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Post by brutalis on Jan 15, 2020 17:19:37 GMT -5
That is the DVD I just added for my next Amazon order! I have the Raven on a Karloff DVD set already but I don't mind a double dip of classic horror to enjoy. The Black Cat isn't included in your Karloff/Lugosi collection?? Wow. That's kind of the biggest one they did together. I oopsied. The Raven DVD I have is part of a Vincent Price collection with Price and Karloff. Checking Amazon I have the 6 movie DVD Boris Karloff Collection which has The Black Room, The Man They Could Not Hang, The Man with Nine Lives, Before I Hang, The Devil Commands and The Boogie Man Will Get You. I know I have seen The Black Cat or may have it recorded from television. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jan 15, 2020 20:16:27 GMT -5
The Raven DVD I have is part of a Vincent Price collection with Price and Karloff. It's both astonishing and massively confusing how many loose film adaptions were made of Poe's stories between the 1930s and the 1960s. In fact, Bela starred in two entirely different films both called The Black Cat that were produced only seven years apart. Both are excellent, by the way. |
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Post by brutalis on Jan 16, 2020 7:54:57 GMT -5
Watching Murders in the Rue Morgue this morning on Youtube while running some reports at work. Rather weird seeing Bela with wavy and curly hair (those eyebrows! WOW!) and his monologue before introducing Erik the ape-man is pure ham and cheese on rye with all the toppings! That alone would make the movie worth viewing but then you have Lugosi afterwards when he goes all mad scientist with the captured woman going insane over her "black/rotten" blood and then his shame/sorrow when disposing of her when she dies. He has another splendid scene towards the finale when his excitement over finding the "perfect" blood donor only to be thwarted by the police arriving and Erik the ape-man strangling him. This is some powerful stuff, far different from the understated Count Dracula.
Good movie indeed!
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Post by shaxper on Jan 22, 2020 20:14:46 GMT -5
White Zombie (1932) I tried to watch this one with new eyes tonight, as this is one of my favorite films of all time (certainly my favorite of Lugosi's and of the entire "Golden Age of Horror"), and I probably watch it once per month on average. I'd always accepted the idea that this was a campy, low-budget film with as many flaws as merits (and I just wasn't willing to see them) but, watching it again and suspending all my previous assumptions about this film, I actually respect it more than ever. This is no low-budget film. It often gets discounted for being an orphaned film found in cheap anthologies along with your standard Poverty Row fair, but this is actually a first class production that had to have cost a fortune. The Halperin brothers, looking to launch a cinematic empire, forked over enough money to get Bela Lugosi starring in this film right after Dracula, rented out a myriad of presumably costly Universal sets and backdrops, and hired on a cinematographer who really knew how to emulate Karl Freund (who was under contract with Universal). Beyond that (as I'll later argue), this is Bela Lugosi's finest acting role of all time. Really. Plot (0-5 points): a surprisingly complex tale for the time and genre, rich with backstories that are implied to extend further than the script is willing to discuss, carefully based on the "research" of Haitian tribes published in William Seabrook's The Magic Island (1929), and based more on the story of Faust than anything, with a privileged but bored millionaire teetering the line between villain and hero as Lugosi plays the tempting devil, dangling unimaginable power before him that inevitably comes with unspeakable consequences. It's a deep film once you wrap your head around the idea that the romantic leads are supposed to be obnoxious together. It's what makes us sympathize with the shadowy true protagonist of the film, willing to sacrifice everything in order to get her away from the guy that is all wrong for her and into his own embrace, regardless of cost. Truly, I have exactly two criticisms of the entire script: 1. The scene with the Witch Doctor is entirely unnecessary, and 2. the priest's "Have you got a match?" running gag wasn't funny the first time and certainly feels like overkill by the fifth. Beyond that, every time I watch the film, I find the plot more complex and thoughtful than the time before. There is so much going on in such a seemingly simple old horror film. 5 Atmosphere (0-5 points): Arthur Martinelli channels Karl Freund beautifully, imitating his breath-taking tracking shots, outdoing his lighting on numerous occasions, innovating with eerie eyes that pop out at you unexpectedly from the dark background, and making most shots worthy of oil paintings. In fact, I'd argue the sugar mill sequence is one of the finest moments in the entire history of American cinema. Speilberg could learn something from it. 5Other Actors (0-3 points): Our lead lovers are perhaps more obnoxious than the script calls for them to be, and both the lead zombie and aforementioned witch doctor are so unintentionally comical as to break the spell of an otherwise genuinely creepy film, but Robert Frazier owns his role as the Faust-like tormented figure at the center of all this, Joseph Cawthorn manages to pull off a kinder, friendlier, comical grandpa of a Van Helsing figure as a means of alleviating some of the film's suspense, and (though he only gets two scenes) Clarence Muse always blows me away. Were he white, he absolutely would have been starring in A list films instead of driving a coach here. 1.5The Lugosi Factor (0-10 points): Bela utterly shines as the sinister, yet cavalier and playful embodiment of pure evil. He's cool, fun, and oh so eloquent. Anyone who claims Lugosi's occasional awkwardness in Dracula was due to his not understanding the English he was speaking needs to see him in this role, only a year later, in which every word and inflection rolls off the tongue with perfect mastery, though the thick accent always remains. 10Overall score: 21.5
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Post by beccabear67 on Jan 23, 2020 15:02:47 GMT -5
I remember there being some really good extra features on the White Zombie DVD I saw, one was an interview with Bela from that time.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jan 23, 2020 15:15:44 GMT -5
I remember there being some really good extra features on the White Zombie DVD I saw, one was an interview with Bela from that time. Yes, you're likely thinking of the Roan Group release, which was the best version available for many years. I'm really picky about my White Zombie home video versions and have now owned at least five. A few years ago, I upgraded to the Kino restored release, but I'll only watch the "Raw" restored cut that's included as an extra feature, as the default version is too cleaned up for my taste. |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 23, 2020 19:03:52 GMT -5
Chandu The Magician (1932) The film adaptation of a wildly successful radio serial that served as a template for every magic-based superhero, especially including Doctor Strange. Whereas the radio drama had already told all the great stories, the film could provide visuals of all the amazing magic Chandu was casting and all the fantastic locales he was visiting for the first time. Thus, this film offers brilliant sets and special effects but doesn't overly concern itself with plot nor characterizations. It reunites Bela and Edmund Lowe, who last faced off against one another nine years earlier in The Silent Command, but neither actor seems sure what to do with the terrible script they've been given. Plot (0-5 points): "Now that Roxar has the death ray, it means the end of Goodness." The script is truly that bad, and both Chandu (Edmund Lowe) and villain Roxar (Bela) are written as so uni-dimensional that you figure this must be a film written for children. And then we get a scene where Chandu's niece is being auctioned off as a sex slave and nearly baring all. I truly don't understand who the target audience for this film was, nor why any actor or filmmaker worth a damn would waste their time on something this awful. 0Atmosphere (0-5 points): These are the best special effects Hollywood had seen by this point. Sure, Lang and Murnau had been producing higher quality special effects a decade earlier in Germany, but American film hadn't caught up yet. This film comes close with extensive miniatures, clever double exposures, bold pyrotechnics, elaborate sets, and cameras that are almost constantly in motion, rarely allowing the visuals to hold still. It's truly mesmerizing to look at, and that might be this film's sole saving grace. 5Other Actors (0-3 points): Nine years earlier, Edmund Lowe had been a perfect opposite for Bela. Both were in their primes and had unmistakable energy and style in their deliveries. Whereas Bela is still in his prime in 1932, and arguably acting and looking better than ever, time has been less kind to Lowe here, who is now chunky and awkward, never quite sure what he's doing in this film nor what his character is supposed to be about. The supporting cast does an adequate job with the lines they are given, but that isn't saying much with a script like this one. 1The Lugosi Factor (0-10 points): Poor Bela is really trying with this one. He grasps for meaning and motivation in his lines and inserts characterization wherever he can, but nothing sticks or ends up feeling justified by his character's lines and actions. This is the arch-typical villain in black in every bad adventure movie ever, and Bela is at a loss for how to make this role legitimate. By the time of Roxar's final monologue, Bela decides to go big or go home, and the over-acting proves embarrassing. Not that it's really his fault with a script like this one. 4Overall score: I really like this film. I really like this film. But it's all because of the visuals and the imagination. It's just not a good Bela film. 10
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Post by Duragizer on Jan 23, 2020 22:59:43 GMT -5
I've never been much of a Lugosi fan. It goes against the grain me saying this, but I think Dracula is a pretty weak movie, with a garbage script and poor pacing; it more than anything disinterested me in the man's work. Since watching Ed Wood, though, I'm ready to give him a second chance.
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Post by shaxper on Jan 24, 2020 0:19:51 GMT -5
I've never been much of a Lugosi fan. It goes against the grain me saying this, but I think Dracula is a pretty weak movie, with a garbage script and poor pacing; I pretty much agree with you in my review of it. I like the film more than you do, but the pacing is a major turn-off. I do find watching it with the optional Phillip Glass soundtrack included in most DVD and Blu Ray versions helps substantially, though. That's regrettable. I'm only up to 1932 and have already ranked two films higher than Dracula. It is not a favorite of mine, nor why I love Lugosi. Good! Climb aboard! |
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Post by brutalis on Jan 24, 2020 7:54:57 GMT -5
White Zombie provides us with a more articulate, less heavy/thick European dialect from Bela. A far less pressed ham sandwich with plain cheese for a more subdued and nuanced performance crafting a much more tasty smoked ham with Gouda. The movie doesn't depend on Lugosi monologues or his singular scenes being the highlight. Instead Bela is more a "part" of the movie and less the selling point of the movie. And his eyes with that beard makes for a very sinister look!
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Post by shaxper on Jan 24, 2020 10:23:10 GMT -5
White Zombie provides us with a more articulate, less heavy/thick European dialect from Bela. A far less pressed ham sandwich with plain cheese for a more subdued and nuanced performance crafting a much more tasty smoked ham with Gouda. The movie doesn't depend on Lugosi monologues or his singular scenes being the highlight. Instead Bela is more a "part" of the movie and less the selling point of the movie. And his eyes with that beard makes for a very sinister look! Well said! You hit the nail on the head AND made me hungry. |
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Post by brutalis on Jan 24, 2020 11:26:10 GMT -5
I believe for Chandu the Magician they hired Bela for his name recognition alone as the villain . The movie truly does nothing with the potential of Lugosi's acting abilities and so he is left without guidance and doing whatever he can to put something into the character. It really does have the current Hollywood trend in place for spending all the time/energy/money on the effects knowing that those are the real selling points of the movie, and oh yeah, lets toss in a couple of "name" actors to help try fill the seats and draw in viewers that might follow that actor and who might otherwise not come to this movie.
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Post by shaxper on Jan 24, 2020 14:02:53 GMT -5
I believe for Chandu the Magician they hired Bela for his name recognition alone as the villain . The movie truly does nothing with the potential of Lugosi's acting abilities and so he is left without guidance and doing whatever he can to put something into the character. It really does have the current Hollywood trend in place for spending all the time/energy/money on the effects knowing that those are the real selling points of the movie, and oh yeah, lets toss in a couple of "name" actors to help try fill the seats and draw in viewers that might follow that actor and who might otherwise not come to this movie. Lowe was a bit of a has-been by this point, widely considered to be past his prime and usually playing supporting roles. Bela may well be the only A lister in the film. As will become incredibly clear when I do my next review for The Death Kiss, Bela made some unusual choices in the roles he accepted while at the height of his career. White Zombie was a massive risk with a completely unknown production company, but I suspect the money must have been good. Chandu similarly had a high budget and needed a big name attached. I don't know what Universal was paying Lugosi, but these other companies looking to capitalize on his name and image were likely offering to pay him a lot more. |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 25, 2020 6:05:14 GMT -5
The Death Kiss (1932) Bela's first true B movie, and right at the apex of his fame. Considering that this film is nowhere near as high budget as White Zombie (also a film being made by an unknown film company that marked a significant risk for Bela's career), I'm inclined to believe it wasn't a big paycheck that convinced Bela to take the leap this time around. Instead, I suspect it was the opportunity to break out of the typecast he was beginning to feel restraining him and prove to producers that he could play both good guys and non-horror/fantasy roles. We know, at least, that by the end of the decade he had taken out an ad in Variety trying to prove as much. The real surprise here, though, is that David Manners and Edward Van Sloane (both from Dracula) took the leap with him. Or maybe the real surprise is this is actually a pretty good movie, even if the production company remains totally unheard of to this day, the sound stage was on Poverty Row, two of the three producers involved had never touched a film before, and this was the director's first gig too. Plot (0-5 points): It seems like every mystery I've ever seen from this era is an adaptation of a stage play, set almost entirely in a ritzy drawing room or (if you're lucky) an old dark house. Taking the old bit about a reviled man being killed and everyone in the room having a motive, and then transplanting it to a Hollywood set, is a really refreshing idea for 1932, especially as we are watching a film about what happens behind the scenes on a film set, both films are called "The Death Kiss," and the lead character is not a detective, but instead a Hollywood screenwriter, written by a Hollywood screenwriter. A really fun concept all around, and the mystery is generally pretty good, though I find the solution a bit too out of left field. 4Atmosphere (0-5 points): Not too much going on here. It looks like a movie studio, I guess. The camera work is competent and makes good use of movement (which was still a pretty new thing in American cinema of the time), but there's nothing visually exciting about the film, really. 2Other Actors (0-3 points): You wouldn't have known David Manners could be this fun and charming from Dracula. He lights up every scene and truly is the strength of this film. Edward Van Sloane manages not to annoy me for once, toning down his own particular brand of ham to deliver a more straight-forward and endearing character, and Alexander Carr is priceless. Everyone else is reasonably adequate in the film and seems to be truly enjoying themselves making this thing. 3The Lugosi Factor (0-10 points): If Bela's goal was to prove he could shine as a non-supernatural good guy, I can't say he succeeded here. While his role is important to the story, he appears on camera often, and he got top billing on many of the film's solicitations, he has less lines than nearly anyone else in this film and does less with them than anyone else too. I grew up on the later, B-level Bela films, so I'm easily entertained just hearing his accent and seeing a weary Bela smile and a little bit of Bela panache, but he just doesn't bring all that much to this role. Seems like the producers just wanted to be able to make posters promising BELA LUGOSI IN THE DEATH KISS (which sounds like it would be a vampire film) and so just threw him in there somewhere without any real regard for what he did with the role. 3Overall score: 12
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Post by shaxper on Jan 25, 2020 14:00:17 GMT -5
The Isle of Lost Souls (1932) By mid 1931, Bela Lugosi had reached the apex of his career. With Isle of Lost Souls only a year and a half later, one can argue his career was already doomed. Dracula had made him famous but also cemented his image as a horror villain. And yet Universal was the only studio reliably pumping out horror films, so Bela either had to convince the world he could play other parts or depend upon Universal to continue to offer him starring roles. Clearly, the major studios were not knocking on Bela's door to play romantic leads, so despite his immense fame, he was still almost totally dependent upon Universal in order to remain an A list actor. A year earlier, they were considering Bela for the role of Dr. Frankenstein. However, by 1933, newfound success had driven them to take their horror productions to a higher level. Isle is a far more professional and expensive production that puts much of the limitations of Dracula and Frankenstein to shame, but, in the same vein, while Bela was once considered A level talent for their horror films, he is now relegated to an embarrassing C level role in this film now that Universal can afford better talent. Universal has made it clear here that Lugosi is not only not good enough to play Dr. Moreau (and don't get me wrong, Charles Laughton is perfect in the role), but he isn't even good enough to play Dr. Montgomery, Moreau's morally conflicted assistant. Instead, Bela is given the role of the Sayer of the Law, a uni-dimensional role, delivered through absurd make-up and tossed aside with the uncredited extras, away from the majority of the plot and key scenes of the film. He gets the big final scene, but he speaks for all the natives of the island there, not as his own character with his own identity and motives. Worse yet, as he often does when Bela is at a loss for what else to do with a simplistic role, he hams it up something awful, and thus cements his image as sub-par talent to the one legitimate studio still interested in offering him roles. From hereon in, Bela is almost exclusively playing in C level Universal releases or starring in Poverty Row films. For someone so well known in popular culture, it's amazing how briefly his star burned bright in Hollywood. Plot (0-5 points): Whereas Dracula and especially Frankenstein played fast and loose with the source material, this is a pretty respectful consolidation and simplification of The Island of Doctor Moreau into a seventy minute movie. I used to loathe the decision to include Lota the Panther Woman as the lynch pin tying the story together, but it actually makes a lot of sense. I'm convinced in hindsight that the only reason Lota doesn't work is because she is cast wrong. Imagine Elsa Lanchester playing a far more unnatural but endearing Panther Woman, especially opposite her husband, Charles Laughton. 5Atmosphere (0-5 points): Lavish sets, moody shadows and lighting, and eerie, mostly convincing make-up and costumes on the dozens of extras used in this film, though (as I mentioned earlier) Lugosi is the only one among them to look utterly ridiculous. 4Other Actors (0-3 points): Charles Laughton was born to play this role. Every line, every gesture, is a brilliant interpretation of the script. The rest of the cast does an adequate job, but Kathleen Burke is absolutely wrong as Lota the Panther Woman, clearly there to serve as eye candy and not to deliver any depth nor meaning for her character. 2The Lugosi Factor (0-10 points): I'm so torn on this one. Bela is so over-the-top corny in this role that he can't possibly be taken seriously, and yet, as someone who first discovered Lugosi through his later B level work, I can't help but find it endearing. If you're a true Lugosi fan, his work here is both unforgettably fun and tragically emblematic of everything his detractors say about him. 7
Overall score: This is a favorite Universal horror film of mine, disturbing in a way that was less clearly identifiable than in the better known monster releases. There is no Aurora Kit-ready bad guy to be found in this one. Instead, it's a general air of perverse depravity embodied in every scene and shot. Whereas Dracula found success in tapping into a forbidden but clearly heterosexual love, and Frankenstein had a sub-textual struggle with heterosexual love at its source, this film runs headlong in a very different direction, with Loughton playing an overtly frustrated pervert, the film heavily implying both pan-sexuality and beastiality as accepted norms on his forbidden island. No wonder the general public didn't embrace this one as openly, but it really really works. I just wish the film hadn't misused Bela so badly. 18
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