Rent The Strange Door (1951)

3.3 of 5 from 59 ratings
1h 18min
Rent The Strange Door Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
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Synopsis:
Noble-born brawler and debaucher, Denis de Beaulieu (Richard Stapley), is selected by the scheming Sire Alain de Maletroit (Charles Laughton) to be forced into marrying his only niece Blanche de Maletroit (Sally Forrest). Whilst carousing at an inn, Denis is tricked into a fight with one of Maletroit's men and ends up shooting him dead. Whilst fleeing from the chasing mob, Denis takes refuge by entering a strange door at the Maletroit manor, but soon finds himself in the midst of a nightmare from which he cannot escape.
Forced to marry a woman he does not love, due to Sire de Maletroit's determination to wreak revenge on his family line, his every move is watched by the creeping manservant Voltan (Boris Karloff). Desperate to escape, the young couple decides to leave the house through the only exit known to them...the torture chamber.
Actors:
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Directors:
Producers:
Ted Richmond
Writers:
Jerry Sackheim, Robert Louis Stevenson
Studio:
Odeon Entertainment
Genres:
Classics, Horror, Thrillers
BBFC:
Release Date:
28/02/2011
Run Time:
78 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
Subtitles:
None
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
B & W
Bonus:
  • Photo Gallery
BBFC:
Release Date:
17/10/2022
Run Time:
80 minutes
Languages:
English LPCM Stereo
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.37:1
Colour:
B & W
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Brand new audio commentary tracks on 'The Strange Door' with author Stephen Jones and author/critic Kim Newman
  • "The Sire de Maletroit's Door" radio adaptations
  • Stills Galleries
  • Trailers

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Reviews (1) of The Strange Door

Period Melodrama (spoiler). - The Strange Door review by Steve

Spoiler Alert
26/06/2025

Creaky, old fashioned gothic melodrama loosely based on an early short story by Robert Louis Stephenson. The plot is slight and outré and implausible, but still functional, augmented by the rich period set design, with the shadowy secret passages, devious torture devises and the dark, dangerous dungeons.

The ripe dialogue is effective in the context. But best of all are the theatrical, scenery chewing performances. And that’s mostly Charles Laughton as an insidious ham… who plays a decadent, malign French aristocrat intending to punish his imprisoned brother by making his lovely daughter (Sally Foster) marry a dissolute waster.

Richard Stapely is charismatic as the latter, enough to suggest he might have developed into a B-picture Errol Flynn. Except this kind of film was in decline and Universal horror production about to be turned over to sci-fi. Boris Karloff has a minor role, but brings some old school class, and memorably takes a full 10 minutes to die from bullet and stab wounds!

Everyone enters into the spirit… It was made in a co-production with The Black Castle (1952) which is similar, but not as good. My hunch is this was intended for the teenage horror crowd, which no longer exists for this sort of period melodrama. But it’s still fine entertainment for aficionados of the virtues of the classic studio era.  

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