SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) This slightly over 20-minute short film directed by, written by and starring stoneface Buster Keaton touches quite a few different genres: drama, comedy, musical, crime, horror, mystery. As always with Keaton, it's a lot bleaker and the humor is usually way darker than the one in Chaplin's movies for example. Buster works as a bank employee, but quickly gets caught up in a robbery where a mishap has lots of bills glued to his hand, so he can't give them the money. Still they get away with some and after a quick scene to a version of Faust at the opera, which didn't fit in there at all, the final act takes place at the haunted house from the title. We get the usual jumping, falling and kicking routines, but the full supernatural program: ghosts, skeletons, spirits and even Lucifer himself makes a brief appearance. The ending of the film is a perfect example from what I mentioned earlier. Chaplin usually gets kissed. Keaton goes to hell.As a whole, I was not too impressed with this movie. Occasionally, the horror parts near the end reminded me of Méliès work 25 years ago and was at least equally spooky. If you like Keaton, give this one a go. Otherwise, there's better film out there with him.

Igenlode Wordsmith 'How do I love Keaton? Let me count the ways...' As I watch more and more of Buster Keaton's films, I find myself reduced to a state of abject adoration that I am at an almost complete loss to convey; it's easier by far to comment on the individual elements that may disappoint in any given film, but this totally fails to reflect the sheer degree of enthusiasm that they create. Yet again I'm struggling to find words -- the shorts are funnier, the features are more touching, and I wouldn't have missed any one of them. The landscapes of my mind's eye have become peopled by a positive kaleidoscope of Busters, tumbling, leaping, hapless or inspired, resigned to the inevitable but endlessly alert to the passing balletic chance. I've roared with laughter and gasped in surprise and had my heart melted in sympathy; I've marvelled at his athletics and been astounded at the range of his acting. In short, in the space of twenty-odd films and the passage of a month, I have simply become an utter Buster Keaton addict."Haunted House" I particularly liked -- better, in fact, than "The Electric House" with which it is unfavourably compared, merely because the structure of the latter is comic-strip predictable: gadgets introduced, gadgets go wrong. "Haunted House" has the lunatic juxtapositions that are Keaton's craft at its best, as his hero gets mixed up with bank robbers, opera singers and a counterfeiters' conspiracy -- the sheer ingenuity and variety of the jokes that can be based around a single staircase had the audience in stitches, as every time we thought we knew what was going to happen, Buster came up with a fresh approach to the problem!The film has been dismissed as consisting merely of two disjointed halves, but "Sherlock Jr" -- where the famous dream sequence is almost totally without effect on the main plot -- demonstrates that this is no drawback. Certainly in the case of "Haunted House" one would not wish to lose either part. The introductory sequence, where Buster inadvertently finds himself in a position to save the day, only to become a scapegoat, is classic Keaton comedy. The second part takes the place of the extended chase to which such a plot line would normally lead, with all the parties converging on the same booby-trapped building to terrify the wits out of each other... until, that is, Buster's "little idiot", dismissed by the villains as harmless, is the one to work out what's going on.This development, of course, enables Keaton to have the best of both worlds, milking the comic possibilities first of his character's horror and then of his blasé scepticism -- one rightly-renowned sequence is where he steps in to take control of the spook 'traffic'! Even self-possession and preparation, however, aren't necessarily going to help him with that staircase...In the space of its brief twenty minutes, this surreal short film features an amazing trick photography shot, some classic sticky mime, deadpan titles, long-running gags with a multiple twist, the cloak of Mephistopheles, a celestial fantasy, plus a bonus ten-second seduction of Buster -- what's not to love? ;-)

Damfino1895 Probably one of my favourite 2 reelers, my 11 year daughter loves it as much as I do, it says something about Keaton that he can win over a die hard Harry Potter fan with his magic. Who cares about lightweight plots when something is as funny as this. the movie starts of with Buster at his place of work, a bank, from the very start the jokes come in thick and fast and always funny. After being falsely accused of being a bank robber he escapes to the local 'haunted' which is really a cover for a gang of counterfeiters, also in the house are the cast of a lousy version of 'Faust'who are escaping a hostile audience(the intertitle that introduces them is one of the funniest lines in any movie). There are lots of acrobatics in Buster's own inimitable style and the pace is fast and furious. The ending is brilliant and watch out for the bit where Buster runs towards the camera and mugs into it. I just love this movie and if you have a sense of humour then so will you.

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.