunkiness, give it a look on a dark night.
IMDb —
1926
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