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Showing posts from August, 2013

House of Mystery (1934) - William Nigh

This movie is extraordinarily mediocre. Nothing about it stands out, not even the witty banter. Which there is an abundance of. A stereotypical cast of characters is trapped inside of an Old Dark House type story line with an escaped Ape knocking people off one by one. A horrible constable comes to investigate, but does a horrible job and people keep dying off. This isn't a story line that that we haven't seen before. In fact nothing about this movie is that original. Aside from the origin of  the Ape is haunting this house. The story-line deals with a guy that kills an Ape in India in 1910. He gets cursed and his curse is "supposedly" killing off anyone that comes in contact with their inheritance. Because of the curse a giant Ape is running around snapping necks. The acting is horrible and forgettable. There is almost no character development and the development that happens is boring and stupid. Yes, stupid. The lead actress is so bizarre looking. Just lo

Maniac (1934) - Dwain Esper

Maniac (aka. Sex Maniac) from 1934 is a grindhouse pre-code exploitation film that really pushes the boundaries of decency in the early days of film. It has nudity and vulgarity done in the best possible way. This is the first example of modern horror. Done years ahead of its time. The film is, of course, very independent and has its charms. However, that is also it's biggest downfall. The lack of funds is apparent from the start. It drags down a lot of things including the acting. It should be something that you expect when your watching these types of pictures. One thing is clear throughout this flick, Dwain Esper is fucking weird.  The plot revolves around a mad scientist that figures out a way to bring dead corpses back to life. He brings a young woman back to life for... reasons. However, he is murdered by his assistant who is the unwilling recipient of a reanimated heart-in-a-jar. The assistant assumes the mad scientists identity by putting on a beard and glasses. The

The Black Cat (1934) - Edgar G. Ulmer

So I decided to watch... well the next movie that came across my desk. Never heard of this little gem before. It seems like a pretty big deal movie too. Where had I been? We have both Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi! Both! Like I need to say this but they are tremendous actors in this genre and both preform incredibly. Hugely iconic. The story is bizarre and loosely biased on an Edgar Allan Poe tale. Yes, this is yet again another Poe inspired movie. These movies are a dime a dozen right now. However, this one does it right. The story is memorable and fun. A couple meets a weird Doctor (Bela) on a train. They get into a pretty horrible accident and people are killed. It's pretty obvious, but they never speak of this again. Instead The doctor and the couple continue on. They all stumble, pretty conveniently, to the Doctors destination. A house owned and built by Boris Karloff's character, a psychotic and Satan-worshiping architect. The story states that the architect st

Night of Terror (1933) - Benjamin Stoloff

This is yet again, another Old Dark House style movie. "Starring" Bela Lugosi in a very minor role, as the servant to the Hornsby family. The format is tired and boring, but the introduction of a slasher-type murderer makes it a bit more entertaining. The movie is full of fast-talking and quick witted remarks in only the best way the thirties had. The entire cast sounded like they were the wittiest combination of characters. Each had something to say and each said it quickly. Except for Bela. Bela never speaks very quickly. Like I said above the movie is part of that old cliché. We have a bunch of young relatives that are staying in their fathers home for some reason. While they are staying in this... ahem... Old dark house, there is a killer on the loose and people start turning up dead! This fuels the siblings greed when the father is killed. The movie is littered with pretty decent suspense around the stabbings and killings. It paints a good who-done-it? from the beg

Secret of the Blue Room (1933) - Kurt Neumann

Secret of the Blue Room is a pretty decent crime/horror movie that follows in the Old Dark House footsteps. Lionel Atwill is the most seasoned actor in the film, turning in a pretty passable performance. This isn't his best role by any stretch of the word. There are infinitely worse movies than this one. It is short, running at 65 min, but has a good helping of terror and suspense. This film gives you a good helping of the  who done it  plot device and in a good way. It actually kept me guessing the entire time and kept my interest.  The movie is about three men that are in a pissing contest about gaining the hand of the young Irene Von Helldorf. It just so happens, the Van Helldorf family estate has a mysterious room that is "responsible" for the deaths of anyone that stays overnight in it. One person drowned and the other shot. Very mysterious. Of course this is a prime opportunity to prove your worth as a suitor for the young lady. Of course that goes horribly

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) - Fritz Lang

The first thing that I noticed about Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse is that the cinematography is absolutely wunderbar. The story is immediately engaging and the acting is superb. This is my first viewing and I am incredibly happy with the movie being part of the Criterion Collection. The picture and sound are of the highest quality. I know my set up isn't exactly the silver screen but it looked fantastic. It almost looked as if Fritz Lang went into the future and shot the movie in the fifties. Everything is so crisp and clean. What a picture.  It tells the story of Dr. Mabuse, who is incarcerated at a local insane asylum. While in the asylum he writes out thousands of pages of crime details. These details start to come true and our "hero" Inspector Lohmann begins to investigate, this takes him to some very dangerous individuals. The movie has crazy visions and ghosts. It is really scary during some parts and engaging during the others, to me it balances pretty well.

Murders in the Rue Morgue (1933) - Robert Florey

You have heard me talk about this time and time again... Bela Lugosi is the greatest horror actor of the Golden Age. He is practically responsible for the popularity of horror during that period. My mom is the one who really got me into watching horror movies and she would talk about Bela Lugosi forever. So he is partially responsible for me loving horror as much as I do. This movie was released one year after his defining performance in  Dracula. It actually introduces Bela as "Dracula Himself" which is pretty funny to me. He never got out from under that role, hell he was Dracula. So in this movie Bela is playing Dr. Mirakle, a mad scientist in France who does these crazy experiments on his monkey. You see he gets these girls, right, and he injects them with monkey blood to try and get a little play date for his killer ape. I don't really know if the doctor is a real doctor or just a lunatic. Oh one of the funniest things I thought is that the Ape's name is

The Ghoul (1933) - T. Hayes Hunter

Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, and Boris Karloff are some of the greatest horror movie actors of all time. They have so many legendary performances under their belts. There were other actors and actresses that were legendary in their own right. Basil Rathbone and Fay Wray are two prime examples, but they just don't stand up to the chops of Karloff or the master of disguise Chaney. That being said Boris Karloff delivers what I believe to be the greatest performance in the first 15 minuets of this movie and peters out. How do you take one of the best actors of horror and make him look amateur? I really appreciate what the director here is trying to do, this was an independent movie. The film had a very small budget, yet it didn't look like they wanted to scale anything down. The movie looked very clean and even pulled off a minor explosion, but it lacked in the story and really sagged in the middle. Boris' makeup was horrendous. The movie is about an archaeologist w