original production:

EL FANTASMA
DE LA CASA ROJA

Cast: Alma Rosa Aguirre (Mercedes Benz Rattington), Raoul Martinez (Rory Baxter), Antony Espino/"Clavillazo" (Diogenes Hermes), Jorge Reyes (as "Che Reyes") (Lester Pester), Guillermina Tellez, Victor Alcocer, Armando Arriola (as "Armand Arriola"), Enriqueta Resa (as "Henrietta Resa"), Jose Chavez, Manuel Dond, Armando Espinosa, Conchita Gentil Arcos

PLOT OUTLINE:
(from AFI): Heirs must stay three nights in a haunted house to win an inheritance.

SYNOPSIS:
At a popular nightclub called El Infierno, or "The Devil's Inn," the interior is designed to, literally, look like Hell. A young woman named Mercedes Benz Rattington works there as a waitress, dressed in a cute little devil costume.

The manager of the club, Matthew Silvatone, enters the club, and asks Mercedes how business is on this Wednesday night. When she replies "full house", Matthew begins to flirt with her. Mercedes reminds him that his girlfriend, Angela, is waiting in the office, and he leaves.

Several romantic musical acts entertain the well-heeled patrons.

Inside the office, Matthew and Angela embrace. There is a knock on the door. Mercedes and her boyfriend, Rory Baxter, enter. Matthew tells the couple some good news: Mercedes' godfather, a rich eccentric named Timothy Humphrey Humphreys, who built The Devil's Inn as a personal plaything, passed away recently, and tomorrow will be the reading of the will. It is assumed that Mercedes will inherit the man's great fortune. The four discuss the old man's foibles, and agree to be at his "Red House" before midnight tomorrow, as per the old man's wishes. Mercedes seems nervous about the old house.

At the Red House, Matthew and another man, Dr. Hippocrates Pining, discuss Humphrey's death. Hippocrates inquires as to the cause of death. Matthew seems confused, as Hippocrates was Humphrey's family doctor for many years. Hippocrates remembers that Humphreys had so many ailments, he always left him guessing.

The creepy old housekeeper, Diana, opens the door. A doddering old woman, Amelia Fuschia, enters.

Amelia asks Humphrey's secretary, Peter Sultan, about the will. She informs him that she was Humphrey's fiance for thirty years, and deserves the inheritance. Amelia reminds Peter that Humphreys used to call her "Mule Head."

Amelia and Hippocrates argue over their entitlement to the Humphreys estate.

Rory and Mercedes arrive at the house. Mercedes is scared of the old place. They join the others, and introduce themselves.

The lawyer arrives, and finally, Matthew and Angela, just before the stroke of midnight.

The heirs gather. The lawyer conjures up the spirit of Timothy Humphrey Humphreys in a brief invocation, and begins the reading of the will. As he reads, a portrait of Humphreys on the wall has moving eyes.

The will declares that Humphreys leaves the Devil's Inn, and the Red House, to his godchild, Mercedes. Mercedes is overwhelmed by this display of generosity, and threatens to faint.

The balance of Humphreys' fortune, estimated at 6 million dollars, is to be left to one of the following relations: former fiance Amelia Fuschia; night club singer Rory Baxter; waitress Angela Orchard; night club manager Matthew Silvatone; personal secretary Peter Sultan; family doctor Hippocrates Pining; housekeeper Diana O'Leary.

The will paints a generally deprecatory portrait of each beneficiary, and then names the conditions under which they may be entitled to the fortune: each of the prospective heirs are to spend three consecutive nights in the old red house, and ruminate on their sins. They will then be free to search through the house, for the fortune is hidden somewhere within.

The successors are all upset by the conditions of the peculiar will.

The lawyer informs the guests that they will be locked in for the three nights, and he retires with the key. Diana shows the nervous fortune hunters to their respective rooms.

Mercedes stays behind on Diana's instructions, and makes herself afraid by obsessing on creepy noises and shadows.

A hand grabs Mercedes' shoulder. Mercedes screams, but it is only Victor, the chauffeur, asking for his instructions, for Mercedes is now the new owner of the house. Mercedes is amazed she has a luxury car at her disposal.

Diana reappears out of nowhere and scares Mercedes further.

As Mercedes and Diana climb the stairs, Mercedes is scared even by her own shadow.

Diana shows Mercedes to her room, "the most elegant and merriest of all of them." Diana leaves.

Lightning flashes. Mercedes is quite afraid. She checks under the bed for murderers. She checks the closet for assassins. A hand reaches out and tries to grab her, but misses.

Mercedes goes to the window to pull the curtains, but is scared away by the lightning. She hears all sorts of strange noises, including bats and wolves.

A cuckoo clock starts to play, scaring Mercedes further. Se picks up a human skull to throw at the cackling clock, but drops it when she realizes what it is. She dives under the bed covers, and hides.

Matthew and Hippocrates discuss the curious situation they find themselves in. Hippocrates feels no threat from the others, but Matthew is not reassuring. He asks Hippocrates to imagine himself murdered in his sleep over this large fortune, and warns him to trust no-one. Hippocrates is scared by all this talk of murder, and finally faints. Matthew throws him on the bed in disgust.

Back in Mercedes' room, the door opens, and a dark figure enters, dressed in mask, hat and cape. The figure stabs what appears to be a sleeping Mercedes. We hear Mercedes scream. The figure flees.

Rory rushes in, and runs to the bed. Mercedes, however, is crouching by a chair, trembling. She explains that when she heard footsteps in the hallway, she jumped out of bed and hid behind the chair.

The others arrive at Mercedes' room, and inquire as to what happened. Rory is incensed. He asks Peter Sultan to guarantee Mercedes' safety. Peter laments that he has no way of doing this.

Rory asks the others to leave, so Mercedes can get some rest. Rory asks Mercedes to settle down, but she is too scared. Rory promises that he will hire a detective in the morning to protect her for the remaining two nights.

Back at the Devil's Inn, the entertainment continues. Rory sings a song.

After he finishes, he goes to his dressing room, and finds two oddly-dressed men snooping around. Rory demands to know who they are. They introduce themselves as Diogenes Hermes and Lester Pester, detectives.

Diogenes gushes about his credentials, while Lester looks on lovingly. Rory wants to know why the two men had to mess up his room, and Diogenes explains that he felt compelled to find out about his prospective employer before he took the case.

Mercedes enters the room, and starts to chastise Rory for the mess. Diogenes insults Mercedes, and Rory demands an apology. Lester jots down superfluous information as Diogenes rambles, but Rory interrupts and describes the situation, and why they need protection. They all agree to go to the house at once.

Back at the red house, Diana serves coffee to the others. Midnight of the second night approaches. Mercedes, Rory, Diogenes and Lester enter. Diogenes finds Diana shockingly ugly, and tells her so.

The lawyer again locks in the heirs, as prescribed in the will. Angela and Amelia decide to go to bed. Matthew and Hippocrates also retire.

Diana bids the others a creepy good night, and Diogenes insults her again.

Rory asks Diogenes whom he suspects. Diogenes surmises that all the heirs are suspects. He suggests that he guard Mercedes' room tonight, while Lester will guard Rory. They all retire. The eyes on the portrait on the wall follow them.

Later that night, the Phantom goes from room to room, locking the doors on his potential victims. A sleeping Diogenes wakes up and sees the villain. He warns the Phantom that there is a possible murderer about, and he should split! It is only after the Phantom begins to walk away that Diogenes realizes that he must be the villain in question!

Diogenes catches up with the Phantom, and asks if he is the assassin. The Phantom nods in agreement. Diogenes holds the Phantom at gunpoint. He tries to handcuff his prisoner, but he gives the Phantom his gun to hold, and the Phantom promptly knocks Diogenes out cold.

Diogenes comes to, and yells for assistance. The Phantom runs away. Diogenes chases him, and falls down the stairs.

The Phantom enters Mercedes' room, and kidnaps her. Diogenes gets up.

The others try to assist, but realize they are locked in. They knock on their doors, pleading to be freed.

Diogenes happens upon a suit of armor standing in the hallway, and tries to speak with it. The armor answers him, much to his surprise. Diogenes opens the head and finds it empty. He runs away, spooked.

The Phantom approaches, and stabs Diogenes, who falls to the floor.

Lester and Rory finally break the lock on their door, and run to find Mercedes. Lester runs into the Phantom and asks him for directions.

Lester finds Diogenes lying on the floor, disoriented but alright. Luckily, the stab wound only punctured his thick wallet.

The group assemble in the living room, and toss accusations at each other. Some are thrilled that Mercedes is missing, as it makes their chances greater of getting the fortune.

Diana and Peter discuss their evil plans while overlooking Mercedes' body. Victor, the chauffeur arrives, and is told to kill the girl. He enters the room where she lay, but finds she has disappeared.

Diogenes snoops around, and barely escapes being stabbed yet again, by a hand in the shadows.

Matthew, Hippocrates, Amelia and Angela band together, and hold Diogenes, Lester and Rory hostage at gunpoint. They now think the whole mess is a plot by Rory and the detectives to scare the others out of the house.

The hostages are escorted to Mercedes' room, and locked in.

Diogenes laments their situation, and accidentally discovers Mercedes resting peacefully on her bed. He attempts to interrogate her, but comes up empty. Mercedes wants to leave, but Rory insists they stick it out. The group rests, and thinks.

Back at the Devil's Inn, Matthew and Angela plot against Mercedes.

Mercedes and Rory enter Rory's dressing room, and find Diogenes being held captive by two armed men. Mercedes warns the gunmen that Diogenes is a great detective, but the two men merely break up into laughter.

Diogenes affirms that he is not to be taken lightly, but the men find this even more funny. The gunmen then inform the trio that they are to be held prisoner until after midnight, when Mercedes will forfeit her claim to the fortune.

Lester enters the room, and inadvertently knocks out the gunmen.

Back at the Red House, midnight is approaching. Our heroes hightail it to the house, but their car gets a flat tire along the way.

Diogenes and Lester fix the flat. Once they resume, they are chased by a motorcycle cop.

Midnight arrives, and the bells start to toll. The remaining heirs-to-be are all ecstatic, as they presume Mercedes has lost her entitlement. However, Mercedes and gang arrive at the last stroke of midnight.

The lawyer informs the gathered fortune hunters that this is the night in which they will search for the hidden treasure.

Rory starts to pick a fight with Matthew, but Diogenes suggests the time would be better spent searching for the treasure. Lester suggests that he and his boss hunt for the riches also, and after feigning insult, Diogenes agrees.

Diogenes snoops around, and a hand from the shadows knocks him on the head.

Amelia snoops around, and a hand almost stabs her. She parts a curtain, and watches as Hippocrates falls to the ground, dead.

Amelia screams, and the others arrive. Rory suggests calling the police, but is informed that Humphreys didn't have a telephone. They agree to wait till morning.

Diogenes comes to, only to encounter the Phantom. At gunpoint, the Phantom leads Diogenes into a closet, where he is locked in.

Rory and Mercedes become disgusted at the others' greed as they ransack the house in search for treasure. They come upon Matthew, who is hacking away at a shipping crate. They tell him to stop, but he refuses.

The group hear a scream. They run into the living room, and find Amelia lying dead, victim of a stab wound.

Peter and Diana walk in, and declare indifferently that everyone dies eventually. They leave.

Rory tells Matthew that he thinks Peter and Diana are somehow connected to the murders. Matthew agrees, and they decide to join forces.

Mercedes faints. While bringing her to, they hear a knock on the door. Angela leaves Mercedes to go see.

The wind blows the door open, which is odd, as it was locked tight a moment before. Rory, Matthew and Angela all go outside to investigate, but when they run back, the door shuts itself, leaving them out in the cold. Lester tries to open the door from the inside, but it is again locked tight.

The Phantom enters, and attacks Lester.

Mercedes comes to just in time to see the Phantom approach her. Mercedes screams, and the Phantom chases her around a table.

Mercedes tries to run upstairs, but the Phantom throws a knife, barely missing her.

Mercedes takes up a small hatchet, and throws it at the Phantom, but misses. The Phantom continues to chase Mercedes, as the others continue their struggle to reenter the Red House.

Mercedes asks the Phantom to stop long enough for her to take a sip of water. He obliges.

The Phantom grabs a big fire axe, and continues his attack. He corners Mercedes and swings the axe, but she ducks just in time.

Lester comes to, sees the Phantom, and faints again. The Phantom continues to chase Mercedes all over the house.

Mercedes eludes the Phantom for a moment, and tries to hide in her bed, but the Phantom is already there. She runs out, followed by the Phantom.

In the hallway, the "Phantom" unmasks himself: it is Diogenes! He tells Mercedes that he locked the real Phantom in the closet, but at that very moment the villain is trying to chop his way out. They both run away.

The Phantom knocks down the door and tries to pick up Mercedes, but Diogenes knocks him out cold.

Mercedes asks Diogenes how he managed to knock the Phantom out. Diogenes shows her the big stick he used. Mercedes takes it, and tests it on Diogenes' head.

Back in the living room, Peter and Diana hold the others at gunpoint, and explain that they never intended to let anyone else have the fortune, as they had labored for the old man for many years, without reward, and were determined to retrieve the fortune themselves.

Rory and Matthew pull the rug out from under the two, and they fall down.

Mercedes and Diogenes hear a gunshot. Diogenes goes to investigate, while Mercedes stays with the unconscious Phantom.

Rory and Matthew tie up Peter and Diana. They see another Phantom coming down the stairs, and shoot. Mercedes follows, and runs to Rory. They embrace.

Mercedes informs Rory that he just shot Diogenes, who soon comes to. Lester runs to his boss, and helps him up.

Diogenes starts to explain, but the lawyer enters and interrupts.

The lawyer explains that Humphreys knew that Peter and Diana were crooked, and devised this whole plan to frame them. The police have been called, and are on their way.

The Phantom is revealed to be Victor, the chauffeur.

Diogenes asks the lawyer how he was able to observe everyone without being noticed, and he explains that he had many vantage points throughout the house, including the portrait on the wall.

Mercedes walks over to the portrait, and straightens it. A trap door opens, and Mercedes falls into the basement, landing on top of a huge pile of money. She has found her fortune!

The others call down to see if Mercedes is alright, but she is busy counting her money, and listing all the things she is going to buy: a fur coat, diamonds, rubies, a convertible, a house boat, an airplane...

THE END

GUEST REVIEW:
by Mark J. Price
(reprinted, with permission,
from Brian Moran's SANTO STREET)
Imagine watching a Jerry Lewis film that's been dubbed into German. On the screen, you see the usual frenetic performance: Lewis trips over something, or makes a funny face, or gets trapped in a silly situation. But when he opens his mouth, the "Oh, laaaaaaady!" you expect is replaced by "Achtung, fraulein!" Something is lost in the translation. (Of course, if you don't like Jerry Lewis, that might be a good thing.)

THE PHANTOM IN THE RED HOUSE , a horror spoof filmed in Mexico in 1954, features the comic talents of Anthony "Clavillazo" Espino. It's easy to compare Clavillazo to Lewis since both were in their prime in the '50s and both excelled at slapstick humor. However, Clavilazzo had a style all his own. Easily recognizable in his loose clothing and winged hat, the comic amused audiences with caustic one-liners and spastic gestures. But since the comedian's voice was replaced by English dubbing, it's probably best to think of his performanc in PHANTOM as a pantomime.

Alma Rosa Aguirre (the younger sister of actresses Beatriz and Elsa Aguirre) is the true star, playing ditzy Mercedes Benz Reddington, one of several heirs to a fortune left by a deceased millionaire. The heirs gather at the rnillionaire's mansion to hear the reading of his will. A lawyer tells them they must spend three nights in the spooky house in order to get a share of $6 million - which is hidden somewhere inside. Mercedes and her fiance, Rory (Raoul Martinez) find themselves surrounded by the usual group of greedy relatives, sinister servants and dishonest acquaintances. When a masked killer begins to stalk the heirs, Rory hires humbling private investigator, Diogenes Hammes, (Clavillazo) to protect Mercedes and unmask the villain.

If you like haunted mansion movies, this one has plenty of familiar elements for you to enjoy; secret passages, a howling thunderstorm, a clock striking midnight, a portrait with moving eyes and hands that emerge from hidden panels to clutch at unsuspecting victims.

Deft comic turns by Aguirre (she gives a performance somewhat reminiscent of Lucille Ball) and Clavillazo also help save the movie from being routine. In a show-stopping sequence, Aguirre draws plenty of chuckles as she is chased through the mansion by an ax-wielding maniac. "One moment, please," she tells the masked killer as she stops for a glass of water. She's allowed to take a sip, before the chase resumes.

Clavillazo is fun, too, as the would-be Sherlock Holmes, who is clueless in more ways than one. But, it may come as a disappointment to his fans that the comedian isn't the lead in Phantom. In fact, he doesn't appear until 36 minutes into the film!

Truthfully, I'm not sure what K. Gordon Murray was thinking, when he selected EL FANTASMA DE LA CASA ROJA to be part of his English-dubbed horror package. For one thing, the movie includes four musical numbers, all in Spanish, that must have made U.S. viewers scratch their heads. The songs, which all take place in a nightclub (The Devil's Inn) could have easily been cut, but then the 92-minute movie would have lasted only about an hour.

Also, many of the jokes lack subtlety, probably because of literal translations from the Spanish script. When a character describes the horse-power of a car engine, Mercedes says, "The car is drawn by horses? I thought it was new."

And for a film that depends on character-driven comedy, the dubbing is a bit disconcerting at times. The voice that represents Clavillazo sounds like an imitation of Chico Marx. That must have seemed logical at the time, since both Chico and Clavillazo wore silly hats.

Although this film isn't a bad introduction to Clavillazo, if you want to see at his best, try to catch one of his undubbed Mexican films. But, if you're in the mood for a Jerry Lewis kind of movie with a Lucille Ball type lead, this movie may be for you. If you enjoy old-dark-house comedies, there's more than enough in THE PHANTOM IN THE RED HOUSE, to keep you entertained.

REVIEW:
This rarely seen, and utterly ridiculous, horror-comedy from Mexico is one of the oddest ducks ever brought to our shores by quick-buck producer Murray.

In fact, the two Murray horror comedies (this and BRING ME THE VAMPIRE) are strong entries in the psychotronic canon, combining dated horror and translated farce in surreal cultural artifacts which are quite unlike anything else.

This zany, cynical updating of THE OLD DARK HOUSE starts with credits over wood paneling, plus some musical numbers in Spanish, but gets busy real fast after that.

Undoubtedly, the star of this silly spook show is Anthony Espino, aka Clavillazo, a hilarious Jerry Lewis clone whose manic hand gestures and meandering pseudo-logic (much of which is retained in Murray's idiosyncratic dubbing) are seriously bizarre.

From his entrance through the film's end, Clavillazo, as detective Diogenes Hermes, steals the show, in his bizarre winged hat and Sherlock Holmes outfit.

Even his name's great. Are we to assume from it, that DH embodies qualities of the Greek cynic philospher and the occult wise man? Or is he as dumb as he appears to be?

Clavillazo, and his dumb Dr. Watson-like assistant, provide much of the comedy relief in this assuredly offbeat horror-comedy.

Stars Alma Rose Aguirre and Raoul Martinez are strictly by-the-book heroes, although Alma looks awfully cute in her little red devil costume, and there is a touch of Lucy in her broadly-played bouts of trepidation.

The title "Phantom" is a silly figure wearing an odd fright mask, a gaucho hat and a cape, looking like a cross between two Mexican pop culture icons: Santo and Zorro.

The film starts in "the Devil's Inn", which is just a big old cave set filled with tables and chairs. In our two visits to this weird establishment, we are witness to waitresses in bizarre devil outfits, and at least three lethargic musical numbers, retained in their original Spanish.

The translated screenplay features fantastic character names like Mercedes Benz Rattington, Dr. Hippocrates Pining, and some complex and convoluted dialogue that makes it a masterpiece of dubbing, a fine example of a lost cinematic art at its height.

It goes without saying that a broad comedy from Mexico will be real broad, and what with the lunatic Murray dubbing, this film becomes an absolute riot of bad innuendo, indecipherable wisecracks and grotesque punnery. The dialogue is unusually hilarious, even for a Mexi-Murray mishmash, what with trying to maintain the integrity of the original humor elements.

You can tell the gang at Soundlab had a real party with this one, a magnificent highlight of the Murray horror ouvre.

COMMENTS:
* (updated 02-14-06) Thanks to a terrific new book we just received, "Ghouls, Gimmicks and Gold" by Kevin Heffernan, (2004, Duke University Press), we have been able to update the U.S. television release date for this Murray horror title to 1965. The appendices to this study of the horror film in America, circa 1955-1968, include complete listings of syndication feature film packages from many distributors, including American International Television, who subleased the K. Gordon Murray film catalog under the title THRILLERS FROM ANOTHER WORLD. It seems that 1965 was the watershed year for genre film sold to television, with a veritable flood of titles released by both domestic and foreign distribs.

* (effective 05-01-03) After a very brief window of availability, this long-sought K. Gordon Murray title is once again out of print, due to international copyright issues. Used video tapes of this title may be found on online video dealers and auction sites. Stay tuned for further developments!

* Mexican comedian Anthony Espino, aka "Clavillazo", was certainly the Jerry Lewis of 50's Mexican cinema, making many comedies, including westerns, mysteries and horrors.

NOTABLE DIALOGUE: