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Showing posts from February, 2014

Devil-Doll (1936) - Tod Browning

The 1936's Devil-Doll is a crazy mix of Frankenstein, The Littles, and Mrs. Doubtfire. Sounds strange enough right? This movie marks the steep decline in quality and in popularity of Tod Brownings work. He really picked up steam by directing classics like Dracula and Freaks, however he wasn't able to maintain that level of quality. Instead he retired from directing in 1939 and fell out of society; completely cutting himself off from everyone, including his family, until his death in 1962. This movie is really intriguing with its use of the early "green screen" work and its other effects. That is really what drives the film. Other than that the movie sort of falls flat and ends very bizarrely. Lionel Barrymore (Great uncle of Drew Barrymore) and Marcel are on the run after escaping from prison. Marcel is a great scientist and he drags Barrymore to his experiments once they escape. The experiments Marcel performs involve shrinking things down to 1/6th their

Revolt of the Zombies (1936) - Victor Halperin

This little known movie from 1936 is actually pretty decent. The effects are practical and fantastic for it's time. Victor Halperin has already turned in some good movies and this adds to his report. Unlike many movies from this era this is based in Asia. Cambodia to be more precise. This film has adventure, mystery, and even a tiny bit of gore. However, it ends up going on a bit long. The movie is about a group of scientists sent to Cambodia to research a formula that turns men into Zombies. These Cambodian Zombies are under complete control of someone sinister and they must be stopped from overrunning the scientists compound. Dorthy Stone, Dean Jagger, and Roy D'Arcy turn in some pretty average performances. It isn't their fault the movie has really deep dull spots. The movie does have some really cool high points to counter-balance. We get to see a cool effect used whenever mind control is being used. Bela Lugosi's eyes flash on screen and are superimposed

Dracula's Daughter (1936) - Lambert Hillyer

Trying to ride the popularity train of Tod Browning's 1931 film Dracula, Dracula's Daughter falls flat on its face. This movie is boring, dull and has nothing going for it. The stars of the movie include: Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden, Marguerite Chruchill, and Edward Von Sloan returning from Dracula to portray the character Van Helsing. The only passable actor would have to be Gloria Holden who plays Dracula's Daughter, Countess Marya Zaleska.  This movie is canon to the original, set only moments after the first film ends. We see Van Helsing dealing with the police for driving a stake through the heart of a man known as Count Dracula. The police have no idea that he was a vampire and they think the entire idea is ludicrous; meanwhile Countess Marya Zaleska comes to London to destroy her fathers body and do what vampires do best.  There are a ton of things that bother me about this flim. One being that the movie is set in London and none of the actors have British a