"Arsenic and Old Lace": Horror or Comedy?

    During my undergrad, I was blessed with a great group of friends. One year for Halloween, I had the opportunity to dress up for Halloween and go one of these friend’s apartment dressed for Halloween and we proceeded to watch, what was considered for them, to be a classic Halloween film, “Arsenic and Old Lace.” It was memorable and enjoyable. I have watched the film only once since then, but I still recall with fondness some of the things I enjoyed from that movie. Here are some of the key elements that I enjoyed from what has become a classic Halloween movie.

First of all, the basis of the movie is about murder, but the murder is occurring by two elderly women who genuinely believe they are doing a favor for the elderly men then are killing! It is so asinine that it becomes humorous. They host gentlemen who are widowed or lonely or otherwise in what they consider a bad state of being and then proceed to kill them with arsenic in their tea! Think about that! How is this not a horror movie!? Well, I guess it’s all in the presentation. These old women are not malicious in their actions, they believe they are being benevolent and therefore they do not come across as being the antagonists for the plot.

Of course, upon finding out about what his aunts are doing, main character, Mortimer Brewster, played by Cary Grant, is mortified (see what I did there?)! And of course this happens on the same day that he, a newspaper columnist and self proclaimed bachelor for life, has gotten married. He is frantically trying to get ready to leave for his honeymoon when he finds out that his elderly aunts are in fact murderers. This frantic nature contributes to the hilarious nature of the film.

This film is adapted from a play of the same name and in the original casting of the play, Boris Karloff portrays Jonthan, Mortimer’s brother with a penchant for law breaking and ill-doing. Boris Karloff is well known for his portrayal as the original monster in Frankenstein. His appearance in the play is such that he is often told that he looks a lot like “Boris Karloff” which is a very clever means of allowing the actors to have fun during their performance. Karloff was not able to be in the film, but the resemblance of Jonathan in the film to Frankenstein’s monster is unmistakable. 

Lastly, there is Uncle Teddy. Teddy is convinced that he is actually Teddy Roosevelt. This leads to hilarious interactions between him and other members of the cast. Every time he goes up the stairs, he yells, “Charge!” as if he is Teddy Roosevelt charging up San Juaquin hill. He is also employed by his well meaning, but murderous sisters to “dig the panama canal” every time they have “saved” another poor, lonely, elderly man from his mortal state through a tonic with such serious consequences.

Again, as I write this down, this sounds like a horror film and in the hands of another film director, it certainly could have been but the conglomeration of so many factors leads to what I found to be a fun and enjoyable comedy that was an enjoyable Halloween treat.