Arnold

This silly thriller is another one of those late-era comedy horror films that could have easily been made by Universal in the 1940's. There are elements here that were represented much better in such favorites as the 1941 version of "The Black Cat" and "Night People", and prominently featured is Elsa Lanchester from "The Bride of Frankenstein". She doesn't appear in a high brown wig with a white streak though it, but she might as well. All the archetypes of those types of films are here, from the well see old man married to a younger woman in this case, too, Shani Wallis, whom he divorced after dying, and Stella Stevens, whom he married at his funeral! there's an eccentric surviving sister (Lanchester) the lover of the new wife (Roddy McDowall), an amorous, perverted old barkeep (John McGiver), his shifty attorney son (Patric Knowles) and the befuddled law enforcement officer (Bernard Fox). Jamie Farr is briefly seen as a mystical character who really doesn't even say a word. The issue is not the parody of those films. That aspect of it is terrific. It just seemed so obviously done on a sound stage with the fog machines working overtime, and obvious backdrop making it look like a cheap stage play. The conclusion is a nice twist that puts everything all together, but I'll never want to ever hear Shani Wallis singing the title song ever again.

Trailer—Arnold

Arnold_720p(480P)

source: Arnold

I remember seeing this movie when I was all of 10 years old with my older sister (who should have known better!) I couldn't sleep for days after. This movie is really really scary in a campy, early '70s way. Com'on, who wouldn't get scared with a dead body lying in its coffin, in the middle of the living room, while tape recordings arrive each morning detailing the gruesome events of the previous day -- and, in the corpse's own voice, no less!!??? It's like something out of Agatha Christie wherein relatives of the deceased must survive night after night in a creepy, booby-trapped house. The last one alive gets to keep all the money left behind....the location of which is to be revealed in one final tape! You just gotta have a ghoulish sense of humor to enjoy the cheeky macabre aspects of this horror flick send up. Plus, it really is funny the way these greedy, money hungry people die and, in the end, you kind of feel they all deserved it.

ARNOLD opens with the unholy matrimony of Karen (Stella Stevens) and the non-living, coffin-bound title character. Karen has "married" Arnold postmortem, per his request, in order to inherit his vast fortune. It's revealed during the reading of the will, that Karen is the only person whom Arnold trusted. His other "friends" and relatives include his daffy sister, Hester (Elsa Lanchester); the ultra-slimy, Robert (Roddy McDowall); Evan (Farley Granger); and Evan's mysterious, faithful servant, Dybbi (Jamie Farr). It's not long before these detestable people start perishing in twisted, terrible ways. As Constable Hooke (Bernard Fox) investigates, the question is: Is Arnold committing murder from beyond the grave? Soaked in an atmosphere of hilarious gloom, and boasting classic devices such as secret passages, paintings with eyeholes, etc., ARNOLD is a fun horror / comedy with a truly macabre sensibility. Expect nothing of a serious nature, and you should enjoy yourself...

This is a great movie. Once you see, it really sticks with you. You almost never forget it. I saw it when I was 5 years old (back in 85') and I still remember it.I even remember the theme song. I found this movie on here, because I remembered the theme song. The tape recorder in the coffin crept me out. The shower scene - gross,lol. I loved it. That theme song was just creepy. The one thing that I think that they should have done was let him have faked his death. That'd have been a great ironic twist. However, I guess the twist was that in most movies like that the person usually fakes his death. This one was different because he was actually dead.

Despite being a cheaply made pot-boiler, this is amazingly brilliant. One might mistake this as a romantic comedy but it's a murder mystery with a creepy atmosphere throughout and some horrific moments that make its PG rating somewhat eyebrow raising. The story is solid and satisfying and there is some great dialogue. Even the minor characters have good lines and there own story arcs. The journeymen actors all put in good performances particularly Bernard Fox as the incompetent Constable Hooke who is supposed to be investigating the murders. If this was produced by Hammer, it would probably be a cult classic by now.

Arnold is a film about a recently deceased wealthy man that kills off his heirs and company from the grave. It is a dark comedy, mixing gory thrills with low-brow comedy. This mix works well overall despite a somewhat lacking script. Most of the credit should go to the cast which is superb. Stella Stevens is ever beautiful, and buxom I might add, as Arnold's newly wed wife after his death. Elsa Lanchester, yes the Bride herself, is winsome as his dottering, cat-pawing sister. Roddy McDowell is as ever charming as his penniless, conniving younger brother. Good turns also are contributed from Patric Knowles, Farley Granger, John McGiver, and Jamie Farr. The best performance is given by British character actor Bernard Fox(known for his role of Dr. Bombay on Bewitched) as a dim-witted policeman that has little tact and sense. His lines are the best and he certainly is the funniest aspect of the film. The cast dies through many grisly deaths. One person is compacted in a garbage truck, another choked to death from a suit, another interred for life in a vault, another beheaded, and a couple pressed together between two walls. Shanni Wallis sings a rather very 70ish tune by the titular name that sets the mood of the film almost immediately as do some of the stylish sets and swirling fogs of the cemetery.

The least you can say about "Arnold" is that it features an incredibly inventive and completely original plot! When I first read the synopsis, I actually didn't understand what was meant! "Upon his death, Arnold marries his long-time mistress Karen…" What? Wait a minute, the titular character Arnold is dead from the beginning of the film but he nevertheless gets married? No worries, though, as the downright phenomenal opening sequences pretty much clarify everything immediately! And I use the word "phenomenal" because the film opens with atmospheric images of a fog-enshrouded and morbidly ancient cemetery where a black cat challenges a vicious raven to a fight! Moments later a depressing funeral procession enters the church, immediately followed by a cheerful white-dressed bride surrounded by her joyous maids! By then you will also have figured out that "Arnold" is, in fact, also a parody next to being an old- fashioned gruesome horror film. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there exist many other ways for a film to start more promising or peculiar! It turns out that Arnold's shrew of a wife never agreed to a divorce while he was alive, so he arranged to wed his mistress after he died! Arnold was a very wealthy but also eccentric man, and thus he astounds his ex-wife and greedy family members one last time by declaring in his will that his new wife Karen inherits his entire fortune and giant estate! There's one little condition, though… They have to remain married and Arnold needs to remain with her in his open coffin until death do them part (again). Oh, by the way, did I mention that the deceased reads the testament to his family himself? He actually as a tape deck build into his coffin (!) and while the recordings are playing he lays there with a giant evil grin on his dead face! Obviously the testament causes further jealousy and hatred in the family, and even the brand new bride quickly turns out to be treacherous and in favor to put Arnold underneath the ground as fast as possible. But new tapes continue to arrive and illustrate how Arnold is always several steps ahead of his evil family. Although dead, he seemingly sees through their diabolical plans to get their hands on the fortune and prevents them by setting up freakish and painful death traps. I really enjoyed "Arnold" a great deal in spite of some major defaults! Many other reviewers already righteously compared the film with "The Abominable Dr. Phibes". Even though that film benefited from much better direction and a smiling corpse could never replace the almighty Vincent Price, there are indeed a lot of similarities. "Arnold" is basically a throwback/homage to the good old days of dark mansions full of booby-traps, secret peeping holes in paintings and despicable family members fighting over an inheritance. There isn't a lot of tension, some parts are dull & slow-paced and the denouement is very predictable, but still the murders are gruesome and inventive (burning acid stirred into facial cream, shrinking suits, collapsing shower walls…) and – as said already – the set pieces are magnificent. Some of the parody aspects entirely miss their effect, while others are really funny! Personally, I loved the Constable Hooke character (Bernard Fox) and how he persists on reporting the macabre deaths as terribly unfortunate accidents. He also speaks a downright fantastic – in my humble opinion, at least – piece of monologue: "I wonder … Is it always foggy here because it's a cemetery, or did they build a cemetery here because it's always foggy?" Oh, and final note for the avid horror nerds, that's Elsa "Bride of Frankenstein" Lanchester in the role of naive, cat- caressing sister!