Still a fun watch

James Whale directs Universal's adaptation of JB Priestley's 1927 novel Benighted, transforming it into more of a horror tale. Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Stuart, Raymond Massey, Lilian Bond, Charles Laughton, and Ernest Thesiger star. Five people are forced to seek shelter in an old house from a terrible storm and flood in the Welsh countryside. The house is owned and run by an elderly, oddball brother and sister, who are assisted by their sinister brute of a butler, Morgan (Karloff). As the night wears on shocking secrets about the house and occupants are revealed. Like a lot of these films it feels very stagy now, but there is bags of unmistakable Universal backlot atmosphere (this is, after all, the film that gave its name to a whole sub-genre of horror), and a very enjoyable cast - many of whom Whale would use again in later movies. 6/10