The Cat and the Canary (1927) - Paul Leni

Hollywood then as now was concerned with being the best in the world, so this typically involved bringing foreign talent in when necessary. Paul Leni arrived in America to far less fanfare than Murnau in 1927. He was hired to direct a version of the famous stage play The Cat and the Canary, and of course it just happened to be a Universal picture. No other studio at the time was as concerned with scaring people, but Leni's film is a new kind of horror film. A film that mixes as many creepy and frightening moments with bits of pure slapstick. James Whale would perfect this combination in Bride of Frankenstein but here it still is relatively new. If the film seems predictable that's because it probably established every convention of the haunted house film. Oft-remade no other version has held up as well as the original, and at least from a commercial standpoint Leni appeared to be one of the more successful immigrant directors of the era.