Hollywood Monster Movies
Born out of the mid-fifties scares of environmental hazzards like other 50's era films.
A research expedition explores the Amazon's backwaters and makes a disturbing discovery of a creature that is half-man and half-fish. David Reed (Richard Carlson), with his fiance Kay in tow, heads the research team, burdened by the bickering and stubbornness of Mark Williams (Richard Denning). The creature picks off members of the expedition and spots Kay taking a dip in the lagoon, shadows her underwater and as she slips away to safety, signals a frustration interpreted as a determination to have her at all costs. Indeed, it is Kay who prompts further visits to the boat by the creature, and it ultimately makes off with her, spiriting her away to his subterranean lair. Kay is rescued at film's end, and the creature is allowed to slink away into the backwaters and perish.
While the 3D scenes are a bit cheesy and overly obtrusive, the underwater photography is fantastic.
In Revenge of the Creature The Gill Man is the cause of a little havoc again. The Creature is taken from his swamp dwelling off the Amazon and put on exhibit in an sea aquarium in Florida. He is attracted to a beautiful scientist(Lori Nelson)who has already been spoken for by Professor Ferguson(John Agar). After breaking lose of his underwater chains, the Creature is chased back to his familiar surroundings and once again fails at his attempt to take an alluring female human to his swamp abode. Also in the cast are Nestor Paiva, John Bromfield and a cameo debut by Clint Eastwood. Very interesting sequel that holds up on its own.
The Creature Walks among us is Slowly paced and downright boring, The Creature Walks Among Us lacks the dramatic situations that partially redeemed its predecessors. But there is at least one compensation. Although Jeff Morrow gives the film's best performance, it's Rex Reason who makes this unexciting affair worthwhile. Tall, dark, and handsome, he also has a rich, hypnotically mellow voice, together with an intense eye contact, that suggest that this leading man was an atypical 50s' practitioner of meditation.
The film also contains some beautiful underwater sequences, but if you're like me, you'll find yourself fast-forwarding to the scenes with Reason. He is the reason for tuning in.
While there are only three films in this legacy set the content is bulked up by commentary on each movie featuring legendary movie fan and collector Bob Burns.
There's also a new documentary and trailers for all three films
The Mummy is now in the second wave of classics along with the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Invisible man that will be hitting store shevles. Karloff only appears as the Mummy Imhotep in a few scenes. The rest is as the mummy regenerated as the evil Ardeth Bey looking for his long lost love Anucksamon.
The first sequel would not arrive until 8 years later in 1940 and the mummy would now be called Kharis. The Mummy's hand stars western star Tom Tyler as the Mummy. This, and the next three sequels would all be "B" movie productions which liberally recycled footage from the original Mummy as well as other films.
This loose sequel introduces the value of the fluid of the tana leaf to give the mummy power (carried on into subsequent mummy films) and the mummy's murderous nightly romps to eliminate those who would find and violate the tomb of the Princess. The principal investigators this time are Dick Foran, the hero and straight man, and Wallace Ford, the formula sidekick who wisecracks his way through the movie with typical nervous bravado. The rest of the mandatory characters are the evil high priest, the older scientist, an attractive female and of course, the mummy. The next three films would all star Lon Chaney Jr.as the Mummy and Lon made the slow mummy shamble an art form. The background would also jump from egypt to the states. First in new endland and then down to bayou country!!!
In each the plots are not too different. Kharis is always after the pretty young girl who he, or whomever is controlling him with the tana leaves, believes to be a re-incarnated princess.
I would have to say the Mummy's Ghost is the best of the Chaney Jr. trilogy. John Carradine is on hand as the high priest who revives Kharis (Lon Chaney for a second time) and supplies him with tana fluid to keep him stalking. This chapter also features Chaney's best performance as Kharis, and you can definitely see his looks of sadness, frustration, and anger in key scenes. The gorgeous Ramsey Ames portrays the reincarnated Princess Ananka.
"The Invisible Man" has a great musical score which heightens the drama in many scenes and helps to speed the pace of the film. The original "Frankenstein" had no musical score (strange one was never added for re-release as it would have improved an already great film tremendously) as musical scores weren't commonplace until a few years later. I also think that Whale had developed greatly as a director between 1931 and 1933. "Frankenstein" has many scenes that seem to be stagey and lack the finesse of Whale's later films.
In many ways "The Invisible Man" is Universal's most horrific horror film of the 1930s. Dracula was a vampire who killed to sustain his own existence, Frankenstein's Monster was a misunderstood and sympathetic creature who killed out of fear or anger, while The Invisible Man is a man driven mad by an illicit drug who kills out of shear pleasure. He commits mass murder during the film on a scale much greater than any other Universal picture. We also have to remember he is at his core a man not a monster. Claude Rains gives a magnificent performance, in his US film debut, in the title role. Rains, who's face was only seen on screen briefly at the end of the film, had a deep distinctive voice which was perfect for a role that was more about voice than body. This role was the start of a long and very successful film career for Rains who played costarring and supporting roles in classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Of course, by 21st century standards "The Invisible Man" is antiquated. The special effects, undoubtedly cutting edge for their time, are not very impressive in the age of computer technology. Having said that, I must admit this film is still entertaining and exciting to watch. The performances, especially Claude Rains, still hold up and the direction by Whale remains spot on. If you sit back and imagine yourself as a moviegoer in the 1930s, having never seen special effects like this before, it's easy to see how stunning this film must have been to audiences more than 70 years ago.
THE DRACULA LEGACY collection is a nice package including the original Bela Lugosi in an iconic movie that endures on. Also included are the Spainish version of DRACULA (shot on the same sets at night as Bela's version!), the sequels -- DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, SON OF DRACULA, and HOUSE OF DRACULA (all three monsters show up for the finale). You get five movies, and some great extras. Like many reviewers I found one disc rolling around the inside of the package. Fortunately it was not scratched! That's the only downside to these collections I have found.
You get the 1931 original appearance of a cinematic DRACULA! With two soundtrack options - listen to it in its original almost silent version, or chose the revamped Phillip Glass soundtrack version. Todd Browning who directed this classic was foremost a silent film maker, and DRACULA was designed to be shown in theatres with and without sound. So its almost creepier and more effective to see it with its long spooky silences intact. But Glass is a great musician, and I appreciate his soundtrack as well. It really depends on mood. And for fun check out the SPAINISH version which used the same sets. Beautifully shot, and considered by some technically superior to Browning's film! It uses more camera moves and visual effects.
The other films are a string of B sequels that are still a lot of fun. Gloria Holden as DRACULA'S DAUGHTER is surprisingly creepy and troublingly lesbian in tone. She only attacks women! SON OF DRACULA is campy fun with Lon Chaney Jr. sailing through smokey swamps. HOUSE OF DRACULA is the ultimate monster mash with Frankenstein, the Wolfman, and Dracula making appearances in this last sequel to the Universal monster franchise before they all appeared in an Abbot and Costello movie that killed them for a while.
A research expedition explores the Amazon's backwaters and makes a disturbing discovery of a creature that is half-man and half-fish. David Reed (Richard Carlson), with his fiance Kay in tow, heads the research team, burdened by the bickering and stubbornness of Mark Williams (Richard Denning). The creature picks off members of the expedition and spots Kay taking a dip in the lagoon, shadows her underwater and as she slips away to safety, signals a frustration interpreted as a determination to have her at all costs. Indeed, it is Kay who prompts further visits to the boat by the creature, and it ultimately makes off with her, spiriting her away to his subterranean lair. Kay is rescued at film's end, and the creature is allowed to slink away into the backwaters and perish.
While the 3D scenes are a bit cheesy and overly obtrusive, the underwater photography is fantastic.
In Revenge of the Creature The Gill Man is the cause of a little havoc again. The Creature is taken from his swamp dwelling off the Amazon and put on exhibit in an sea aquarium in Florida. He is attracted to a beautiful scientist(Lori Nelson)who has already been spoken for by Professor Ferguson(John Agar). After breaking lose of his underwater chains, the Creature is chased back to his familiar surroundings and once again fails at his attempt to take an alluring female human to his swamp abode. Also in the cast are Nestor Paiva, John Bromfield and a cameo debut by Clint Eastwood. Very interesting sequel that holds up on its own.
The Creature Walks among us is Slowly paced and downright boring, The Creature Walks Among Us lacks the dramatic situations that partially redeemed its predecessors. But there is at least one compensation. Although Jeff Morrow gives the film's best performance, it's Rex Reason who makes this unexciting affair worthwhile. Tall, dark, and handsome, he also has a rich, hypnotically mellow voice, together with an intense eye contact, that suggest that this leading man was an atypical 50s' practitioner of meditation.
The film also contains some beautiful underwater sequences, but if you're like me, you'll find yourself fast-forwarding to the scenes with Reason. He is the reason for tuning in.
While there are only three films in this legacy set the content is bulked up by commentary on each movie featuring legendary movie fan and collector Bob Burns.
There's also a new documentary and trailers for all three films
The Mummy is now in the second wave of classics along with the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Invisible man that will be hitting store shevles. Karloff only appears as the Mummy Imhotep in a few scenes. The rest is as the mummy regenerated as the evil Ardeth Bey looking for his long lost love Anucksamon.
The first sequel would not arrive until 8 years later in 1940 and the mummy would now be called Kharis. The Mummy's hand stars western star Tom Tyler as the Mummy. This, and the next three sequels would all be "B" movie productions which liberally recycled footage from the original Mummy as well as other films.
This loose sequel introduces the value of the fluid of the tana leaf to give the mummy power (carried on into subsequent mummy films) and the mummy's murderous nightly romps to eliminate those who would find and violate the tomb of the Princess. The principal investigators this time are Dick Foran, the hero and straight man, and Wallace Ford, the formula sidekick who wisecracks his way through the movie with typical nervous bravado. The rest of the mandatory characters are the evil high priest, the older scientist, an attractive female and of course, the mummy. The next three films would all star Lon Chaney Jr.as the Mummy and Lon made the slow mummy shamble an art form. The background would also jump from egypt to the states. First in new endland and then down to bayou country!!!
In each the plots are not too different. Kharis is always after the pretty young girl who he, or whomever is controlling him with the tana leaves, believes to be a re-incarnated princess.
I would have to say the Mummy's Ghost is the best of the Chaney Jr. trilogy. John Carradine is on hand as the high priest who revives Kharis (Lon Chaney for a second time) and supplies him with tana fluid to keep him stalking. This chapter also features Chaney's best performance as Kharis, and you can definitely see his looks of sadness, frustration, and anger in key scenes. The gorgeous Ramsey Ames portrays the reincarnated Princess Ananka.
"The Invisible Man" has a great musical score which heightens the drama in many scenes and helps to speed the pace of the film. The original "Frankenstein" had no musical score (strange one was never added for re-release as it would have improved an already great film tremendously) as musical scores weren't commonplace until a few years later. I also think that Whale had developed greatly as a director between 1931 and 1933. "Frankenstein" has many scenes that seem to be stagey and lack the finesse of Whale's later films.
In many ways "The Invisible Man" is Universal's most horrific horror film of the 1930s. Dracula was a vampire who killed to sustain his own existence, Frankenstein's Monster was a misunderstood and sympathetic creature who killed out of fear or anger, while The Invisible Man is a man driven mad by an illicit drug who kills out of shear pleasure. He commits mass murder during the film on a scale much greater than any other Universal picture. We also have to remember he is at his core a man not a monster. Claude Rains gives a magnificent performance, in his US film debut, in the title role. Rains, who's face was only seen on screen briefly at the end of the film, had a deep distinctive voice which was perfect for a role that was more about voice than body. This role was the start of a long and very successful film career for Rains who played costarring and supporting roles in classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Of course, by 21st century standards "The Invisible Man" is antiquated. The special effects, undoubtedly cutting edge for their time, are not very impressive in the age of computer technology. Having said that, I must admit this film is still entertaining and exciting to watch. The performances, especially Claude Rains, still hold up and the direction by Whale remains spot on. If you sit back and imagine yourself as a moviegoer in the 1930s, having never seen special effects like this before, it's easy to see how stunning this film must have been to audiences more than 70 years ago.
THE DRACULA LEGACY collection is a nice package including the original Bela Lugosi in an iconic movie that endures on. Also included are the Spainish version of DRACULA (shot on the same sets at night as Bela's version!), the sequels -- DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, SON OF DRACULA, and HOUSE OF DRACULA (all three monsters show up for the finale). You get five movies, and some great extras. Like many reviewers I found one disc rolling around the inside of the package. Fortunately it was not scratched! That's the only downside to these collections I have found.
You get the 1931 original appearance of a cinematic DRACULA! With two soundtrack options - listen to it in its original almost silent version, or chose the revamped Phillip Glass soundtrack version. Todd Browning who directed this classic was foremost a silent film maker, and DRACULA was designed to be shown in theatres with and without sound. So its almost creepier and more effective to see it with its long spooky silences intact. But Glass is a great musician, and I appreciate his soundtrack as well. It really depends on mood. And for fun check out the SPAINISH version which used the same sets. Beautifully shot, and considered by some technically superior to Browning's film! It uses more camera moves and visual effects.
The other films are a string of B sequels that are still a lot of fun. Gloria Holden as DRACULA'S DAUGHTER is surprisingly creepy and troublingly lesbian in tone. She only attacks women! SON OF DRACULA is campy fun with Lon Chaney Jr. sailing through smokey swamps. HOUSE OF DRACULA is the ultimate monster mash with Frankenstein, the Wolfman, and Dracula making appearances in this last sequel to the Universal monster franchise before they all appeared in an Abbot and Costello movie that killed them for a while.
posted by cashcow at 6:38 AM
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