"Murder By Invitation" is what's often referred to as 'an old dark house film'. This is because quite a few films like it were made--films where a group of people find themselves at a spooky old house--and they are killed off one by one. Interestingly, this film goes far as even talk about this sort of film when one of the characters mentions early on that this reminds her of "The Cat and the Canary"--one of the earliest and perhaps most famous of the genre. I liked this gentle poke at this sort of film cliché. And, in addition to being an old dark house film, it's also a 'know-it-all reporter film'--another very, very popular sort of film from the era.
The story is about a wacky old lady whose greedy relatives can't wait for her to die so they can get her fortune. The film begins with them unsuccessfully trying to have her ruled incompetent by the court so they can get the cash. When that doesn't work, she invites all these jerks to her home for a mysterious midnight meeting--at which point she says she insists they all stay a week so she can figure out which ones should inherit the estate. But, soon after they arrive, bodies start to pile up. So, by the end, it's up to this wacky old lady to work out the solution to the murders--and WOW is her plan nutty! While this film is low-budget and occasionally the writing and acting are not great, the overall picture is actually very good. Why? Because it's so darn irreverent in its sensibilities. I mentioned the one "Cat and Canary" comment above, but I also like the ways the film made fun of things such as the Hays Office, Ferdinand the Bull (from the Munro Leaf book) as well as Philo Vance and other film detectives. Well worth seeing--I almost gave this one a 7.
Ferdinand Philo Christopher Hays
The story is about a wacky old lady whose greedy relatives can't wait for her to die so they can get her fortune. The film begins with them unsuccessfully trying to have her ruled incompetent by the court so they can get the cash. When that doesn't work, she invites all these jerks to her home for a mysterious midnight meeting--at which point she says she insists they all stay a week so she can figure out which ones should inherit the estate. But, soon after they arrive, bodies start to pile up. So, by the end, it's up to this wacky old lady to work out the solution to the murders--and WOW is her plan nutty! While this film is low-budget and occasionally the writing and acting are not great, the overall picture is actually very good. Why? Because it's so darn irreverent in its sensibilities. I mentioned the one "Cat and Canary" comment above, but I also like the ways the film made fun of things such as the Hays Office, Ferdinand the Bull (from the Munro Leaf book) as well as Philo Vance and other film detectives. Well worth seeing--I almost gave this one a 7.
Ferdinand Philo Christopher Hays