The Mummy (1932) - Karl Freund

Now we get to The Mummy from 1932. Not to be confused with the Brendan Fraser comedy series that goes by the same name. No. This movie is one of those "Original Monster" movies from Universal Pictures. Carl Laemmle Jr. and Boris Karloff are responsible for the bringing this classic tale to the silver screen. The Mummy is a great old movie that was followed up by a ton of useless sequels. So far the movie has been remade a couple of times, once in 1959 by Hammer Horror and in 1999 with Brendan Frasier.

This film, starring the amazing Boris Karloff as Imhotep begins with him being resurrected accidentally by two archaeologists. In one pretty laughable scene, Imhotep who is newly risen from the grave, passes through a scene prompting one of the archaeologists to nearly die laughing. They try to stop him but Imhotep escapes into Cairo. Then posing as a modern Egyptian man, he finds two other archaeologists and has them begin to dig where his ancient lover was buried to unite the two forever!

An expedition digs up a mysterious box and sarcophagus, while out on an archaeological dig. In the sarcophagus they find the mummified remains of Imhotep. That is still a really cool name. Things lead to things and a goofy sidekick character summons Imhotep back from the dead. Cut to ten years later. The expedition is being called off and most of the team is returning to London. No one speaks of Imhotep's returning from the grave. A strange patron that looks like the Mummy leads the Brits to a new dig site. That of the princess Ankh-es-en-Amon. Now Imhotep, disguised as the patron is out to get his princess back and will stop at nothing to do so. Just about.

This movie is a true classic. The acting, the sets, this movie had it all. It even had KARLOFF! Boris Karloff's career had become so bloated by this time. Just one year after Frankenstein and he is being credited as KARLOFF only. That factoid is laughable. My only problem with this movie was the quick ending. They had quite the lead up that could have lead to an amazing fight but petered out and just went to credits.

Not really horror, but I am highly recommending it to anyone that wants a good tale. It has a good deal of suspense though-out and Karl Freund does a great job of creatively capturing some really cool shots. The story is really interesting too and holds your interest. Its really wordy and kind of drawn out in parts. I could think of a thousand ways that this would of been scary but it never really took those routes.

Director: Karl Freund
Producer: Carl Laemmle, Jr.
Writer: John L. Balderston, Nina Wilcox Putnam (Story), Richard Schayer (Story)
Starring: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward van Sloan and Arthur Byron
Studio: Universal Studios
Release Date: December 22, 1932
Country: USA
Did ya know: The Film was shot in the Mojave Desert and Cantil, CA. This was Boris Karloff's biggest role after Frankenstein. The original film poster is worth $453,500.00

The Human Monster (1939) - Walter Summers

Bela Lugosi turns in a fantastic performance. It is right on par with the exact same films that had made him famous like Dracula . My personal favorite being The Black Cat . Like the latter, this film suffered from poor circulation and lack of advertisement. Either that or the public wasn't interested in seeing Lugosi in anything else other than his famous bloodsucker. This film has a broad and well acted plot that was rich with detail. Lugosi has two sides in this picture. His well loved and compassionate side. The other is a strict, brutal lone shark that acts as a sinister villain to blind and handicapped people. He really brutalizes his victims. It's a macabre message to pay your bills. The film is slow moving and plagued by the usual setbacks from its time. Most of the nation wasn't really that concerned with horror at the time. But studios knew that they would always have an audience. This film is a prime example of that. It's sad because it's

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Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t

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Inseminoid (1981) - Norman J. Warren

What can be said for mindless schlock pictures like this one. They were pumped out in droves during the eighties. Inseminoid !? give me a break! It sounds like some pre-pubescent teenage boys came up with the title. On the plus side the movie isn't horrible to look at and it has a decent amount of gore. If you can separate yourself from the political incorrectness, then you might have a perfectly decent Sci-Fi Monster Feature. A research team exploring caves on Jupiter accidentally awakens an ancient alien that rapes and impregnates one of the team members. She suffers from terrible shock and trauma, leading to a complete mental breakdown as her pregnancy accelerates faster and faster. Feeling threatened she decides to kill anyone she deems a threat. Can the rest of the research team survive or will they all become victims of INSEMINOID! Apparently this movie had a million dollar budget. That's really shocking considering the outcome of the picture. The acting

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