PHANTOM OF THE RED HOUSE (1956)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny* 
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological*                                                                                                                                                   From what I can tell, although PHANTOM OF THE RED HOUSE is one of the earliest of the Mexican horror films to have received dubbed distribution in the States, it's not all that well thought-of. It seems to be the only horror move in the repertoire of Miguel M. Delgado-- at least I didn't recognize any other titles in his oeuvre-- but frankly I liked this comic "old dark house" film better than a lot of serious horrors from the period, and better than many of the American offerings in that subgenre.                                                           

The main plot is entirely derivative: a rich old guy pops off and the heirs, in order to claim any of his property, must dwell in the house for a set period of time. This naturally gives a masked maniac the chance to start knocking off the heirs to clear the path to the money. I actually don't remember anything being said about a "last man standing" who'd inherit everything if all the other heirs are gone, but maybe the scripters thought that sort of thing was a given.                                                                                 

Anyway, after one or two of the nastier victims are knocked off, the main heroine hires a detective to ferret out the "phantom" killer, who's a moderately spooky figure in a cloak, fedora and fright-mask. The shamus is also a goofus by the name of Diogenes Holmes (Antonio Espino), and in many comedic ODH movies, he would be the star.                                                                                                       

But Diogenes is not the main character, nor is the mystery killer the star, nor are most of the other candidates for murder (some of whom also sport names as wacky as the detective's, such as "Dr. Hipocrates Piedra," "Pedro Satan," and a woman nicknamed "Mulehead." No, this time, in a subgenre where the lead female is usually some colorless ingenue, PHANTOM gives viewers a lively, daffy female who's much funnier than the dopey detective. She too sports a peculiar name, that of "Mercedes Benz de Carrera," or "Mercy" as her boyfriend calls her, but as played by Alma Rosa Aguirre, she enlivens the predictable antics just as much as Bob Hope did with a similar role in the 1939 CAT AND THE CANARY. Delgado keeps things visually interesting with some quality B&W photography, but the oddball psychology of the female lead-- who, for once, isn't some simp who denies that she cares about a big inheritance-- is the main attraction in this "casa rosa." (Not that I ever found out the meaning of the estate's name, BTW...)