Skip to main content

The Man They Could Not Hang (1939) - Nick Grinde

The Man They Could Not Hang was actually a really solid horror movie. Boris Karloff is always fantastic and this movie is no different. Karloff takes his little role in this picture and makes it way bigger and broader than expected. The film deals with tried and true horror surroundings. The Old Dark House aesthetic is in full effect here complete with a slow, brooding terror. The film is also far, ahead of it's time. It actually showcases an artificial heart and heart transplant before that kind of thing was ever heard of. 

Dr. Henryk Savaard (Boris Karloff) has been working on unlocking the key to immortality. In his work, he's discovered how to bring a human back to life. His goal is to make it so that surgeons wouldn't have to be working against the clock during surgeries. A young man volunteers for the opportunity to be one of the first to be killed and brought back to life. However, Savaard is unable to finish his work. His secretary rats on him. Eventually leading to Savaard being thrown in jail. Where he is executed by hanging.

However, Dr. Savaard comes back from the dead. Using his methods and performed by his assistant. He invites everyone to his house that had convicted him. From the judge to the jury, no one is safe! Savaard traps these people in his house and tries to murder them all. It makes for a really interesting take on the Old Dark House recipe.

The acting is pretty normal for it's time. Fast paced with quick wits. Karloff is obviously the most fantastic performer here. Lorna Gray, Don Beddoe, and Ann Doran are the biggest names and they don't do much to stand out. Check out The Man They Could Not Hang if you love Karloff movies or your writing an essay on him. Although this movie has it's moments. It is mostly just regurgitation of the other movies coming out around the same time.

 Director: Nick Grinde
Country: USA
Style: Dramatic Thriller

 Did ya know...
Part of Son of Shock! a selection of movies that were aired on television in '58. The shooting lasted only two weeks. This film was re-released in 1947.  



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? »

Spookies (1986) - Genie Joseph, Thomas Doran, and Brendan Faulkner

It's impossible to get a decent movie when you take two films and just squash them together. That is essentially the story of how this movie came together. The film started as Twisted Souls. However, according to the financial backer they didn't have enough horror. So they ended up hiring another guy to come in and add a monster in virtually every scene.  This movie started out being directed by Brendan Faulkner and Thomas Doran. It basically is the tale of two sets of teenagers that arrive to a strange building surrounded by a strange cemetery. It was your usual tale of teenagers in a big hows with a few monsters. Then they brought in Genie Joseph and added even more. Like a haunted birthday party, a murderous cat-man, zombies, and an old wizard. It really became a smorgasbord of horror with a very thin plot-line leading it around. This movie is hard to summarize in a conventional way. It just packs so much.  The most interesting part of this movie are defini
2 comments
Not scared yet? »

Le Diable au Convent (1899) - George Melies

Le Diable au Convent is longer than the two previous Georges Méliès ventures into short form horror. This particular French short shows the Devil himself running a convent and terrorizing the poor old nuns that live there. However he is finally vanquished by the good of Faith. This is yet another Méliès classic, showcasing the art work that really goes into his short film-making. This is one of the earliest examples of a horror movie that could rely on its elaborate set design and artistic design. Everything in this film, although horribly aged, has been packaged extremely well. If you are a fan of production and set design then I would highly recommend just about anything that Melies has his name on. Though nothing that is considered too extreme actually happens, Satan does have his way with a convent. The satanic imagery itself must have kept this film on the traveling carnival circuit. It certainly wouldn’t fit into the good moral bag that society shoved itself into back in
1 comment
Not scared yet? »