Like many other reviewers on IMDb, I remember this movie from when I was a kid. My friends and I all thought it was cool, and the biggest reason was probably the mansion. Full of secret passages and trap doors, an old house like that is just one of those things that every kid gravitates to. Like dinosaurs or superheroes, a spooky house is an easy sell for young audiences.
Watching it for the first time as an adult, I am convinced that anyone giving the movie a positive review is doing so based only on fond childhood memories. This movie might be the most unfunny thing I have ever watched. Everybody likes Don Knotts, but I got no enjoyment from him calling Tim Conway names for 90 minutes. If lines like "You Dope!" and "Will you shut up?" sound funny to you, then this might be comedy gold. As the movie continued, I just kept thinking, Who would laugh at this? The other defense that I see people using is that this movie is good, clean family entertainment. We see several murders on screen, including a strangulation. We see the detectives watching a woman undress in her bedroom through a peephole. And we hear constant insults from Don Knotts' character, some harmless, some inappropriate. To me, it feels like the movie was made for family audiences by people who were out of touch with what was appropriate for kids. Which is true of many family films. I personally have a very low tolerance for music, books, or movies that are marketed towards children but are either over their heads or not age-appropriate. I think that if something is produced for children, it should have input from someone who understands something about them. I would compare it to how children's toys have to be inspected for safety by experts.
I'm sure I wouldn't bother bringing any of this up if I had found the movie even mildly entertaining. I'm giving it the lowest rating, a one out of ten. I prefer a little higher standard than this lazy effort. Just because it's for kids doesn't mean it has to be stupid.
Watching it for the first time as an adult, I am convinced that anyone giving the movie a positive review is doing so based only on fond childhood memories. This movie might be the most unfunny thing I have ever watched. Everybody likes Don Knotts, but I got no enjoyment from him calling Tim Conway names for 90 minutes. If lines like "You Dope!" and "Will you shut up?" sound funny to you, then this might be comedy gold. As the movie continued, I just kept thinking, Who would laugh at this? The other defense that I see people using is that this movie is good, clean family entertainment. We see several murders on screen, including a strangulation. We see the detectives watching a woman undress in her bedroom through a peephole. And we hear constant insults from Don Knotts' character, some harmless, some inappropriate. To me, it feels like the movie was made for family audiences by people who were out of touch with what was appropriate for kids. Which is true of many family films. I personally have a very low tolerance for music, books, or movies that are marketed towards children but are either over their heads or not age-appropriate. I think that if something is produced for children, it should have input from someone who understands something about them. I would compare it to how children's toys have to be inspected for safety by experts.
I'm sure I wouldn't bother bringing any of this up if I had found the movie even mildly entertaining. I'm giving it the lowest rating, a one out of ten. I prefer a little higher standard than this lazy effort. Just because it's for kids doesn't mean it has to be stupid.