More B&W Films: Finishing the 1930s in Horror - 1935-39
Wow, I remember complaining that the 20s dragged on. The 30s were noticeably longer, both in film duration and number of films. But once we finished the first half, the second half didn't seem so bad. So, here is what Sin and I watched and our general thoughts.
1935
The Werewolf of London: So even though werewolves had appeared a couple of times before, this was our first true werewolf horror film. It was interesting since the makeup designer is the same as the later Wolfman, so it was weird seeing a guy who looked very similar in an earlier film. It wasn't bad, but it was also interesting that it reminded me more of a Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde plot: a guy ignores "wise" advice, pursues science anyway, brings out a darker nature of the self, finds a way to keep the dark at bay, but good people prevent him from accessing that way, and he's then killed. Good story, but we still haven't had werewolf horror emerge as its own genre just yet. It's still tied to other forms, like Jekyll & Hyde.
Bride of Frankenstein: What shocked me most about this movie was that the bride doesn't appear until the last five minutes of the film. For a film named after her, she's such a minor part. The theatricality was upped compared to the original film though. For one of our first sequels, not a bad entry!
Condemned to Live: This was a weird ableist vampire film. It focused on a doctor/scientist who turns out to be the vampire plaguing the town. But we are led to sympathize for him, not hate him. Especially because he has taken in a "hunchback" whom everyone else hates. This character gets a lot of ableist derision throughout, and largely he becomes the focal point, even at the end. So if you want Dracula mixed with Hunchback of Notre Dame, could be your cup of tea?
Crime of Dr. Crespi: Based on the Poe story "Premature Burial," it's nice getting more Poe stories that aren't "The Black Cat" from the time. This was alright. Pretty predictable if you read the Poe story. Nothing exciting otherwise. Has a lot of idiot characters. Like, I was going, "Why would you go into his office just to tell him you're going to call the cops for murder?!?! Of course he's going to murder you too before you leave, you dumbass!"
Raven: Easily one of my favorite Poe movies so far. This had lines of "The Raven" interspersed against a revenge plot of two antagonists, played by Karloff AND Lugosi. Lugosi plays a mad surgeon who mutilates a wanted criminal, Karloff, beyond recognition to serve as his henchman. Together, they plant a trap for Lugosi's beloved, her father, and her real lover. The trap involves the Pit and the Pendulum largely, literally referencing Poe as Lugosi's character reads Poe as an instruction manual. Really fun and dark film.
1936
Dracula's Daughter: This was such a fun lesbian vampire film! It had just these raw moments of sexual tension throughout that were just delicious, and that made it such a delightful film to watch. The main actress SLAYED. And for a sequel, not too shabby either. I love how people nowadays are like, "I don't know why people suddenly want all these remakes and sequels instead of making original stuff." Bitch please. They were doing remakes and sequels when they only had ten horror films to go off of. They're almost as old as the originals themselves.
Fahrmann Maria: A German film about a farrier trying to keep her lover away from anthropomorphic Death. Somehow, Death's weakness is mud? Because he just sinks into the swamp that Maria knows her way around? I don't know. I choose to read that the guy actually wasn't Death at all and was just a really creepy guy. And she legit just killed this guy who was being creepy. I want a sequel where her lover is like, "Wait? You killed my brother? In our country, his name didn't mean Death; it just does when you pronounce it in English! You legit just killed my brother for being a creep?" I want that sequel.
Revolt of the Zombies: Marketed as a sequel to White Zombie, this film starts out with World War 1 and moves into unearthing of toms in Egypt. Yeah....this film is fairly out there. Then a white guy makes all the "Orientals" be his living zombies. So, point one: mixing zombies and war as Max Brooks does is not new. Point two: zombies in Egypt? K. Point three: what is with old horror movie white guys being like, "Why should POC get the power to control zombies and not me? That's racism!" Weird. Point three: dafuq?
Sweeney Todd: Now, I've never seen the live play. But I've seen the Tim Burton movie!!! This was a very interesting version of the story. For me, I was constantly comparing it to Burton's, because that's what I knew. It was odd seeing Sweeney being so hyper masculine. It was odd seeing the kid be as abused as he was. Plus, it was fun seeing how the "meat pies" were never explained explicitly. One camera shot kinda verifies it where someone asks what they did with the bodies as he's eating a pie, center of the shot. But not bad!
The Devil-Doll: Um...interesting sci fi horror movie? Kind of a proto-slasher where a guy has shrunken people he can control to enact a revenge narrative, these tiny people killing off the people who sent him to prison. Again, felt like a proto-slasher.
The Walking Dead: In this film, Karloff plays a man who was unjustly sentenced to death. Though he's killed, a doctor revives him, but he now has preternatural knowledge: he knows who all had him killed and that he was set up. He just doesn't know why. So he seeks out these individuals in the dead of night to ask them why they did it, and their guilt makes them do stupid shit, like fall through a window, run into an oncoming train, etc. They all start being "picked off," again like a proto-slasher, but Karloff's character isn't actually doing anything. Interesting how the deaths were somewhat "creative," a trope of slasher films.
Due to Britain banning American horror films and the Laemmle directors being bought out, horror films kinda just disappeared for a couple years.
1939
The Cat and the Canary: Yes, another remake. But this one was really good. Even Sin liked this one a fair bit! Not sure it was as funny for me as the original, but it had better production quality.
Devil's Daughter: Super interesting. This was a 99% all-black cast that was made for black theaters in the 30s. It was a rare treat to see racial politics through POC-made film in the 30s. Mostly the conflict was centered on North vs South; American vs "indigenous"; and superstition vs fact. Through animal imagery in the film, the director communicated a lot of racial foreshadowing: when a black cock kicks a white one's ass in a cockfighting ring early, we see shots mirrored later when a black man fights a white man and also kicks his ass. It felt largely like the film tried to parody and spit on the earlier White Zombie. Very enjoyable.
Son of Frankenstein: Easily the best sequel we've seen so far, and it's a part 3! So, you know Young Frankenstein yeah? With Gene Wilder? Has the inspector with the wooden arm, the American descendant of Frankenstein coming to claim his father's castle but not believing in the monster? Yeah, that all started with Son of Frankenstein. This movie follows most of the plot of Young Frankenstein with fewer gags. Yet, it was called hilarious at the time. To modern viewers, it would seem more like a more serious take on Young Frankenstein, but still more comedic than the original Frankenstein, for sure. Worth a watch! Plus Lugosi plays Ygor.
The Man They Could Not Hang: Like The Walking Dead, Karloff again plays an innocent man condemned to death. When he's brought back this time, he actively does seek revenge, trapping the judge, jury, and prosecutor in a mansion's living space, with electrified grating all around, while Karloff picks them off one at a time. Yet another proto-slasher of the late 30s! Very enjoyable film to watch. Gave off some Suicide Club vibes too, with the focus on a specific time of death and the fear implicit there.
Torture Ship: Based on a Jack London story, this followed a doctor experimenting on patients on a boat, and the patients rebel and try to overthrow him. It was okay. Not the most memorable, but the film did capture the claustrophobia of being on a boat with unpredictable people very well. More of a psychological horror for me.
---
All in all, the late 30s were not so bad!
My favorites? Probably Devil's Daughter, Dracula's Daughter, and The Man They Could Not Hang. Devil's Daughter because of the race and animal work involved in it being so unique and interesting to study. Dracula's Daughter for its lesbianism and great acting. And Man They Could Not Hang for being such a captivating proto-slasher.
For Sin: "If I had to pick three, Bride of Frankenstein. I loved that one. Dracula's Daughter. And The Man They Could Not Hang."
So, next we start the forties! We have FIFTY films from the decade, so I'll probably make a post every three years covered as opposed to five.
Comment question of the day! What is your favorite horror movie sequel?
1935
The Werewolf of London: So even though werewolves had appeared a couple of times before, this was our first true werewolf horror film. It was interesting since the makeup designer is the same as the later Wolfman, so it was weird seeing a guy who looked very similar in an earlier film. It wasn't bad, but it was also interesting that it reminded me more of a Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde plot: a guy ignores "wise" advice, pursues science anyway, brings out a darker nature of the self, finds a way to keep the dark at bay, but good people prevent him from accessing that way, and he's then killed. Good story, but we still haven't had werewolf horror emerge as its own genre just yet. It's still tied to other forms, like Jekyll & Hyde.
Bride of Frankenstein: What shocked me most about this movie was that the bride doesn't appear until the last five minutes of the film. For a film named after her, she's such a minor part. The theatricality was upped compared to the original film though. For one of our first sequels, not a bad entry!
Condemned to Live: This was a weird ableist vampire film. It focused on a doctor/scientist who turns out to be the vampire plaguing the town. But we are led to sympathize for him, not hate him. Especially because he has taken in a "hunchback" whom everyone else hates. This character gets a lot of ableist derision throughout, and largely he becomes the focal point, even at the end. So if you want Dracula mixed with Hunchback of Notre Dame, could be your cup of tea?
Crime of Dr. Crespi: Based on the Poe story "Premature Burial," it's nice getting more Poe stories that aren't "The Black Cat" from the time. This was alright. Pretty predictable if you read the Poe story. Nothing exciting otherwise. Has a lot of idiot characters. Like, I was going, "Why would you go into his office just to tell him you're going to call the cops for murder?!?! Of course he's going to murder you too before you leave, you dumbass!"
Raven: Easily one of my favorite Poe movies so far. This had lines of "The Raven" interspersed against a revenge plot of two antagonists, played by Karloff AND Lugosi. Lugosi plays a mad surgeon who mutilates a wanted criminal, Karloff, beyond recognition to serve as his henchman. Together, they plant a trap for Lugosi's beloved, her father, and her real lover. The trap involves the Pit and the Pendulum largely, literally referencing Poe as Lugosi's character reads Poe as an instruction manual. Really fun and dark film.
1936
Dracula's Daughter: This was such a fun lesbian vampire film! It had just these raw moments of sexual tension throughout that were just delicious, and that made it such a delightful film to watch. The main actress SLAYED. And for a sequel, not too shabby either. I love how people nowadays are like, "I don't know why people suddenly want all these remakes and sequels instead of making original stuff." Bitch please. They were doing remakes and sequels when they only had ten horror films to go off of. They're almost as old as the originals themselves.
Fahrmann Maria: A German film about a farrier trying to keep her lover away from anthropomorphic Death. Somehow, Death's weakness is mud? Because he just sinks into the swamp that Maria knows her way around? I don't know. I choose to read that the guy actually wasn't Death at all and was just a really creepy guy. And she legit just killed this guy who was being creepy. I want a sequel where her lover is like, "Wait? You killed my brother? In our country, his name didn't mean Death; it just does when you pronounce it in English! You legit just killed my brother for being a creep?" I want that sequel.
Revolt of the Zombies: Marketed as a sequel to White Zombie, this film starts out with World War 1 and moves into unearthing of toms in Egypt. Yeah....this film is fairly out there. Then a white guy makes all the "Orientals" be his living zombies. So, point one: mixing zombies and war as Max Brooks does is not new. Point two: zombies in Egypt? K. Point three: what is with old horror movie white guys being like, "Why should POC get the power to control zombies and not me? That's racism!" Weird. Point three: dafuq?
Sweeney Todd: Now, I've never seen the live play. But I've seen the Tim Burton movie!!! This was a very interesting version of the story. For me, I was constantly comparing it to Burton's, because that's what I knew. It was odd seeing Sweeney being so hyper masculine. It was odd seeing the kid be as abused as he was. Plus, it was fun seeing how the "meat pies" were never explained explicitly. One camera shot kinda verifies it where someone asks what they did with the bodies as he's eating a pie, center of the shot. But not bad!
The Devil-Doll: Um...interesting sci fi horror movie? Kind of a proto-slasher where a guy has shrunken people he can control to enact a revenge narrative, these tiny people killing off the people who sent him to prison. Again, felt like a proto-slasher.
The Walking Dead: In this film, Karloff plays a man who was unjustly sentenced to death. Though he's killed, a doctor revives him, but he now has preternatural knowledge: he knows who all had him killed and that he was set up. He just doesn't know why. So he seeks out these individuals in the dead of night to ask them why they did it, and their guilt makes them do stupid shit, like fall through a window, run into an oncoming train, etc. They all start being "picked off," again like a proto-slasher, but Karloff's character isn't actually doing anything. Interesting how the deaths were somewhat "creative," a trope of slasher films.
Due to Britain banning American horror films and the Laemmle directors being bought out, horror films kinda just disappeared for a couple years.
1939
The Cat and the Canary: Yes, another remake. But this one was really good. Even Sin liked this one a fair bit! Not sure it was as funny for me as the original, but it had better production quality.
Devil's Daughter: Super interesting. This was a 99% all-black cast that was made for black theaters in the 30s. It was a rare treat to see racial politics through POC-made film in the 30s. Mostly the conflict was centered on North vs South; American vs "indigenous"; and superstition vs fact. Through animal imagery in the film, the director communicated a lot of racial foreshadowing: when a black cock kicks a white one's ass in a cockfighting ring early, we see shots mirrored later when a black man fights a white man and also kicks his ass. It felt largely like the film tried to parody and spit on the earlier White Zombie. Very enjoyable.
Son of Frankenstein: Easily the best sequel we've seen so far, and it's a part 3! So, you know Young Frankenstein yeah? With Gene Wilder? Has the inspector with the wooden arm, the American descendant of Frankenstein coming to claim his father's castle but not believing in the monster? Yeah, that all started with Son of Frankenstein. This movie follows most of the plot of Young Frankenstein with fewer gags. Yet, it was called hilarious at the time. To modern viewers, it would seem more like a more serious take on Young Frankenstein, but still more comedic than the original Frankenstein, for sure. Worth a watch! Plus Lugosi plays Ygor.
The Man They Could Not Hang: Like The Walking Dead, Karloff again plays an innocent man condemned to death. When he's brought back this time, he actively does seek revenge, trapping the judge, jury, and prosecutor in a mansion's living space, with electrified grating all around, while Karloff picks them off one at a time. Yet another proto-slasher of the late 30s! Very enjoyable film to watch. Gave off some Suicide Club vibes too, with the focus on a specific time of death and the fear implicit there.
Torture Ship: Based on a Jack London story, this followed a doctor experimenting on patients on a boat, and the patients rebel and try to overthrow him. It was okay. Not the most memorable, but the film did capture the claustrophobia of being on a boat with unpredictable people very well. More of a psychological horror for me.
---
All in all, the late 30s were not so bad!
My favorites? Probably Devil's Daughter, Dracula's Daughter, and The Man They Could Not Hang. Devil's Daughter because of the race and animal work involved in it being so unique and interesting to study. Dracula's Daughter for its lesbianism and great acting. And Man They Could Not Hang for being such a captivating proto-slasher.
For Sin: "If I had to pick three, Bride of Frankenstein. I loved that one. Dracula's Daughter. And The Man They Could Not Hang."
So, next we start the forties! We have FIFTY films from the decade, so I'll probably make a post every three years covered as opposed to five.
Comment question of the day! What is your favorite horror movie sequel?
Comments
Post a Comment