You think that the Munsters and Addams Family were the only ookie and creepy families on screen in 1964? Wait until you meet the Marley's, a weird British family consisting of a wacky inventor great uncle, the bedridden patriarch who finds odd places to hide his will, his son who keeps death masks of all the relatives who have darkened the family name (a good thing in their family bible), a niece who drinks only Bloody Mary's, and is more dour than Wednesday Addams, and the seemingly normal daughter (Erica Rogers) who is engaged to American traveling salesman Pat Boone. After a car accident that doesn't seem quite so accidental, Boone must walk to the home of his fiancee where he is greeted by pops (Dennis Price), a dour fellow who warns him in bits and pieces about the characteristics of their family. In addition to those I mention above is an odd uncle who is quiet but dastardly and another uncle once held prisoner by head hunters who believes that he has the skull the size of a pear and seems to be cannibalistic himself. Yes, this is a badly written movie, but it was written with so much tongue in cheek that it is impossible to hate. Boone's acting is, well, just bland, but the other actors seem to get that they are spoofing the horror genre and put their all into having fun just overplaying everything. The best sequence comes when Boone chit-chats with the inventor uncle who keeps coming up with ideas of things that have already been invented, like electricity. His idea of a horseless carriage is hysterically funny, and just wait until you learn what he uses in place of gasoline. Andree Melly makes every moment she is on screen unforgettable, with her deadpan manner extremely funny. When Boone suddenly breaks into a very bad horror themed song, you are laughing so much at it all that it comes to you that in spite of how silly it all is that you are actually having a good time.

The Horror Of It All is a movie that would appeal to those 14 and older who like B rated comedies and/or horror movies. The movie is too comedic to be a true horror movie and contains too much horror type things to be a comedy. It is neither fish nor fowl. The movie is in black and white I suppose to add to the horror features of the movie. It is probably best enjoyed on a rainy afternoon or late at night. I could almost see the movie being watched at a teenage slumber party since it will not give anybody any real gruesome nightmares. The musical background is over the top horror type music. However, the acting is almost comedic since it too is over the top horror type. Popcorn all around here.

American encyclopedia salesman working in England pays a surprise visit to his fiancée, who lives with her uncle and assorted relatives in an eerie countryside estate. Retread of "The Old Dark House" given curiously jaunty undermining, but these eccentric spooks are not very funny and one simply longs for the central character to get away. Pat Boone has the lead, and he does very well pretending to be interested in this ridiculous scenario; his intended is a colorless bird, and her family would certainly cause any sane person to head for the hills, but Boone proves to be quite capable here (he might have grown even more as an actor if Fox had given him some half-way decent roles). Talky, low-budget second-feature with flimsy-looking sets tries for a light touch but doesn't have the goods to keep it afloat. * from ****

It's even more depressing when you consider the talent behind the camera--Terence Fisher did this??? I won't bother to get into the plot. It's a "horror comedy" (I use both terms very loosely) about an old, dark house and a bunch of idiots running around doing lame slapstick and unfunny jokes. Badly acted, directed and written. Go see "Hold That Ghost" or "An American Werewolf in London" or "The Howling". Even the remake of "The Old Dark House"! They're all prime examples of how to do horror and comedy.