The Legend of Doom House

Original title: Malpertuis

1971
2h 5m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Orson Welles, Michel Bouquet, and Susan Hampshire in The Legend of Doom House (1971)

A young sailor finds himself trapped in the labyrinthine mansion of his occultist uncle, along with a number of eccentric and mysterious relatives who all seem to be harboring a dark secret.A young sailor finds himself trapped in the labyrinthine mansion of his occultist uncle, along with a number of eccentric and mysterious relatives who all seem to be harboring a dark secret.A young sailor finds himself trapped in the labyrinthine mansion of his occultist uncle, along with a number of eccentric and mysterious relatives who all seem to be harboring a dark secret.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

1.7K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination

Trivia
Director Harry Kümel was a passionate admirer of Orson Welles and had him in mind for the role of Cassavius right from the beginning. According to him, it was pretty easy to convince Welles to take the part, once they assured to pay him the salary he asked for. Looking forward to meet and direct his idol, Kümel was pretty nervous when walking onto the set - just to find out that Welles was in a bad mood and drunk. He later stated in interviews that he personally got along well with Welles during the rest of the shoot but the majority of the crew didn't and tried to get out the grumbling Welles' way most of the time.

Alternate versions
First screened at Cannes at 99 minutes. The Director's Cut runs 119 minutes.

Connections
Featured in Forgotten Scares: An In-depth Look at Flemish Horror Cinema (2016)

Soundtracks
Lui
Music by Eddie Vartan
Lyrics by Gilles Thibaut
Performed by Sylvie Vartan

User reviews16

Review

Featured review

3/10

Confusion over this film

I have just seem the 99 minute version in French on YouTube and have only just realised that the 119 version of this film in Flemish is the complete one to see; a directors cut. I am not sure I want to see this as I found ' Malpertuis ' to be a nauseating experience coming out of a disturbed place that I wish I had not entered. The story itself is based around an enforced entrapment in a house called ' Malpertuis ' and after the highlight of the film, Orson Welles at his best, disappears there is a slow descent into very graphic horror typical of a lot of 1970's films. Is the house real or is it an entrapment in a disturbed young man's mind ? I will give no spoilers but it is pretty clear at the end what the house actually is. I would advise anyone who has had a psychiatric illness not to go near this ( for me ) repulsive film. The music by Georges Delerue is excellent but other than Welles I found the acting to be mediocre. I know it has affected my own mind badly, and some of the images are beautiful and it is finely shot, but it is cruelly sensationalist and that is why I depart from those who consider it a masterpiece. I dislike films and there were many of them in the 1970's that had to go, or wanted to go to extremes so as to get audiences in. I feel as mentally confused as the various versions that have and perhaps still are circulating.