Dark and Stormy Night (2009)

IMDb plot summary: In the 1930s the family of old Sinas Cavinder, gathered for the reading of his will, find themselves being murdered by a mysterious phantom while two rival reporters compete for the story.

Directed by Larry Blamire. Starring Jennifer Blaire, Daniel Roebuck, Brian Howe, and Fay Masterson.

This is a parody of 1930s horror films, written and directed by Larry Blamire, whose 2003 B-movie parody The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is in my top 50 films of all time. This one doesn't land quite as well for me, though it features many of the same actors and follows the same path of just stuffing the movie chock-full of styles and tropes to poke fun at. We've got an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery, a pair of witty fast-talking screwball comedy reporters, the frightened and/or ominous servants populating every gothic horror story... a little bit of everything. That does mean it moves along quickly enough that if a joke doesn't land, just wait a second and maybe the next one will. While I could see this one ultimately growing on me as a quotable delight much the same way Cadavra did, the first viewing produced mostly mild chuckles. The biggest laughs came from tiny throwaway lines, so I'm sure there are other gems to be found, but it's a little underwhelming.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Dark and Stormy Night > The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

Dark and Stormy Night < Queen of Katwe

Dark and Stormy Night < A Goofy Movie

Dark and Stormy Night < The Fall

Dark and Stormy Night < VeggieTales: Madame Blueberry

Dark and Stormy Night < Hustle & Flow

Dark and Stormy Night > One, Two, Three

Dark and Stormy Night > Nine Queens

Dark and Stormy Night > Mudbound

Dark and Stormy Night > The Misfits

Dark and Stormy Night > Frank

Dark and Stormy Night < Monsters

Final spot: #1566 out of 3229, or 52%.