Category Archives: retrospective

Retrospective: Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943)

24 Tuesday Nov 2020

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Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man marks a significant moment for Universal Pictures as it was the first instance that the production company introduced an ensemble of monsters in a single feature.
This film would initiate the birth of the classic horror universe and would pit two of its iconic creatures, Frankenstein’s monster and The Wolf Man against one another. 

Clearly aware that Universal had a hot property on their hands and the chance to ride on their previous successes, a strong cast would be required and they didn’t fail to deliver.
Reprising his role of Larry Talbot would be Lon Chaney Jr., and accompanying him would be Maria Ouspenskaya (The Wolf Man) as the gypsy woman Maleva, Lionel Atwill (The Atomic Monster) as the Mayor, Ilona Massey (Invisible Agent) as Baroness Elsa Frankenstein, Patric Knowles (The Strange Case of Dr. Rx) as Dr. Mannering, and Dwight Frye (Dracula) as Rudi in his last credited role in feature film.

Interestingly Bela Lugosi was cast as Frankenstein’s Monster, a role he was initially cast to play in Universal’s 1931 feature but turned it down.
Here at the age of 60, Lugosi would try to inject some of the character’s previous personality as imbued from Ygor’s brain swap from The Ghost of Frankenstein.
These characteristics included a paralysis of his arm, blindness, and the ability to talk.
The latter however was cut from the final film as people found the notion of The Monster speaking in a deep Hungarian accent too humorous.
Lugosi’s suppressed efforts didn’t end there as scenes were cut, especially any reference to the Monster’s blindness as it was deemed too confusing. The result saw Lugosi’s actual screen time reduced significantly and the feature feels more like a sequel to The Wolf Man than it does as a continuation in the Frankenstein saga. 

The positive outcome to this is that Larry Talbot’s story and plight is one worth telling, reawakened when grave robbers remove the wolfbane from his coffin during a full moon.
(These moments of reanimation would become more far-fetched throughout the Classic Monsters universe but somehow part of its charm too).
Here, Talbot is doomed to walk the earth in his hairy transformation whenever the moon is full until he can end his life.
When Talbot learns of Frankenstein’s experiments, he believes this may be the answer to his prayers.

So, the first half of the feature plays out Talbot’s resurrection, turmoil, and recovery at Dr Mannering’s hospital, while the latter half sees him travel to the village of Vasaria, where he would encounter Frankenstein’s descendant Elsa.

The heart of the film is ultimately what connects us to the narrative, but unfortunately the final showdown between the two iconic monsters was something of a let down and an opportunity was squandered when they clashed at the ruins of Frankenstein’s castle. 

Despite this weak ending the film does still entertain, but this is primarily down to its strong cast and able screenwriting from Curt Siodmak.

Frankenstein’s monster and The Wolf Man would not reanimate again until 1944’s House of Frankenstein in something of a support role.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)

27 Sunday Sep 2020

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Yes this movie is reaped in formula and shuffles along a predicable path to its mortal conclusion, and yet it boasts some strong choices for a third instalment. Namely it’s decision to kill off its lead protagonists from the previous film, The Mummy’s Hand.

Bold in that it’s something you may not necessarily identify with a film from the 1940s, and in doing so, Universal Pictures once more indicates how readily it is to move away from the old and make way for the new despite only a two year gap between both movies.

The film like it’s predecessor delivers an exposition in the form of a flashback so that audiences can be brought up to speed with the franchise narrative. This tale is told from the perspective of Steve Banning (Dick Foran), the hero from The Mummy’s Hand, albeit now an elderly Gent who speaks to his sister, his son John (John Hubbard) and his son’s long term girlfriend Isobel (Elysse Knox). Essentially potential victims in the mix. At the same time we see another passing of the baton with Andoheb (George Zucco) guiding his protege Mehemet Bey (Turhan Bey) to reek revenge by restoring Kharis to destroy Banning and his family.

Stepping into the bandaged shoes that were once worn by horror legend Boris Karloff and Tom Tyler comes another legend in horror, Lon Chaney Jr, who had made a name for himself playing the tragic character Larry Talbot in The Wolf Man.

From here on in the film plays with a paint by numbers tale as Kharis is sent to enact revenge and killing off people one by one, starting with the first shock death of Steve Banning. Director Harold Young does a great job of amping up the tension as we the audience can see that Banning’s time is up and fate slowly wields it’s deathly hands around his throat.

In addition the demise of Babe Hanson (Wallace Ford) returns to add to the mythology and serves as a spanner in Bey’s plan and so has to be dispatched in, by the forties standards, gruesome fashion.

The storyline does try to throw in an added element with Bey falling for Isobel and his stunting his trajectory but for the most part it trudges along and delivers an all too predictable ending and underusing Chaney Jr serving as the prototype monster which is a shame.

– Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Mystery of Marie Roget (1942)

12 Saturday Sep 2020

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Based on a short Edgar Allan Poe story and often touted as a sequel to The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Universal would produce this film noir mystery during the early forties. Directed by Phil Rosen, a man who would end up with over 140 films to his credits as a director. 

Patric Knowles (The Strange Case of Doctor Rx) returns once again for the production giant cutting a fine figure as an amateur sleuth, Paul Dupin.
Dupin is hired for his medical know-how to identify a female corpse that has been found, her face mutilated beyond recognition.
There are suspicions that it may be the infamous Marie Roget, a notorious musical comedy star who has been missing for the past 10 days.
This all falls south, however, as Marie suddenly reappears, without a thought nor care for those worried about her absence and throwing further mystery around the identity of the corpse.

A lot of this film is convoluted and shrouded in confusion, a mask that it relies upon to hide the obvious killer from the audience, especially as it never clearly labels any other notable suspects into the mix. 

There is a subtle sub plot beneath the surface insinuating a possible romantic interest between Dupin and Marie’s sister Camille, but this is often swept aside by the need to amp up the thriller aspect.

It is only when Marie disappears again, quickly followed by another disfigured corpse that things begin to get more sinister and with a modern filmmaker’s gaze could really switch things in an incredibly dark direction, but the forties were a very different era.

Knowles feels more in his comfort zone this time around carrying a weight of confidence in his methods that leaves one thinking at least someone knows where the plot line is going.

The film has a lot of premise, but unfortunately it all gets lost in creating an atmosphere embedded once again between a murder mystery, and screwball comedy that it never quite hits the mark in either of these areas. 

It does still have a decent underlining, which feels like it warrants another look today as a remake with the right director attached. 

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

23 Sunday Aug 2020

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There’s a warm familiarity about Universal’s fourth Frankenstein instalment. Where other classic monster films have struggled to continue their respective story arcs, the Mary Shelley inspired creature horror manages to breathe new life into the story this far.

Serving as a companion piece to its predecessor, Son of Frankenstein,  the story follows the devious Ygor (Bela Lugosi reprising his role) who managed to survive alongside the creature and tries to exert his power once again.

Despite Karloff’s absence as the walking husk, Lon Chaney Jr steps into the big shoes and dons the bolts effectively. In particular the running theme with the creatures’ connection with a young village girl, Cloestine, a symbol of innocence and purity. In James Whale’s original Frankenstein, this is snuffed out, so the threat hangs in the air despite it coming from a genuine place of curiosity and the need to be like her.

Joining the main players is another strong ensemble with Cedric Hardwicke as Frankenstein’s descendant, Lionel Atwill as the misguided assistant Dr. Bohmer, Ralph Bellamy as the steadfast representative of the law Erik Ernst, and Evelyn Ankers as Elsa Frankenstein (whose name is a delightful nod to The Bride of Frankenstein’s Elsa Lancaster).

The drive in this film is a mixture of writing the wrongs and striving to better oneself. The creature longs to be accepted, Frankenstein sees the opportunity to clear his family name through a brain transplant using a suitable host: not a criminal mind, and Dr. Bohmer driven by the need to be recognised in his profession.

This is Lugosi’s show though and he relishes expanding on the character of Ygor wanting initially to strive away from his deformity but throughout the film transforming this gaze to one of power.

The screenplay written by W. Scott Darling weaves in some weaves in some typical tropes that is instantly recognisable from the franchise such as the lynch mob wielding torches that bookends the film and even places the shocking theme of gassing into the mix, a subject that would have had strong reactions at the time. This combined with the direction of Erie C. Kenton delivers another strong entry into the franchise and Universal Horror.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Wolf Man (1941)

08 Saturday Aug 2020

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The introduction of The Wolf Man would mark the last of the iconic stable monsters to come out of Universal studios during its golden age of horror. Along with it comes arguably one of the production houses’ most tragic characters in Larry Talbot. Talbot’s heartfelt sorrow is all the more pained due to his magnificent portrayal by Lon Chaney Jr, who after impressing in Man-Made Monster finally got to take on a lead-role as the doomed hero. 

In many ways the feature would serve as a signature to the passing of the torch from the old to the new with Chaney Jr ably supported by Claude Rains (The Invisible Man) as Larry’s father Sir John, and Bela Lugosi (Dracula) as Bela the Gypsy. The latter is all the more on the snout as Bela harbours the secret of being a lycanthrope and literally bites Talbot, transforming him and turning him into the monster. 

The strength of the cast doesn’t end there though, and this is part of the beauty of this film and why quite honestly, it still resonates today. With Ralph Bellamy (Rosemary’s Baby), Patric Knowles (Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man), Evelyn Ankers (The Ghost of Frankenstein), but none more striking than Maria Ouspenskaya as Maleva, The Gypsy Fortune Teller.
Her role would lend significant weight and drama to Talbot’s plight and add a dash of the mysticism behind the mythology. She would reprise her role once more in Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man. 

Curt Siodmak would return once more as the screenwriter, in arguably his finest work, which is partly to do with him drawing from his own tragic history of segregation and oppressed Jew under the Nazi regime, a topic that doesn’t get lost in the narrative as Bela and Larry are both marked by the pentagram as part of their curse.

In this story, Talbot returns to his ancestral home to reunite with his estranged father.
Whilst there, he becomes infatuated with a local girl, Gwen, only to succumb to a wolf attack.
At first, Talbot believes that his plight is all too real, but when he heals so swiftly, he starts to question his own sanity, before the physical changes begin to occur.
From here, he withdraws from the world, not knowing who to turn to, afraid of what he might do.

Now that mythology is the stuff of legend, and many have transpired to go above and beyond where it all began with numerous tales of the shapeshifting beast.
The effects have come in leaps and bounds since this film, but a huge nod must go out to make up guru Jack Pierce who would produce the now infamous look from his own personal kit, including yak hair that was glued to Chaney Jr’s face in a laborious procedure.
The Wolf Man would go on to feature in a further four sequels, all featuring Chaney Jr (the only actor to play the role), which is part of its appeal, and one of the key characteristics of Talbot is his ‘nice guy’ personality that is conflicted with this plague. 

The film is iconic and despite being nearly 80 years old, is still solid.
A testament to the talent involved in its creation and Siodmak’s screenplay. As my journey through the Universal horror archive, this was a welcome shift in the positive direction.

  • Saul Muerte 

Retrospective: The Black Cat (1941)

01 Saturday Aug 2020

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The film derives its title from a classic Edgar Allan Poe short story, but its usage should be held lightly as it’s a far cry from its inspiration, only vaguely connected via said black cat who mysteriously arrives when a dead body is found.

Having traversed through the early Universal horror films and into the 1940s, it becomes apparent the strikingly familiar storyline that is at its helm, primarily based on The Old Dark House, which had been a winning formula for the giant film production house. 

The trouble is, this feels all too stale and tired in comparison to its predecessors that I felt beyond caring for the characters plight and you just long for Tim Curry to prop up and “camp” his way through a whodunnit spiel, just to spice things up a bit.

Instead we’re faced with a couple of bungling sleuths in the guise of antique dealers, there to praise the value of some of the elderly Henrietta Winslow’s estate. Henrietta is aware that she is to bequeath her fortune to a greedy family, so she writes up a will against their knowledge with a caveat stating that they will not be able to lay their hands on her money, until her housekeeper Abigail and her many cats have died.

Cue the death of Henrietta, the reveal of her will, and then a pursuit of Abigail from a mysterious assailant, leaving the two antique dealers to try and solve the murder before the night is through and to prevent a higher body count. 

The Black Cat boasts an incredible cast in Basil Rathbone, Hugh Herbert (who admittedly is slightly annoying with his comic relief), Broderick Crawford, Anne Gwynne, the brilliantly melodramatic Gale Sondegaard, a young Alan Ladd (“Shane!”) and a criminally underused Bela Lugosi as the ‘red herring’ character. So it’s a shame then that this is a massive misfire and never utilises the talent on display with essentially an incredibly poor script that tries to rest on intrigue and a narrative template.

It lacks substance and therefore the likes of Rathbone simply have nothing to play with on screen and the comedy moments just doesn’t connect, leaving the whole debacle feeling flat.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Horror Island (1941)

23 Thursday Jul 2020

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Released as a double feature alongside Man-Made Monster, Horror Island would be billed as a mystery horror film but after viewing this 1940s film, it bears similarity to The Dark House, a decade its senior. 

The storyline loosely follows brash and down on his luck Bill (Dick Foran) who is always looking for his next scheme, in a role all too familiar to his portrayal of Steve Banning in The Mummy’s Hand. Like that film, Dick has an offsider to bounce off in the form of Fuzzy Knight playing the role of “Stuff”. Unfortunately Fuzzy doesn’t quite carry the same charisma as Wallace Ford. Instead, the banter comes more from Leo Carillo as the peg-legged sailor Tobias Clump. It’s a shame then that Clump becomes more secondary to the scene as the story develops into a whodunnit.

Clump serves as the instigator to Bill’s quest when he turns up with a treasure map leading to a small island, which Bill owns. When he is informed that the map isn’t genuine, Bill turns this into another plot to get money, by tauting a trip to his island to find the treasure, but claiming that it is haunted, so only the hardiest of people should go. From here a range of misfits are pitted together in search of a thrill or merely to be entertained, among them is love interest, Wendy (Peggy Moran – The Mummy’s Hand).

Once they arrive on the island however, things take a sinister turn as the guests start to be popped off one by one, ala Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None with the prime suspect being a mysterious figure known as The Phantom lurking around behind the scenes.

Considering its 60 minute time, Horror Island  tries to cram a lot in, but in doing so continuously feels like it misses the mark by trying too much. So as such, the movie is neither scary, mysterious, nor comical. Instead it is mediocre, especially compared to some of the other films released around the same time.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Mummy’s Hand (1940)

09 Thursday Jul 2020

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Reaping off the success brought to Universal movies, Son of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man Returns, the production company would expand the universe further with another of their Monsters, The Mummy. 

A fair amount of The Mummy’s Hand lifts footage from its predecessor in its exposition as a dying High Priest recounts the tale of Kharis and his beloved Princess Ananka to his protege, Andoheb. Importantly comes the warning that if things prove dire, a vial from tana leaves can be used to restore movement to the monster.

Enter archaeologist Steve Banning (Dick Ford) and his sidekick Babe Jensen (Wallace Ford), a foreshadow of Universal’s direction towards the end of the decade and their collaboration with comedians Abbott and Costello, such is the comic banter between the two protagonists.

Banning believes that he has found an ancient Egyptian artefact leading to the last resting place of Princess Ananka, so with the help of the Museum specialist, Dr. Petrie, they seek confirmation from the local Professor of its authenticity. Unfortunately, said Professor is none other than Andoheb, who spies a threat from the intrepid trio and quickly tries to put them off the scent and keep the location hidden.
Banning however is intent on proving that he is right and finds financial backing in magician, The Great Solvani, who comes accompanied by his daughter Marta (Peggy Moran). Marta brings the feisty female characters synonymous with the films at the time serving both strong-headed, moralistic views that challenge the main (male lead) and ultimately the love interest.

Once the expedition is underway, we fall into typical territory as an embittered Andoheb is hellbent on protecting the tomb and resurrects Kharis (played this time by Tom Tyler, picking up the baton from Boris Karloff) in the process. From here, we see the bandaged menace wreaks havoc on the members of the quest, striking down and killing those who stand in his way. A few familiar traits appear, which at the time would have felt original but now have become commonplace, for example the monster falling for the token  female which requires the lead protagonist to save her from certain doom.

Kharis would appear a further four times throughout the 40s, three of those times with Lon Chaney Jr in the role, proving that there was a valid interest in the tale of hidden treasures and unrequited love, and although it became fairly formulaic towards the end, the humour embedded throughout the venture actually makes this instalment an enjoyable, still to this day.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Black Friday (1940)

02 Thursday Jul 2020

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Not to be confused with the crazed shopping spree that occurs after Thanksgiving, but arguably just as dark.
Universal would blend together two of their most successful genres from the era in horror and gangster thrillers to produce a solid movie which would once again combine the awesome pairing of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.
The latter possibly delivers one of his finest performances for the production company as Dr. Ernest Sovac, a highly skilled surgeon who is compelled to save the life of his best friend college professor George Kinglsey (Stanley Ridges) with a brain transplant.
Being a Universal horror feature, things naturally don’t go according to plan when a curious side effect occurs post operation. 

The chosen brain just so happens to be from Red Cannon (also played by Ridges who should be commended for his portrayal of both characters) a gangster who is not only highly sought after by the police, but has hidden $500,000 dollars somewhere in the city. 

The curious concomitant occurs when somehow Kingsley starts to show personality traits of Cannon in an almost Jekyll and Hyde type situation. Cannon clearly the dominant personality starts to take firm control of Kinsley’s body in pursuit of his hidden fortune.

The drama from the movie comes from Lugosi’s Marnay, another gangster who was part of Cannon’s crew and knows of the loot and will stop at anything to stake his claim, but also from Dr. Kovac, who at first is driven by saving his friend, but when he too learns of the fortune, gets the green mist and becomes consumed with using Kingsley as a puppet to lead him to the money. 

It’s a pathway for doom and death for all involved and sparks an inevitable conclusion from a tale of greed, and power.

It’s a curious movie that is only really saved by Karloff’s performance from a script doctored by Curt Siodmak again, but comes across as a bit of a mish-mash of events leaving Lugosi grossly underutilised.
With some clever changes to the plotline and perhaps a shift in casting, this movie could have presented more fairly, but as it stands, gets a little lost in its own moralistic views. 

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Invisible Man’s Revenge

25 Thursday Jun 2020

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Rounding out the quartet of Universal’s Invisible Man movies throughout the 1940s, The Invisible Man’s Revenge was a return to ‘form’-ula…in a good way.
Also returning to the series was Jon Hall, but he would not be reprising the role of Frank Griffin Jr.
Instead he would be playing Frank’s twin brother Robert Griffin, a man who escapes from a mental institution that he was incarcerated in after killing two orderlies.
Talk about polar opposites and proof of the flexibility to Hall’s work as an actor, although oddly Robert has no knowledge of the invisibility formula of his brother or grandfather for that matter. 

Once he is free, Robert seeks vengeance on the Herrick family who found their fortune from diamond fields that he helped to discover.
The Herrick family propose a share in the estate as a means to appease Robert, but he pushes things further, demanding to marry their daughter, Julie.
Their response? Drug him and get him out of their way.
This only angers Robert further and he plots his revenge.
In steps Dr. Peter Drury (John Carradine) who happens to be working on the formula for invisibility and with it, Robert’s key to claiming what he believes is owed to him.

The plotline is a little more convoluted than previous instalments and while it does some time before the cloak and dagger of invisibility lays the scene, the direction and delivery are more impactful due to the care and dedication devoted to character development.
Robert Griffin’s descent into madness and retribution is amplified by the back story delivered and Jon Hall’s depiction.
Likewise the supporting cast are on point, notably from Carradine and Gale Sondergaard as a cold-hearted Lady Irene Herrick.
Furthermore, the despair of Griffin’s fear of Brutus the dog, places a nice conclusion to the tale.
We are what we fear and if we place emphasis on those fears it will ultimately be our ruin.

The Invisible Man’s Revenge would mark the final time that the tale would be told with a dark edge with the next appearance coming in the Abbott and Costello movies.
It would be nearly 75 years before Universal would look into the black heart of the Griffin family with The Invisible Man starring Elizabeth Moss.

  • Saul Muerte