"The Cat and the Canary" (1927)

"Dark House" films were a popular genre of films unto themselves. Two of the best in the genre are "The Cat and the Canary" (1927) and "The Old Dark House" (1932), which was directed by James Whale. American audiences in particular enjoyed these mystery-thrillers, which usually involved events that seemed supernatural in occurrence, later revealed by the house-detective as being easily explained criminal mischief. These types of movies, in which dozens were made, would lead to the notion of the full-fledged supernatural "monster", which was not so easily dismissed by the cast of characters or the audience itself.