The Red House is a 1947 American thriller film noir[1][3] directed by Delmer Daves and starring Edward G. Robinson, Lon McCallister, Judith Anderson, Rory Calhoun, Allene Roberts, and Julie London.

Its plot follows a young woman raised by a brother and sister who are concealing a secret involving an abandoned farmhouse located deep in the woods on their sprawling property.

Handicapped farmer Pete Morgan and his sister Ellen live on an isolated farm with their adopted child, Meg.

Now a teenager, Meg convinces Pete to hire one of her 12th-grade high school classmates, Nath Storm, to come help with chores on the farm.

On the first evening, when it is time for him to go home, Nath says he is going to take a shortcut through the old woods, a part of Pete's property he forbids anyone from entering.

Pete becomes agitated, insisting the woods are dangerous and contain a haunted house which is painted red, and that Nath must stay out.

In the meantime, Meg begins to fall in love with Nath, but his jealous and manipulative girlfriend Tibby has other plans for him.

Meanwhile, it is revealed that Pete has secretly given local handyman and petty thug Teller rights to hunt on the land in return for keeping trespassers off of the property.

Whilst she runs back to the farm, Teller fires several rifle shots to scare her away from returning.

Pete finally confesses that Ellen had been keeping the secret for him, about him being in love with a woman named Jeannie who later married another man.

[1] Composer Miklós Rózsa continued his exploration of writing mysterious cues for the theremin, which was played by Samuel Hoffman.

Writing for The New York Times, A. H. Weiler enjoyed the picture, calling it "an edifying offering, which should supply horror-hungry audiences with the chills of the month ... told intelligently and with mounting tension".

As a strength of the film, Weiler cited a "uniformly good cast", including an "excellent" Robinson, a "fine" McCallister, and Anderson, who gives a "taut performance".

Weiler also praised "Delmar Daves' fluid direction ... and an appropriately macabre musical assist from Miklós Rózsa.

[6] Dave Sindelar gave The Red House a positive review in 2008: "It's not perfect; it's a little too long, so you end up figuring some of the final revelations before you should, and it gets a little repetitive at times, but the strong acting and some memorable images make it worth the investment.

The Red House was released as a two-disc DVD and Blu-ray set on April 24, 2012, transferred from original 35mm elements and digitally restored in high definition, by Film Chest and HD Cinema Classics.

Features include the theatrical 35mm trailer, a comparison of scenes before and after restoration, and an original movie art postcard.