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 total

Photos81

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Storyline

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Did you know

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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

9/10

The International Version is a Masterpiece

An adaptation of a modern gothic tale "Malpertuis", written by Jean Ray aka John Flanders. The acting is good and the story is full of symbolism. There are two versions of this movie: the original (in French or in English) feels more like a horror film but the longer re-edited Dutch version lacks most of the superb atmosphere created by the haunting score of Georges Delerue and is therefore disappointing.