Doctor X (1932) - Michael Curtiz

Michael Curtiz and First National/Warner Brothers pictures brings you the first color horror film. From 1932 we have Dr. X, this obscure and rarely appreciated feature stems from a time when motion pictures were just beginning to be regulated. Tons of these movies came out that didn't have to sign a censorship clause. This movie is supposedly one of these movies. Rape, Cannibalism, and Murder are all examples of what we are dealing with. Something all sorts of weird and ahead of it's time.

The plot is simple enough. Someone is stalking and killing people in New York, he is dubbed the Moon Killer. A campy thirties journalist is hot on the case and begins digging up all sorts of trouble. The movie has its really intense points and dull ones as well. It is truly a testament to the dialog in the era.

So, this is a horror/comedy that follows in the footsteps of the one's that came before it. It isn't the comedy that drags people in. Hell, it isn't even the suspense. No. It's the color. This is a really early picture and it was filmed in a rare color process. It should be appreciated way more than it really is. The process was so rare. It made the movie that much more interesting.

Lionel Atwill leads us here in a pretty decent performance. Everything else is completely overacted and really campy. That adds to the quality of the picture though. The period dialect and the over the top mannerisms are something that I have come to love in my journey though the celluloid. Good movie.

Dr. X is another movie referenced in Rocky Horror Picture Show's intro. It should be more widely regarded as such. However, it doesn't look like it gets it just desserts. Enjoy this movie with your friends. It's not a snoozefest.

Dr. X will build a creature

Contrary to Technicolor's edict, Warners shot a black-and-white version of "Doctor X." At least two scenes in the black-and-white version use different takes than the color one: the scene with Lee Tracy and Mae Busch in the house of prostitution scene and the sequence with Tracy in the skeleton room.
The play opened in New York City, New York, USA on 9 February 1931.
For a time Warner Brothers did not have a print of the original Technicolor version and it was assumed to be lost. The Technicolor version was finally discovered and restored by the UCLA Archives.

Comments

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

Not scared yet? »

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

Not scared yet? »

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

Not scared yet? »

Horror Movie Project

Search This Blog