theolddarkhouseanalysis - Tumblr blog

[theolddarkhouseanalysis]

“You shouldn’t have come here” - Sir Roderick Femm

Sir Roderick Femm (Elspeth Dudgeon) is the father of the Femm children. It is important to note that Sir Roderick Femm is portrayed by Elspeth Dudgeon who identifies as female. Elspeth is a drag performer, meaning she dresses up as a male who goes by the name John Dudgeon. In the film, the Wavertons are quick to note Sir Roderick’s age. It can be assumed that Sir Roderick’s children are around their late 50s or middle aged. Sir Roderick themself appears to be extremely old to the point in which they struggle to function on his own. The Wavertons agree that it is strange that Sir Roderick is still living at that age. In addition to their age, Roderick is extremely androgynous which makes them seem even more queer to the Wavertons. They don’t seem to be gender conforming although they are referred to as the father of the Femm children. Some things to note in terms of this are their appearance and tone of voice. Sir Roderick appears to be extremely frail and have a smaller body frame. They also have a much higher pitched voice which can be considered as more feminine. Their appearance and voice in general goes against the gender norms of what is considered to be masculine and balances the character on the question of the fluidity of gender. Blurring the lines of gender was uncommon in the 30′s but Whale managed to represent this through Sir Roderick Femm.

[theolddarkhouseanalysis]

“Morgan is an uncivilized brute” - Horace Femm

The character Morgan (Boris Karloff) represents physical and intellectual disabilities, and how they become categorized as queer in the film. It must be noted again that this film was released in 1932, thus causing both mental and physical disabilities to be less understood than in the present day. The lack of understanding left viewers to clump all differences into the category of queer. Morgan is the live-in butler of the Femm family. The deformation of Morgan’s face, which portrays the idea of a physical disability, is the first of his characteristics which the visitors take note of. Unfortunately, his appearance is what creates terror in the visitors, especially Margaret, at first glance. As the film progresses, it becomes more prominent that Morgan is mute. He simply grunts and portrays his emotions through his physical movements and reactions. Unfortunately, Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger) labels Morgan as aggressive when he drinks or becomes upset. His physical deformation and his muteness is attributed to the creation of the image of a monster. In other words Morgan represents, “the trope of to be mad is to be bad” (Cripplesscholar, 1). It is very clear that Morgan struggles mentally, but the film takes this and uses it against him. Morgan is then portrayed as a threat to the visitors and this creates a message which can terribly affect the disabled community in the real world. Viewers are basically told to assume that those who have disabilities, whether mental or physical, should be feared. In addition to this, it is revealed at the end of the film that Morgan may have had a romantic relationship with Saul Femm (Brember Wills), the Femm brother that is locked away for being a pyromaniac. The visitors fear Morgan for the reaction he has when Saul is killed, when in reality Morgan is in complete distress for losing his partner. The audience is shown the sadness in Morgan when he walks down the steps holding Saul in his arms. Once again, Morgan’s homosexuality is insinuated here, just as Rebecca’s was. Overall, Morgan is framed as a homosexual with disabilities who should be feared which unfortunately pushed these ideas on to the audience.

Crippledscholar, n/a, and Total Mobility says: “If You're Disabled in an M. Night Shyamalan Film, You Are Either a Villain or a Supercrip (Mostly a Villain Though).” Crippledscholar, 13 Feb. 2017, crippledscholar.com/2017/02/12/if-youre-disabled-in-an-m-night-shyamalan-film-you-are-either-a-villain-or-a-supercrip-mostly-a-villain-though/.

[theolddarkhouseanalysis]

“They would tell me to go away and pray” - Rebecca Femm

Rebecca Femm (Eva Moore)  is a very interesting character in The Old Dark House. The classification of her character as queer ranges in many aspects. To begin, the first things that stick out about Rebecca is her age and how it correlates to her marital and familial status. Rebecca is a middle aged woman still living in her childhood home. She is not married and has no children. This was viewed as out of the norm at the time since society had an expectation of middle aged women to be out of the home, raising their own family. From the visitors’ perspective, these characteristics quickly place Rebecca into the queer villain category which was been further explained in the previous post. Rebecca’s age and bachelorette status are not the most concerning characteristics about her character. In the clip above, during her conversation with Margaret (Gloria Stuart), she references her sister’s death. Her words are slightly riddled but insinuate that she herself murdered her sister. There is also an insinuation of incest between the sisters and reference to Rebecca’s homosexual desires. After the sister dies, Rebecca references how her father told her she must pray. Viewers are left wondering what her father means by this. Rebecca is being told to pray for forgiveness of her sins which includes her act of murder and her possible homosexuality. The conversation is one that solidifies Rebecca’s queerness, not just in the fact that she may not identify as heterosexual, but also for her age, status, incestual habits, and being a murderer.

[theolddarkhouseanalysis]

Queerness: What is it in Horror Films?

The definition of queer or queerness can range, specifically in horror films. This blog will focus on the broader definition of what queer meant at the time The Old Dark House (James Whale, 1932) was released, and how it shaped society’s viewpoint of the word and how it is applied in the real world. To begin, queerness in this film, along with other horror films made then, is simply defined as the differences people posses that somehow outcast them from society. According to the dictionary, queer is defined as strange or odd. In the film this includes belonging to the LGBTQ+ community as well as disability, age, social status, and much more. What is considered queer is simply how people skew from the expected social standards. The Femm family and their butler are casted as queer because they don’t fit the norm that the visitors have been classified into and view to be. The range of where queerness can be defined in films comes down to the Production Code of 1930. This code banned all films from portraying or even mentioning homosexuality or sexual acts explicitly on the screen. Due to the enforcement of this implication began to play a major role in films. Implication was used because, “First, it satisfied censors, who were rather shortsighted in their equation of sight with knowledge, and second, it heightened the risque connotations of monstrous attacks” (Benshoff 35). As a result, audiences can then percieve any difference shown in characters to be queer. This tendency became quite frequent because the audience was not being told directly what characters to consider queer or not due to censoring.

Benshoff, Harry. “Defining the Monster Queer.” Reserves Direct, 1997.

[theolddarkhouseanalysis]

The Old Dark House (1932)

The horror film, The Old Dark House, was released on October 20th, 1932. The director of the film was James Whale. Whale himself identified as a gay man at a time in which those who identified as a part of the LGBTQ+ community weren’t widely recognized nor accepted in society. Whale’s homosexuality plays an important role in the film and must be noted before deeper analysis. The Old Dark House tells the story of five travelers seeking shelter in a spooky house to withstand a storm. Philip and Margaret Waverton along with their friend Penderel are the first visitors to arrive. Later, they are joined by Gladys Perkins and Sir William Porterhouse. The travelers are hosted by the Femm family. Members of the Femm family include Horace, Rebecca, and Saul as well as their father Sir Roderick. In addition to the family living in the home, they have a butler named Morgan. The visitors quickly take notice of the family’s strange behaviors, appearance, marital and familial statuses, ages, mental and physical disabilities and much more. Although these things frighten the visitors merely on the fact that they differ from them, they have to remain in the house until the storm is over whilst holding onto the hope of making it out of the grip of the Femms.