The Cinematheque

Dark secrets. Strange desires. Something evil lurking in the woods. The Red House, from writer-director Delmer Daves (Dark Passage, 3:10 to Yuma), serves up a deliciously warped blend of sinister psychological thriller and crazed Gothic fairy tale, capped by a startling performance from Edward G. Robinson and a spine-tingling Theremin score by the great Miklós Rózsa. Robinson is one-legged farmer Pete Morgan, living in rural seclusion with his spinster sister Ellen (Judith Anderson) and their teenaged ward Meg (Allene Roberts), with whom he is oddly obsessed. When Meg becomes sweet on schoolmate Nath (Lon McCallister), who’s helping out on the farm, Pete becomes unhinged. Julie London and Rory Calhoun co-star. The film, a Martin Scorsese favourite, is today known only from substandard public-domain copies. This UCLA restoration, from the original camera negative, is a revelation.