Le manoir de la peur

This one starts off like a silent French rural drama, shifts into a CALIGARI rip-off and ends up like a cut price LA ROUE. Alfred Machin and Henry Wulschleger only occasionally hit the right scary note or vaguely anti lynch mob message that they strive for. Their actors from Abel Gance movies (Romuald Joubé was the lead in J'ACUSE) are an unimpressive lot and the mix of remote provincial village actuality and studio decors is uneasy.

The good new is that it survives in a beautiful tinted restoration which runs near the right speed and has an original score. It's hard enough to see anything French from this period, I guess we shouldn't impose unreal standards of quality.