As the title clearly suggests, this is a murderous 'game' of the hunter and the hunted... It all starts - where else - in the dark old mansion of a dying millionaire, who draws his will, to be opened only 20 years after his death... So, after all those years have passed, his relatives all assemble in the creepy old house - every one of them, of course, hoping that he or she will be the sole heir to the fortune. But first arrives the old man's attorney, to greet the old housekeeper (Martha Mattox, who specialized in roles like this, and fits perfectly into the spooky atmosphere) - and to find that the safe has been opened recently, and the papers have been tampered with...And then the family members make their appearance one by one; but the feeling between them, of course, isn't very friendly. Finally, the old clock strikes midnight, and the attorney opens the will; and it declares the deceased's niece Annabelle (Laura La Plante) as the 'winner' - under ONE condition: that a physician has to prove her mentally sane! Otherwise the fortune will go to the person mentioned in a second envelope that's still sealed...So we can all imagine what's bound to follow: a night of terror, with the attorney being murdered, tales of the old man's 'ghost' spooking around, a warden coming in and speaking of an escaped lunatic - in short, everything possible is being done to drive the 'canary' Annabelle crazy...This is a CLASSIC among the Classics of the genre, perfectly directed and acted, with a very effective musical score, constant games with shadows on the wall, nice (and very modern for the time) camera effects to enhance the suspense; and of course the whole 'old dark house' repertoire with turning bookshelves, terrifying claws reaching out from behind every corner, dark figures walking through the old halls... And there even is some comical relief, provided by Annabelle's cowardly cousin Paul (Creighton Hale); the entertainment as well as the suspense value - not to speak of the historical importance - of this movie is really immeasurable!

As silent films go, this one is probably more entertaining than most for modern viewers. The B&W visuals are interesting, even if predictably drab and bleak. Most of the plot takes place inside a "mansion", ironic given how dilapidated the place looks. Immensely high ceilings lend a touch of the Gothic. And light and shadow are played for all they're worth.The story is cliché-ridden but kinda fun. A wealthy old man has left his fortune to one of six people, all of whom gather at midnight in the spooky old house to hear the will read. After a promising first Act, the middle Act treads water as characters scurry around in a state of semi-fright, scared of the mansion's "ghosts".A ghastly looking hand with long fingernails reaches out to steal a necklace from a fair maiden's neck, in one sequence. And, in another, one person is found dead. The film's ending is less disappointing than I had initially feared. But still, a lot is left unexplained. The plot inserts humor at various points throughout, which helps, given the lengthy runtime. The Aunt Susan character is a hoot.Bleak production design is typical for films of that era. Ditto those drab glad rags that pass for costumes. I have yet to watch a 1920s film wherein the visuals did not look like precursors to the 1930s Great Depression.Acting is predictably melodramatic and hammy, maybe deliberately so. Exaggerated facial expressions, bug-eyed responses, and lots of animation in general emphasize that this film is mostly visual.Nothing is to be taken seriously here. "The Cat And The Canary" is an early example of a whodunit mystery, set in a spooky old house, played as semi-comedy. As such, except for the lagging middle Act, the film is reasonably entertaining.

Cat and the Canary, The (1927) *** (out of 4) Classic "old dark house" film has an old man dying and then twenty-years later his relatives arrive at his creepy mansion for the will reading. The estate goes to Annabelle (Laura La Plante) as long as she is proved to be sane but throughout the night various visions of demons appear to her. Is she losing her mind or is someone just trying to scare her? One needs to remember that all the cliché moments in this film weren't cliché when this was originally released. So many films have since ripped this one off that one might forget how original this movie was when it was originally released. What really stood out after eighty-years is how brilliantly this thing looks on a technical level. The cinematography ranks as some of the greatest I've ever seen and there are countless moments that you could point to as being ground breaking. Even the opening title credits are downright breathtaking with the creepy hand moving the dust and spider webs away. The set design by Charles D. Hall is just as wonderfully done and adds to the overall atmosphere, which is very thick from start to finish. Not only does the film deliver many creepy moments but there's a nice mixture of laughs thrown in as well. I've read reviews that said there were too many laughs but I'd have to disagree with that as the laughs are kept rather low-key and never take away from the actual story. The middle section of the film moves a bit too slowly but all of that picks up towards the end. The characters really aren't well-written but that doesn't matter too much as the real entertainment comes from the visuals and the creepy atmosphere.

This is one of those must-see-at-least-once haunted house films, being one of the originals. I've seen it more than a few times. It took me years to track it down on VHS, nowadays it seems everywhere on digital platforms. It was very well done, a very pleasant comedy and well worth while and yet imho is nowhere near as good as the 1939 remake, that is if comparisons between silents and talkies are permitted. To me it's the same story therefore the two are comparable, although the 1979 version is probably best utterly forgotten if not completely forgivable for being such a time waster.Various quirky guests assemble at huge spooky mansion at midnight exactly 20 years after the death of their eccentric relative Cyrus West to hear the reading of his Will and who gets his money. It always struck me as odd that the greedy relatives didn't initially contest the bizarre rule, after all some of them might have joined him Upstairs in the intervening 2 decades! Creighton Hale and Laura La Plante played the lead characters of Paul and Annabelle excellently – but unfortunately without the same sparkle Bob Hope and Paulette Godard had when playing Wally and Joyce 12 years later. However, the 1927 version had some nifty camera-work, inventive intertitles, some witty moments (especially Aunt Susan encountering the wide eyed Paul under her bed!) and nice sets with a lovely atmosphere that all still manages to suck you completely into the plot. I would add that the version I just saw ran 93 minutes with a rather stale soundtrack, I thought the tape I watched in the '90's was more sympathetic at 126 minutes long - there's apparently a wide range of versions now available on DVD so a little care in choosing seems required. As I'm still searching for the Perfect Copy this applies to me too!All in all an enjoyable and essential silent film to see even if you don't like the genre; if you do then I would particularly recommend the remake as one of the best films ever made.