By JOE WINTERS

Who wants to be a millionaire? Who wants to be a "Survivor"?

Hey, who doesn’t? But what are we willing to do to acquire that fortune? Wealth, or the lack of it, has driven men (and women) to ruthless extremes, in life and in film. Greed gets so downright deadly at times that it almost pays to stay poor! But where’s the fun in that?

On the other hand, the pursuit and challenge involved in a down and dirty treasure hunt can sharpen your wits, improve your reflexes and reward you handsomely…assuming you don’t get killed! Of course, if you’d rather play it safe, stick with Regis Philbin and those squabbling folks on TV, but if you’re the adventurous type, grab a flashlight, maybe a shovel (they have many uses), and join our hunt for hidden treasure mystery movies!

We’ll provide hints to some films for you to "uncover" yourself and we'll also "uncover" some other films for you...but be aware--you'll have to uncover the "hidden" films on your own!   Keep your eyes peeled, check the clues, and don’t turn your back on your opponents as we un-earth a chest-full of treasure hunt horrors!

But first a look at the "roots" of hidden treasure mystery films...

The Bat, Roland West’s 1926 thriller based on the stage success of the same name, helped set the stage for all those films that would follow, with its shadowy search for hidden cash at a gloomy estate, amid characters in fear of their lives at the hands of the titular master criminal.  The Cat And The Canary (Universal, 1927) further helped lay the blueprint for these films, as well as for "Dark House" thrillers in general.

A colorful group of characters gather for the reading of a will and the search for a fabulous necklace. The search is hampered and the heiress threatened by a maniacal clawed killer.  Both "The Bat" and "The Cat" have been re-made a number of times.

The Bat Whispers (1930, by Roland West again), The Bat (1958, with Vincent Price), The Cat Creeps (Universal 1930, in English and Spanish versions, now both considered lost), The Cat And The Canary (1939, with Bob Hope, George Zucco, and Gale Sondergaard, among others), and The Cat And The Canary (1979).

Besides re-makes, "Bat" and "Cat" have been the inspiration for any number of similarly-themed dark house excursions, some well-known, and others not so well-known, like 1933’s Before Dawn, directed by Irving Pichel (Sandor from Dracula’s Daughter). Swedish-born Warner Oland (when he wasn’t playing Charlie Chan, Fu Manchu, or Dr. Yogami) played a sinister psychologist on the trail of a dead gangster’s loot hidden in (what else?) a gloomy old house, complete with secret passages, a very deep well, a gangster’s ghost, and a familiar R.K.O. scream (though Fay Wray is nowhere in sight).

And now, let the hunt begin! Make your way through dark, musty corridors, and pit your skill against some of Horror-wood’s heavy hitters. But, be warned! Some of these guys and gals don’t always play fair!

While we’re still in 1933, let’s start our search for a jewel known as the Eternal Light, a gem reputed to do no less than bring the dead back to life. It’s also worth a lot of money. Professor Morlant (Boris Karloff) has it, Cedric Hardwick, Ralph Richardson, Ernest Thesiger, and others, want it. The film was lost for a while, but now, happily, anyone can get their hands on this ghoulish gem of a movie, made in Britain as …(Note: If you can't guess the films, "open" the treasure chests below by clicking on them)...

In 1940, seven keys to the door with seven locks lead to the Selford jewels …if you and Lili Palmer can escape the clutches of lethal Leslie Banks, and survive his...

In 1941, Universal re-teamed the romantic leads from The Mummy’s Hand (Dick Foran and Peggy Moran) in a search for pieces of eight stashed away in a haunted island castle. A peg-legged sea scamp, a sleepy playboy, a caped phantom, and others try to solve the riddle. Can you take the coin that you begot and place it in the handle slot, before being bumped off by one of the "last people anyone would suspect"? The key to the killer’s identity is house slippers (as in "not wearing any")…and the movie?…

Do you fancy yourself a Sherlock Holmes? The renowned sleuth had his hands full on numerous occasions, including the time he had to protect the cursed Borgia Pearl from a criminal mastermind (Miles Mander), his lovely accomplice (Evelyn Ankers) and a certain back-breaking behemoth called The Creeper (Rondo Hatton) in 1944’s The Pearl Of Death.

But here’s a pretty puzzle for you to solve, my dear Watson. First, take your place on a human chessboard, then follow the cryptic instructions of the Musgrave ritual. Where shall we go? Deep down below, where in 1943 Basil Rathbone went in pursuit of a wily killer with designs on a family fortune. Here, as in most cases, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death.

In treasure hunt films, atmosphere usually played an important part, but with low-budget P-R-C Productions, the characters themselves, and two favorite actors in particular, kept us engaged in one 1945 effort. Leo Grainger (George Zucco), wrongly convicted of embezzling, has finished doing time, and has decided to do in his enemies by inviting them to his island home. It’s no tropical paradise, but the guests see dollar signs as Leo provides them with clues that send them creeping about, double-crossing one-another, while Leo hopes to find which one murdered his late wife. If you can outwit Lionel Atwill and company, while avoiding Zucco’s ultimate trap, there could be a big payoff on...

In 1947, the number of bones in the human hand form a riddle to a safe’s combination, but once you open it, the choke may be on you! Peter Lorre is "on hand" in The Beast With Five Fingers.

The Fifties were leaner years for treasure hunters, but here’s a movie from 1956 that takes us out of the musty confines and onto the high seas as villainous Victor Jory leads John Bromfield (Revenge Of The Creature) and Lon Chaney Jr. into the briny deep of a film directed by Billy Wilder’s no-budget brother, and combining plot elements from Poe’s "The Gold Bug" and "Tell-Tale Heart". Get aboard the Manfish, and don’t swim alone.

Ten grand was a grand sum back in 1959 (I wouldn't turn it down today), but you may want to think twice before accepting the invitation of eccentric entrepreneur Frederick Loren (Vincent Price). To earn the money, all you have to do is survive a night of mayhem, murder, and malevolent spirits at...

In 1964 an out-of-work actor (played by Stuart Whitman) goes into an insane asylum to figure out where a murderer (Roddy McDowall) hid a million bucks. Another of those greedy psychiatrists (Lauren Bacall) wants the money, and before it’s all over we find there’s more than one kind of...

In 1973, Roddy was back as a n’er-do-well nephew, along with a veteran cast that includes Stella Stevens, Elsa (Bride Of Frankenstein) Lanchester, Patric (Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man) Knowles, and others in a dark comedy about a marriage to a corpse, shifting alliances, double-crosses, and a series of recorded messages from the dead title character, leading to an assortment of gruesome death traps and a big pile of cash. Even in death, the last word belongs to...

That same year, the same producer, same director, same writer and several of the same actors, including Lanchester and Knowles, were joined by Broderick Crawford, Ray Milland, John Carradine, and others in a period piece with a house-of-wax setting. Who stands to gain by killing off those who would sell the waxworks? Is it Jack the Ripper, his wax statue, or someone else close to home? The reason behind it all is practically under everybody’s noses. Stay alive to find the treasure, and keep in mind the key to the killer’s identity can be determined by who has the keys to...

In more recent years, with bigger budgets came higher stakes and titanic treasures ranging from the Lost Ark to the Titanic itself. In the case of Raise The Titanic (1980), the "treasure" should have remained lost. The book was more fun.

The fun of any treasure hunt film is that we, ourselves, can get involved in the chase from the safety and comfort of our easy chairs, and with the wealth of past films, there’s almost no end to the treasures to be sought and savored, again and again.

Happy Hunting!

Thanks, Joe!  It was a fun "hunt," no one got rich, but no one had to eat bugs, either.  All in all, we trust a good time was had by all the readers.  Now, where did I leave that shovel...?

Article copyright © Joe Winters

Return To Archives From The Crypt