Skip to main content

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 wrong. After yet another murder in the room the tensions rise and investigations are started. This is where the movie really gets interesting. Now everyone must prove that they can withstand the room one by one. 

It does have downsides The scares are obvious and the dialog is contrived. The copy that I watched was incredibly washed out and over exposed. It sucked to watch. It was hard to see and the audio was tired and distorted in some sections. Once I got over much of the technical snags I really enjoyed it. This is a Universal release and is attached to none other than producer extraordinaire, Carl Laemmle. Those names hold some weight but not everything they do can be Golden. The Secret of the Blue Room is a really interesting picture with some real potential. It makes me think of movies like 1408 and Murder by the Clock. It has a great story but it isn't executed in the best way. I still recommend it to anyone looking to do a movie marathon. Check it out. 
  • Shot in all of six days. 
  • Features Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  • The plot is based on the German film Geheimnis des Blauen Zimmers
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Sleepy Hollow (1999) - Tim Burton

Tim Burton's take on the old Sleepy Hollow tale is really interesting. He adds his own flair of course. He delves very deeply into the original story by Washington Irving. The casting is usual for Burton. Johnny Depp of course in your lead. Helena Bonham Carter, thrown in for some flavor. The score is done by Danny Elfman. It's literally just the Ichabod Crane story run through the Tim Burton machine. But in a good way. Sleepy Hollow has a problem with a guy, running around, taking people's heads. Like, a lot of people. The town sends word for assistance and the nervous  Constable Ichabod Crane reports. He starts to unravel clues that take him down an incredibly strange path. With the Horseman still murdering patrons, Crane tries finding who's next before they lose their head.  I've always been a big fan of the Disney cartoon,  The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad . This movie is a far cry from Bing Crosby and quaint animations....
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Le Manoir du Diable (1896) - George Melies

According to Wikipedia in August of 2011, Le Manoir du diable by Georges Melies is the first horror movie. Well, actually its a short film (about three minuets or so) but film was really hard to come by in that time so this counts as a film to me. The plot of the film is basic, you have your hero being tormented by demonic things in a crazy castle room... However, that plot isn't what brought the crowds. The thing that drove the popularity of these films was the fact that you were seeing motion on screen. I suggest going and seeing Hugo. That film is spectacular. It answered so many questions that I had. It really sets the scene and the tone. The film has strong christian overtones and actually ends with Christianity prevailing over the "tides of darkness". I provided a link at the bottom of this review for anyone that would like to see this pioneer in Horror Film. The movie uses very, very early "movie magic" that is an abundance of smoke and m...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »