# List of Haunted House Caper movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 3, 2025, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806 "2025-05-03T01:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/1 "2025-05-03T01:09:48Z")
Wiki doesn’t seem to have this as a separate category because there’s a lot of overlap in genres. Basically the sort of 1930s-1940s era movies that _Scooby Doo_ is a parody of. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/2 "2025-05-03T01:15:09Z")
The Old Dark House (1932) The Black Cat (1934) The Cat and the Canary (1939) The Gorilla (1939) The Ghost Breakers (1940) Hold That Ghost (1941) Spook Busters (1946) One Body Too Many (1944) Scared Stiff (1953) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/3 "2025-05-03T01:39:21Z")
After a certain point (c1960) they all became parodies. _House on Haunted Hill_ was probably the tipping point. After that, would you count comedies like _The Ghost and Mr. Chicken_? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/4 "2025-05-03T03:22:44Z")
When I was a kid, the local amateur theatre group put on “The Cat and the Canary”. Scared me stiff. especially when they opened a closet and the pale-faced dead lawyer fell out, flat on his face ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/5 "2025-05-03T03:43:06Z")
_The Hound of the Baskervilles_, the 1959 version is probably the closest to a Scooby plot and still be serious, at least in English. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/6 "2025-05-03T03:52:11Z")
The 1978 English version of \*The Cat and the Canary” seems pretty serious: > **[The Cat and the Canary (1978 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cat_and_the_Canary_(1978_film))** > > The Cat and the Canary is a 1978 horror film directed by Radley Metzger and starring Honor Blackman, Michael Callan, Edward Fox, Wendy Hiller, Olivia Hussey, Wilfred Hyde-White, Beatrix Lehmann, Carol Lynley, Daniel Massey, and Peter McEnery. It follows a group of potential heirs who are summoned to the mansion of a deceased beneficiary to view the filmed reading of his will, only to discover upon arrival that a deranged killer may have infiltrated the event. > A co-production between the United S... ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/7 "2025-05-03T05:02:22Z")
I always got the impression Scooby and gang were often installed in haunted house situations, with all the chasing through montages. Based on tired old Hollywood films. The end of the toons always reminded me of the summing up by a dectective in cozy mysteries. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/8 "2025-05-03T05:16:18Z")
**1930s:** - [The Bat Whispers](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020668/?ref_=ls_t_2) - [The Cat and the Canary](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031143/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1) - [The Old Dark House](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023293/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1) - [The Ghost Camera](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024054/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1) - [The Ninth Guest](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025566/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_2_nm_0_in_0_q_The%2520Ninth%2520Guest) - [The Terror](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030846/?ref_=ls_t_10) **1940s:** - [The Ghost Breakers](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032520/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_The%2520Ghost%2520Breakers) - [Haunted House](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032572/) - [Ghost Catchers](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036861/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_Ghost%2520Catchers) - [The House of Fear](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037794/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_5_nm_3_in_0_q_The%2520House%2520of%2520Fear) - [And Then There Were None](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037515/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_And%2520Then%2520There%2520Were%2520None) ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/9 "2025-05-03T18:27:49Z")
I suppose the Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) fits, even though it’s obviously a parody. And a musical. It’s sort in a category of its own really. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/10 "2025-05-03T19:03:27Z")
The Munsters movie _Munster, Go Home!_ was one (that mocked the trope). ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/11 "2025-05-03T19:37:02Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > The Old Dark House (1932) > The Black Cat (1934) IIRC, there is no money at stake in the 1932 version of _The Old Dark House_. However, there is in the 1963 “remake.” Similarly, there is no money or haunted house involved in the 1932 version of _The Black Cat_, though there is in the 1941 movie of that name. _13 Ghosts_ (1960) is another William Castle film with a haunted house and money at stake, as well as what might have passed for “laughs” for certain younger viewers. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/12 "2025-05-03T19:54:40Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > IIRC, there is no money at stake in the 1932 version of _The Old Dark House_. However, there is in the 1963 “remake.” > > Similarly, there is no money or haunted house involved in the 1932 version of _The Black Cat_, though there is in the 1941 movie of that name. No they do not. What’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/13 "2025-05-03T19:58:21Z")
The word “caper” in the thread title implies a film where the haunted house is a prop for a money making scheme. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/14 "2025-05-03T22:44:28Z")
That’s not my understanding of the word. While moral questionability may be part of the definition, fraud or crime are not necessarily specified or required. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/15 "2025-05-03T23:47:40Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > fraud or crime are not necessarily specified or required Almost always the case in a Scooby Doo episode. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/16 "2025-05-03T23:49:30Z")
1963’s “The Old Dark House,” starring Tom Poston, isn’t considered one of William Castle’s better efforts, but I’ve always loved it. Trivia: In the United States it was released in black & white. Everywhere else it was in color. ---
**Author:** ![papermache](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@papermache](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papermache)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/17 "2025-05-04T02:51:46Z")
A “haunted” tavern that’s not really haunted, secret doors, etc, and a few criminals as well. > **[Hold That Ghost](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hold_That_Ghost)** > > Hold That Ghost is a 1941 American horror comedy film directed by Arthur Lubin and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and featuring Joan Davis, Evelyn Ankers and Richard Carlson. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. Abbott and Costello performed a half-hour live version of the film for radio audiences on Louella Parsons' Hollywood Premiere on August 1, 1941. > Gas station attendants Chuck Murray and Ferdie Jones aspire to better jobs. They temporarily work as waite... ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/18 "2025-05-05T02:49:22Z")
Oddly enough I got musing on this subject because of something rather unrelated: the music score for an Android game that to me sounds, especially at the climax of the score, like an old-time Spook Busters movie. Someone tiptoeing by candlelight down a darkened hallway while a cloaked figure behind them reaches out with a clawed hand. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2WzEZFH5JGE/maxresdefault.jpg "Home Pin: How to loot - All Levels Gameplay Android, iOS") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WzEZFH5JGE&t=74) ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/19 "2025-05-05T14:02:00Z")
Two of my favorites: The Ghost & Mr. Chicken Murder, He Says (Fred MacMurray) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-haunted-house-caper-movies/1017806/20 "2025-05-05T14:48:13Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > _13 Ghosts_ (1960) is another William Castle film with a haunted house and money at stake, as well as what might have passed for “laughs” for certain younger viewers. It also had one of Castle’s neatest “gimmicks” – a **Ghost Viewer** that let the audience decide whether to see the ghosts or not. It was just a cardboard “mask” with two strips of colored plastic – one red, one blue. It was like a standard anaglyphic 3D viewer, except that _both_ eyes looked through either the blue or red filter. The film was in black and white, except for the specia; “ghost” scenes, when it would go blue and red. The ghosts were printed in red. If you looked through the red filter you didn’t see them. (or if you didn’t use the viewer at all they weren’t very visible. But if you looked through the blue filter they were pretty clear. I’d heard about the film (mainly through _Famous Monsters of Filmland_) all my life, but I finally got to see the effect a couple of years ago when I got hold of a DVD with the film properly formatted in color. (I’d seen the film before, but when they broadcast it on TV, they don’t retain the colors, so you don’t see the effect.) It’s a pretty dumb movie, obviously meant for kids (two of the ghosts are a circus lion and a lion tamer who’s missing his head – har har). One of the stars is a pre- **Adam-12** Martin Milner and another is Margaret Hamilton, playing a witch-like character again. Great fun if you watch the bi-colored version. > [@](#): > > [WILLIAM CASTLE "GHOST VIEWER" FOR 13 GHOSTS AND OTHERS! ILLUSION-O VIEWER | eBay](https://www.ebay.com/itm/144044613600) > > [Spectral viewers | 13 Ghosts Wiki | Fandom](https://13ghosts.fandom.com/wiki/Spectral_viewers) > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpAEig2J\_Vg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpAEig2J_Vg)