The Haunted House
The Haunted House
NR | 21 February 1921 (USA)
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Buster Keaton is a bank teller who becomes involved with a hold-up, counterfeiters, and a theatrical troupe posing as spooks in a haunted house.

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Reviews
Tom Gooderson-A'Court

Buster Keaton's 1921 short stars the actor/director as a New York City bank teller. Keaton being Keaton soon gets into trouble, spilling glue all over the counter and accidentally stopping a robbery before ending up in a haunted house.The film begins with a shot of 1921 Wall Street. I always like to see exterior shots in silent movies as it's a rare chance to see the real world as it was back then. The action then goes inside a small bank. One of the funniest moments in this sequence is the sight of a customer with glue on his trousers getting stuck, backside to backside with another bank teller.The second part of the film takes place in a large house in which counterfeiters have set up shop. This is the funniest part of the film and features a recurring gag about some collapsing stairs which doesn't get old. The counterfeiters have filled the house with pretend ghosts in order to scare off police and intruders and Keaton finds himself confronted with scare after scare, none of which are really scary but in fact quite funny. We're talking men with sheets over their heads and others dressed as skeletons. The best part of the second act is two such skeletons who construct a man who appears, through cunning editing to come to life. The film ends with a classic scene which has Keaton receive a blow to the head and climb stairs to heaven. When he gets to the top, the stairs collapse (again) and he plummets into hell. All is well in the end though as when he wakes up in the arms of his love interest.This isn't the best Keaton film but I've also seen worse. Its well worth checking out and at only 21 minutes won't take too much time to do so. I laughed about nine or ten times in those 21 minutes which is a very good laugh per minute ratio and much higher than any 21st Century comedy I've seen.http://attheback.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/haunted-house.html

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ccthemovieman-1

I expected this Buster Keaton short be very funny, just imagining his comedy and a haunted house scenario. However, it really isn't a haunted house story and the fun doesn't really start until about halfway through this 21-minute film.Until them, we get a long gag scene with Buster as a bank teller and getting glue all over many of the dollar bills. It's so-so humor and not what we are waiting for - some haunted house fun.The real fun part of the film is only the last five minutes and, frankly, I've seen funnier spooky stuff from The Three Stooges. The best "bit "of the entire movie might be the dream sequence in the final minute where Buster climbs his "Stairway To Heaven."

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Ben Parker

A clumsy bank employee, the bank manager and his daughter, some bank robbers, some police and the Daredevil Theatrical Troupe, who've just been booed off stage during their production of Faust, all collide in a Haunted House which the bank robbers use as their hideout.So many priceless moments, some good laugh-out-louders, and 100% great fun. Another really great short comedy from Buster Keaton.Highlights: as usual, the ending! Buster running past camera, looking directly into it, the whole glue sequence, the self-referential theatrical production and more i can't remember right now... Not that i've ever seen a Keaton movie i didn't like, but i recommend this one too!

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Snow Leopard

This is a fun short feature notable for some particularly good visual gags. The plot is featherweight, and is just an excuse for getting the characters together in the same place, but there is some good comic material. The introductory part drags on a little; it has some funny moments but draws out the same gag much longer than it warranted. It's when everyone gets to "The Haunted House" that the real fun begins. There are lots of creative visuals and plenty of zany activity, and there are some carefully designed gags worth watching a couple of times. There's also a recurring gag that works well and that sets up a clever finale. If you're a Keaton fan, you will probably enjoy this one.

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