Silent Era Home Page > Home Video > Haunted Spooks
|
SILENT ERA FILMS ON HOME VIDEO
Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2009 by Carl Bennett.
All Rights Reserved.
|
Haunted Spooks
(1920) |
Mildred and her husband must must spend a year in a haunted southern mansion for her to inherit it, according to her grandfather’s will, otherwise the property will go to her uncle. The uncle intends to cheat Mildred out of the inheritance by making the house uninhabitable. The trouble is that Mildred has no husband, and thus has no shot at meeting the terms of the will. Not to worry, says her lawyer, he will find her a spouse.
Harold Lloyd meanwhile has been wooing a popular socialite — along with every Tom, Dick and Harry — and comes up short romantically just as he receives her father’s blessing. Despondent, Harold tries a number of suicide attempts, including throwing himself in front of Mildred’s lawyer’s car. The lawyer arrives at Mildred’s with Harold and a minister in tow. Freshly married, Harold and Mildred set off in her auto for southern climes.
The uncle and his accomplice decide to make the house a haunted one to scare off Mildred and her husband — and the real fun begins.
This short film from 1920 shows how haunted house traditions were already well-established for movie audiences, who needed little motivation explanation for greedy family members who intend to frighten a young woman and her new husband out of her inheritance. — Carl Bennett
|
 2005 New Line Home Entertainment edition
The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection, Volume 3 (1919-1930),
black & white, 511 minutes total, not rated,
including Haunted Spooks (1920), black & white, 25 minutes, not rated,
with Get Out and Get Under (1920), black & white, 25 minutes, not rated, Number, Please? (1920), black & white, 25 minutes, not rated, Among Those Present (1921), black & white, 35 minutes, not rated, I Do (1921), black & white, 25 minutes, not rated, Never Weaken (1921), black & white, 29 minutes, not rated, A Sailor-Made Man (1921), black & white, 47 minutes, not rated, Hot Water (1924), black & white, 60 minutes, not rated, For Heaven’s Sake (1926), black & white, 58 minutes, not rated, Speedy (1928), black & white, 86 minutes, not rated, and Movie Crazy (1932), black & white, 96 minutes, not rated.
New Line Home Entertainment, N8447, UPC 7-94043-84472-0, ISBN 0-7806-5290-8.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, two single-sided, dual-layered DVD discs, Region 1, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, English and Spanish language subtitles, chapter stops, keep case, $29.95.
DVD release date: 15 November 2005.
Country of origin: USA
|
|
We fully expect that this collection will be one of the best-available editions of this wonderful film, and recommend it sight unseen.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
 |
|
|
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
 |
|
|
 2005 Image Entertainment edition
Haunted Spooks (1920), black & white, 22 minutes, not rated,
with The Cat and the Canary (1927), color-toned black & white, 82 minutes, not rated.
Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID2476DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-24762-6.
Windowboxed 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, dual-layered DVD disc, Region 0, 8 Mbps average video bit rate, 224 kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 3 chapter stops, keep case, $19.99.
DVD release date: 1 February 2005.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 7 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.
|
|
 This remastered disc looks a little better than it did in the 1998 Image edition (noted below) of this title. The video transfer of Haunted Spooks has been prepared from a very-good to excellent (and slightly abridged) 35mm print that is a little jittery in the frame, and has a light amount of dust and speckling. The slightly-windowboxed transfer appears to be the same but benefits positively from the remastering of the disc. Noticeable to trained eyes is the absence of the chromatic noise in the middle graytones of the picture that was present in the 1998 edition.
Sound effects have been added to the 1997 Eric Beheim music score that is performed on synthesizers.
The new, lower price for this remastered DVD (which includes an improved edition of The Cat and the Canary — see out Cat and the Canary on DVD page) makes this edition a great value for the high quality. This disc of Haunted Spooks is our recommended edition.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
|
|
|
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
|
|
|
 1998 Image Entertainment edition
Haunted Spooks (1920), black & white, 22 minutes, not rated,
with The Cat and the Canary (1927), color-toned black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.
Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID4387DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-43872-7.
Windowboxed 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered DVD disc, Region 1, 5 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 6 chapter stops, snapper case, $24.99.
DVD release date: 6 October 1998.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
|
|
 A very-good to excellent 35mm print was used for the black & white video transfer, and the gray ranges are well reproduced. The video transfer itself (originally prepared for a 1997 laserdisc edition) is a little dark (compared to be 2005 Image edition noted above), and has a little chromatic video noise that gives the middle graytones a slightly color-tinted look.
A music score, compiled and performed by Eric Beheim, accompanies the film. Not usually a fan of synthesizer music for silent films, to us this performance appropriately scores the film in a fun and lively way.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
|
|
|
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
|
|
|
 2002 Image Entertainment edition
Haunted Spooks (1920), black & white, 22 minutes, not rated.
Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID0699DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-06992-1.
Windowboxed 4:3 NTSC, five single-sided, dual-layered DVD discs, Region 1, 4.5 Mbps average video bit rate, 224 kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound, English language subtitles, no foreign language subtitles, no chapter stops, keep cases in cardboard slipcase, $69.99.
DVD release date: 7 May 2002.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 7 / additional content: 8 / overall: 7.
|
|
 Haunted Spooks has been added to this collection of slapstick shorts, previously released on VHS videotape, now available on DVD. This edition of the film is identical in presentation, minus much of the chromatic noise in the middle graytones of the picture, to the 1998 Image edition listed above. The slightly windowboxed framing allows most of the picture image available in the source print to be seen on most television monitors.
The Eric Beheim music score again accompanies the film.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
|
|
|
 2002 Grapevine Video edition
Haunted Spooks (1920), black & white, 22 minutes, not rated,
with The Headless Horseman (1922), black & white, 72 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, no UPC number.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered DVD-R disc, Region 0, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, PCM 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops, keep case, $16.95.
DVD release date: 2002.
Country of origin: USA
|
|
This budget edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc is available from Grapevine Video.
|
| Other silent era HAROLD LLOYD films available on home video. |
|
 
|
