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Post by almuric on Oct 18, 2022 16:30:38 GMT -5
The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946) - Universal's classic Horrors were on their last legs by this year. Pretty soon the studio would be rebranded as "Universal-International", dropping all their old B-movie series, the Universal Horrors and Sherlock Holmes alike. From this creatively desperate era came the idea of spinning of Gail Sondergaard's "Spider Woman" from the Holmes movie of the same name into a series of her own. With a name change from "Adrea Spedding" to "Zenobia Dollard" and minus any connections to the Rathbone Holmes movies and a New Mexico ranch setting, this is certainly a Universal B-movie from 1946. Sad to say, it's not even the worst one.
Young Jean (Brenda Joyce, our second moonlighting Jane this year) has been hired as the companion to the blind Zenobia Dollard, also assisted by the hulking Mario (Rondo Hatton, another Holmes veteran, only a few months before his death). But strange things start happening and Jean discovers that the kindly Zenobia is actually a mad scientist. You see, Zenobia is using a poison blossoms from a rare tropical carnivorous plant fed with human blood to poison the cattle (and a little girl, yipes!) to drive away the other ranchers and steal their land. With a crazypants plot like that, this could almost be a Poverty Row offering. It's better than late Universal fare than She Wolf of London, though, largely on the strength of Sondergaard's deliciously evil performance. There's precious little mad scientist gloating, though, and Rondo doesn't get to throttle anyone this time out, so what chills we have for most of the running time is Jean looking confused and Zenobia offering her drugged milk (with musical sting to tell us it's bad). But, as Tom Weaver says in his entertaining Blu-Ray commentary, "Dairy ain't scary". Not many spiders, even. The production has some strange narrative hiccups along the way. Rondo goes from disdaining Jean, to nearly molesting her, to being indifferent to her fate at the end. Not to mention the jump from Jean announcing she's getting out to suddenly being a prisoner in Zenobia's lab of evil. I wonder why the linking scene was cut, especially in a movie that's so short already?
This one was a real obscurity, an orphan not collected with any of the other Universal Horrors. It took Kino Lorber to rescue it, giving it a Blu-Ray release with a Tom Weaver commentary. You'll get insight into the production, a reenactment of a deleted scene, plenty of humorous observations and you'll learn the hidden connection between Rondo Hatton and The Old Dark House.
But why is there a woman in a sarong on the poster art? Not even Tom Weaver can answer that.
Next time: Nor In Death Lie Forever
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Post by almuric on Oct 21, 2022 10:03:08 GMT -5
The Tomb of Ligeia (1964) - For the last of his Poe adaptations, Roger Corman does things a little differently, with mixed results. This one feels more like a Hammer film than the previous Corman Poes, with location shooting in England as opposed to the largely studio-bound earlier entries in the series. Richard Chamberlain was considered for the lead role but Corman ultimately went with his old standby, Vincent Price.
This time around, Vincent Price plays Verden Fell, a widower who can't escape the shadow of his dead wife Ligeia (Elizabeth Shepherd) even as he marries his new wife Rowena (also Shepherd, a fact I missed until the credits). While he's perhaps a bit old for the role (his wig makes him look 40 instead of 50) he's still a marvellous presence with his all-black clothes and dark-tinted glasses. Like Pit it starts slow and builds, but not to the same frenzied crescendo as the earlier film. The last act is good, with its skin-crawling revelations, but it might have benefited from a few trims to speed things up. As it is, it doesn't scale the heights of Masque, but it's still worth a watch.
Next Time: The Voodoo You Do |
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Post by almuric on Oct 22, 2022 10:23:04 GMT -5
Voodoo Man (1944) - This Monogram cheapie was my pick for Bela Lugosi's birthday and boy, is it a doozy. By Poverty Row standards this has an all-star cast: Lugosi as Dr. Marlowe, who is kidnapping young women to hypnotize them so he can drain their life force to revive his dead-not-dead wife, George Zucco as a gas station attendant/voodoo high priest (in the silliest costume of his career) and John Carradine as a wild-eyed, slack-jawed halfwit. As you might guess, we're not operating out of a normal cinematic framework here. It's goofy in the best possible way, with sloppy plotting, absurd situations and John Carradine stealing scenes with his drumming. Ramboona certainly didn't fail this movie.
But wait a second: trouble starting with a car trip, women in white gowns kept in suspended animation, an imaginary pagan god, a halfwit who causes trouble by lusting after his master's women . . .
My God. It's Manos.
The Master would not approve!
Next Time: It Came From Ray Bradbury
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 22, 2022 13:51:06 GMT -5
And Hal Warren thought he was original! I had this in the Rifffrax version, not sure if I still have it. But Monogram sure gave Bela work
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Post by almuric on Oct 23, 2022 10:38:06 GMT -5
It Came From Outer Space (1953) -And then came the Atomic Age. The classic movie monsters were relegated to Abbott and Costello comedies. Castles and foggy graveyards were out, deserts and small towns were in. The monsters were spawned by radiation or fell from space and not all the scientists were mad. Universal-International and director Jack Arnold, using the then-new 3D process and a screen treatment by Ray Bradbury based on an unpublished short story, made their foray into this new world.
Amateur astronomer John Putnum (Richard Carlson, a year before he went to the Black Lagoon) witnesses a meteor crashing in the desert and discovers it's actually an alien spacecraft (that shot of Carlson silhouetted before the pulsing honeycombed sphere of the crashed ship is iconic). Pretty soon townsfolk are being replaced by emotionless alien imposters. They say they just want to repair their ship and leave in peace, but will misunderstandings cause tragedy?
Well, the aliens aren't invaders, though sometimes they sure act like them. Maybe they should have just asked nicely? The script is pretty good even if the aliens still come off as bit dickish. Compared to how rote and formulaic these kind of movies would soon become it's definitely one of the more intelligent in its genre for the decade. Among the cast is a young Russell Johnson, a decade before he made a fateful trip on the S. S. Minnow. One of the rejected alien designs from this movie eventually made it into This Island Earth a few years later and stock footage of the crash would be reused in The Monolith Monsters. That's Universal for you, always recycling.
Available on Blu-Ray with Tom Weaver commentary. As all films like this should be.
Next Time: Five Finger Death Clutch
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Post by almuric on Oct 24, 2022 19:19:06 GMT -5
The Beast With Five Fingers (1946) Robert Florey returns to the Horror genre with this twisted tale of a seemingly murderous hand. In turn-of-the-century Italy, a domineering and disabled pianist Francis Ingram (Victor Francen) dies suddenly, and as his heirs gather to divide up his estate, a series of murders is committed, murders that seem to be the work of the crawling, disembodied hand of Francis Ingram . . .
By the midway mark, you might be thinking that Peter Lorre has been wasted in his role as a gloomy astrologer. Fear not, for he is crucial to the climax of the movie, giving an incredible performance, both sympathetic and menacing. Praise is also due for J. Carrol Naish in the role of the local Comissario. The effects work on the hand is pretty good for the era and there's a surprisingly nasty scene of the hand getting nailed down. On the downside, Florey almost blows it in the humorous, fourth-wall breaking epilogue, where he tries to get way too cute for the movie's own good. Less would have been more. But all in all, this is most of a good movie. Spawned a small yet persistent subgenre of evil hand movies.
Next Time: Spiders Great and Small
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Post by almuric on Oct 27, 2022 10:48:12 GMT -5
Double feature time!
Tarantula! (1955) - Jack Arnold helms this entry in Universal-International's first foray into the giant bug subgenre spawned with Warner Brother's THEM! Not exactly mad but misguided Professor Deemer (Leo G. Carroll), looking to solve the world's food supply problems, has created giant animals. However, by an unpredictable (unless you've seen this kind of movie before) chain of events, he accidentally creates an amazing colossal spider. John Agar and Mara Corday (in their first creature feature) have to stop the tarantula from destroying the small town of Desert Rock.
This one follows the template of THEM! closely, right down to the exclamation point. This means, however, that there's some needless "mystery" about the creature that Professor Deemer accidentally created. But what's the movie called again? It's still very entertaining. Oh, and there's some actor named Clint Eastwood who briefly shows up as a jet pilot. I think he later went on to appear in some Westerns or something.
It's one of the best giant bug movies of the '50s and well worth checking out.
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) - The spider this time isn't a giant, it's the protagonist who has shrunk. Grant Williams plays Robert Scott Carey, a man exposed to a radioactive cloud who begins to shrink. As he diminishes he goes from self-pitying to self-sufficient, fighting to survive in a basement which has become hostile territory ruled over by, you guessed it, a spider.
The movie, by Arnold again, from the novel by Richard Matheson, explores the notion of a man trapped in a world that is slowly becoming inhospitable, where everyday actions become impossible ordeals and the smallest things become deadly dangers. The philosophical ending, where Scott finally accepts his condition and goes to an unknown fate, elevates this. There was briefly talk of a sequel but thankfully Universal thought better of it. They did make the little-known, short-lived TV series World of Giants, about a shrunken secret agent, to reuse some of their oversized props and sets, though. It's one of the best '50s Science-Fiction/Horror movies.
Both movies have Blu-Rays with commentaries by . . . you guessed it: Tom Weaver.
Next Time: Support Your Local Vampire Slayer
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Post by almuric on Oct 29, 2022 19:29:14 GMT -5
Curse of the Undead (1959) - As we have seen, '50s Horror was largely SF in nature. But towards the end of the decade something changed. Hammer released Horror of Dracula and suddenly vampires were back. Universal-International got in on it not with a rehash of the previous Dracula movies, but a curious Horror-Western hybrid, a movie which has lapsed into such obscurity that I never even heard about it until a few months ago.
A traditional Western land conflict takes an unusual turn when a mysterious gunslinger in black, Drake Robey (Michael Pate) rides into town. But is the conflict what it seems? And what of the "plague" of young girls dying of a wasting illness? The vampire rules are a bit unusual in this one. Drake becomes a vampire by suicide, which is a traditional idea rarely seen in movies. Also, while he sleeps in a coffin sometimes, he can still walk around in broad daylight. His method of dispatch is also unusual, but fitting with the Western theme. If I have a criticism, it's that this Horror-Western is a little too much Western. It needed something else, an "X ingredient" to really kick this up a notch. Maybe if they
found more ways to integrate the vampirism with the classic sagebush tropes. But Michael Pate as Drake alone makes this worth watching. A vampire with no Old World ties or centuries of existence behind him, he's something unique in cinema of the time (Kay from Son of Dracula comes close, but though she was all-American, she still got vampirized by the son of the Transylvanian Count).
Once again, Kino Lorber has shook a rarity loose from the Universal vault. And once again, Tom Weaver lends his talents to the commentary track.
The great vampire Western has yet to be made. It was certainly wasn't Billy the Kid vs. Dracula.
I guess that's all for this year. I'll wrap things up with a Halloween rewatch of Plan 9 From Outer Space. After all we are all interested in the future, because that is where we will spend the rest of our lives.
Happy Halloween!
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 30, 2022 13:17:41 GMT -5
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Post by Jason Aiken on Aug 19, 2023 21:45:52 GMT -5
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Post by johnnypt on Aug 20, 2023 7:49:25 GMT -5
Seems like the usual collection of Universals, AIPs and Hammers with a few oddities mixed in. But better to have them running than not. |
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Post by almuric on Sept 15, 2023 10:58:55 GMT -5
On the 18th TCM is airing THEM! and, as a nice change of pace, several other bug movies not named THEM!, including Tarantula! and The Black Scorpion.
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Post by almuric on Oct 2, 2023 19:45:43 GMT -5
The Return of Dracula (1958) - The late '50s return to gothic is one of those eras of Horror cinema that gets really overlooked in discussions of the genre. Of films made in that period, this is one of the most interesting. Count Dracula (Francis Lederer), murders a Eastern European (sources are divided if he's Czech or Hungarian) artist and takes his place as he immigrates to live with his American relatives. What follows is a story vaguely reminiscent of Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, with young Rachel (Norma Eberhardt) in the Teresa Patterson role, first fascinated by, then later suspicious of her "Cousin Bellack" and his mysterious ways.
I've noted before how the vampire slowly migrated from the Old World, to old houses, and finally the modern streets of America. This Dracula is able to hide himself in the modern world and insinuate himself into it with ease. It's fitting that he's pursued by a modernized Van Helsing in the form of John Wengaf's European government agent, who pursues him to America. Unusually for this sort of movie, the agent has no problem convincing the authorities that there's a vampire on the loose. His credentials must be pretty impressive. Francis Lederer is great as the Count. Though he reportedly regretted the film in later life, he's got nothing to be ashamed of here. There's also an undeniable Cold War subtext to this story of a menace from Eastern Europe insidiously undermining Middle America. A brief, bloody scene of color near the end must have come as a shock to '50s audiences.
There's a few quibbles, like a dog obviously standing in for a vampiric wolf, but overall, this is superior to Curse of the Undead and is worth checking out.
Next time: Feeling Blue
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Post by almuric on Oct 6, 2023 10:40:34 GMT -5
The Secret of the Blue Room (1933) - Does this film belong here? After all, it is technically a whodunnit. However, a case can be made for it. For one, it takes place in an old dark house (filmed on leftover sets from The Old Dark House, with one of its stars, involves the legend of a room where people die mysteriously if they spend the night, and rates a chapter in Universal Horrors by Brunas, Brunas and Weaver. Most importantly of all, I'm running short on classic Universals, so this will have to do.
Filmed in six days, this tells the story of Irene (Gloria Stuart), who is being wooed by Thomas (William Janney), who, to prove his bravery, volunteers to spend one night in the cursed Blue Room of her family estate. He does, and vanishes! Who is to blame? Could it be Lionel Atwill, looking as suspicious as always? Or might it be Paul Lucas, the only actor in the movie with any sort of European accent, despite taking place there? This is more Mystery than Horror, but it delivers a few solid chills along the way. And, perhaps because of the abbreviated shooting schedule, the original mystery of the Blue Room is never resolved. Though, if there really was something supernatural there, it either moved out or took the movie off. Worthwhile.
This was a remake of a German film and was later remade by Universal in '38 and '44. Yeah, even back then Hollywood was recycling itself.
Next time: Best Served Cold
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 6, 2023 12:45:55 GMT -5
It was part of the Shock Theater rotation, I’ll allow it. 😁
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