While the special effects may be four decades out of date, it is a good story with a mostly amazing cast. The teaming up of Fairbanks, Douglas, Astaire - all former A-list legends - and Houseman (who was big in the 40s, including being the producer of the Blue Dahlia) was a very big deal in its day. The film, which was produced on a very modest budget, recouped the budget ten-fold.
Fueled by a number of smash hit horror films of the seventies (The Exorcist, The Omen, and Dracula) and the entry of such major names as Gregory Peck and Sir Laurence Olivier, this movie generated a lot of press. The film was also in a then-popular genre of films with spooky flash-back period elements, such as Somewhere In Time (with Christopher Reeve).
There are better horror films out there, but this one mostly hold up well. If anything, it may inspire viewers to buy the book on which this movie was based, a book that Steven King rates as one of the best horror novels ever written.
Fueled by a number of smash hit horror films of the seventies (The Exorcist, The Omen, and Dracula) and the entry of such major names as Gregory Peck and Sir Laurence Olivier, this movie generated a lot of press. The film was also in a then-popular genre of films with spooky flash-back period elements, such as Somewhere In Time (with Christopher Reeve).
There are better horror films out there, but this one mostly hold up well. If anything, it may inspire viewers to buy the book on which this movie was based, a book that Steven King rates as one of the best horror novels ever written.