Tag Archives: Bela Lugosi

Universal horror: The Invisible Ray (1936)

27 Tuesday Jun 2017

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THE BORIS KARLOFF / Bela Lugosi horror express kept on trucking along for Universal Pictures, but this was definitely Karloff’s showpiece and this lesser known film from the iconic duo probably deserves more recognition than it currently holds.

Karloff plays the eccentric scientist, Dr Janos Rukh, a man with a wild belief that he can use a telescope to reach out to the Andromeda Galaxy and use images of light to capture Earth’s past as seen from space.

Scoffed at by his colleagues, it is only when he is able to present his findings to Dr Benet (Lugosi) and Dr Stevens (Walter Kingsford) and is able to capture when a meteor had crashed into the Earth, that his skeptics sit up and take notice.

An expedition is planned where Rukh is charged with finding the fallen meteor.

When Rukh finds the meteor, he is unwittingly exposed to the radiation, Radium X, which effectively makes him glow in the dark with a fatal touch with skin to skin contact.

He is aided temporarily by Benet who discovers an antidote that can keep the radioactive poison at bay, but it’s not long before it starts to eat away at his mind and Rukh goes on a killer rampage fuelled with jealousy.

By this time, Rukh’s estranged wife has fallen in love with Ronald Drake, the nephew of Dr Stevens.

At first, Rukh reluctantly let’s her go, but this soon turns to hatred and moulds into his vicious plan to rid the world of those responsible (or so he believes) for his downfall.

Rukh succeeds in killing the Stevens’s and then ventures to off the remaining few.

As the film proceeds, it feels certain that the only person who can stop him is Benet, but even he is thwarted in a surprise move considering the casting of Lugosi attached to this character and perhaps more could have been done to play with this encounter.

Instead, it comes down to Rukh’s mother, (who is magnificently played by Violet Kemble Cooper)

to intervene and destroy the antidote, thus rendering Rukh to succumb to the radiation and go out in a blaze.

It’s a painful story, which treads a similar path to The Invisible Man, but in this instance there is more sympathy laid out to the central character, which is a testament to Karloff’s handling of such a role.

Special mention should go to Kemble Cooper, who almost steals the show with every scene that’s she’s in, deftly displaying a balance of eeriness with her psychic ability and blindness combined with the motherly love and protectiveness that she bestows upon Rukh.

Not a lot has been written about this movie and from what I have read, they err on the side of negativity, but I feel that there’s enough of a plot and structure to this movie that it warrants further scrutiny.

I found it a lot more engaging than Karloff and Lugosi’s previous outings and that The Invisible Ray could potentially be a forgotten classic as a result.

  • Paul Farrell

Universal horror: The Raven (1935)

26 Monday Jun 2017

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IN THEIR THIRD appearance together for Universal Pictures, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi have the routine down pat.

Lugosi oozes maniacal glee as the Poe-obsessed surgeon with a torture chamber in his basement.

And Karloff, (who was billed with just his surname for this picture, which goes to show how symbolic his name had become in the industry) plays a fugitive on the run from the police.

The film begins with an actress, Jean Thatcher (Irene Ware) hanging on for dear life after a car accident.

Her father and her betrothed seek the help of a retired surgeon, Richard Vollin (Lugosi) to pull her through.

Vollin then develops an unhealthy infatuation towards Jean, who is indebted to him for saving her life.

Vollin attempts to sway her much to the reluctance of Jean’s father.

A crazed plan only comes to light for Vollin when a chance encounter with Edmond Bateman (Karloff) seeking refuge with a proposed operation to change his appearance.

Bateman’s words hang firmly in the mind of Vollin when he mentions how being ugly may have led to him doing ugly things.

In what Bateman hopes will be a transformation for good, Vollin seizes upon this and turns him into a disfigure monster followed by a promise that he will aide him in exacting revenge on the Thatchers.

The conclusion of the movie centres on a dinner party which soon descends into the basement of torture, where one by one the guests face the likes of the pit and the pendulum, and the shrinking room.

It is Bateman’s tortured soul that wins the day though, as he searches for a good heart within and turns the tables on the fanatical Vollin, forcing him into the shrinking room and in turn his demise, but not without inflicting a fatal bullet wound in the process.

Upon release the movie received poor box office receipts, which is a shame, as I found the narrative and performances to be one of the strongest outside of the ‘monster’ features.

Both Lugosi and Karloff are particularly strong in their respective rolls, but it was deemed the subject matter of torture and disfigurement (themes that would be welcomed today among cinema-goers) too strong for the audience.

The following year would see Universal Pictures change hands, and the proprietors were less interested in the stories of the macabre and The Raven’s poor performance was evidence enough for them to make this decision. It not for long.

  • Paul Farrell

Universal Horror: The Black Cat (1934)

30 Tuesday May 2017

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PART OF ME so wanted to connect with this movie due to its strong placement in film history, pairing horror icons Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff together for the first time.

They would do so again a further 8 times throughout their career.

Both Lugosi and Karloff would find fame through their roles in Dracula and Frankenstein respectively and each had a further outing of their own, with moderate success, so it was inevitable that these two powerhouses of their day would cross paths before too long.

It pains me to say that I really struggled with with watching this movie.

Loosely based on the short novel of the same name by Edgar Allen Poe, The Black Cat had all the hallmarks of a classic horror story.

Our central protagonists Peter and Joan find themselves as unwitting pawns in a game between psychiatrist Hjalmar Poelzig (Lugosi) and architect Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Karloff), both whom flirt with their own sanity throughout the proceedings, although Poelzig is marginally on the ‘right’ side of the tipping point.

He does at one point though try to plead for Peter and Joan’s freedom having been ensnared in Werdergasts abode, by playing a game of chess.

Werdergast certainly takes home the crazy awards though with his collection of dead women that he keeps in glass cases.

The history between these frenemies runs deep, turning all the more bitter when Poelzig is imprisoned during the war, during which time Werdergast settles down with Poelzig’s wife, who is now dead and has become a feature in one of the exhibits.

It’s something of a convoluted mess, with the drama wrenched up to the max that it feels strained and forced.

Both Karloff and Lugosi pull off all the stops as they race to the ultimate showdown between the two for the film’s climax, but by this point I’d gone past caring and simply wanted the movie to find it’s end note.

In fact, were it not for the performances from both its leads, The Black Cat wouldn’t have received the kind of recognition that fell its way upon its release.

This coupled with the music score keeps the audience barely onside and despite this being Universal’s biggest box office hit of the year, The Black Cat ends up looking more like a drowned cat than screeching for the high notes of hysteria and horror that it was clearly aiming for.

Ultimately, something of a disappointment.

  • Paul Farrell

 

Universal Horror: Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)

24 Friday Mar 2017

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THE TERM ‘loosely based on the novel’ can’t be stressed enough, for Universal’s adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe novel.

The raw ingredients are in there with a character called Dupin, the “hero” of the piece, who pieces together a suspicious murder; confusion over the language of the Killer that is overheard by witnesses, and a murderous ape.

Yep – that’s right.

A killer ape.

In the films version however Dupin is not a detective, but a medical student and the love interest for a potential victim, Camille.

And whilst, the killer ape component remains, the ape is more of a puppet to Bela Lugosi’s Dr Mirakle.

This would be Lugosi’s performance following Dracula, but is sadly lacking the air or mystery and menace that he delivered for said piece and instead we are treated with something that is borderline creepy.

Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just not packed with any punch that would ordinarily set one on edge.

This is the first time that Universal would visit Poe’s work in the Gothic era and one can’t help but feel that this movie was an attempt to sandwich this story and infuse it with the recipe that made Dracula and Frankenstein such big hits.

And therein lies the problem.

We’re left with a crowbarred romance and a lot of preamble at the beginning of the film, which leads nowhere and instead of developing character, makes you feel less inclined to support them at the end.

You almost feel sorry for the chimp that has been caged and defies his masters orders to go on a killing rampage.

If it were not for the occasional glimmer of sinister and evil conveyed by Lugosi, Murders on Rue Morgue would be quickly forgotten, but as such it it is integral to the journey that Universal would undertake to produce such horror gems as The Mummy, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man.

– Paul Farrell

Universal Horror: Dracula (1931)

03 Friday Mar 2017

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THE THIRTIES would prove to be a truly golden era for Universal Pictures opening the way for greatest horror monsters to grace the silver screen ranging from Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and The Mummy.

Leading the charge though, was one of THE most iconic characters, Count Dracula.

Based on the novel by Bram Stoker, the creature of the night, the nosferatu who oozes charm would need to have an enigmatic personality to portray him.

And Universal would find their man in Hungarian born Bela Lugosi, who made his name capturing the titular character on stage before winning the role for the film, despite not being the first choice.

Cinematic history would be made though the moment Lugosi saunters across the screen and speaks with his authentic Eastern European tones that sent women swooning.

But it wasn’t just Lugosi’s performance that would captivate and would path the way for Dracula to become a classic in its own right.

Almost stealing the limelight from Lugosi came through the guise of Dwight Frye’s maniacal portrayal of Renfield.

His haunting laugh sends chills to the bone and Frye injects enough erratic energy that it pushes the picture forward with adequate momentum and is a delightful contrast to Lugosi’s slow and decisive movements.

Combine that with Edward Van Sloan’s Van Helsing, a performance that set up a precedence for all those that would follow in his footsteps as Dracula’s key nemesis.

Above all of this though, credit should be bestowed upon the director, Tod Browning.

His career had been carved through his strong career, starting in the silent era back in 1917 with Jim Blumbo.

Browning would go on to form a formidable pairing with actor Lon Chaney in a total of 10 films together, including The Unholy Three, and the awesome movie, The Unknown, which also featured Joan Crawford.

Dracula wouldn’t even be Browning’s first foray into the vampire genre, directing London After Midnight four years prior.

He would also go on to direct cult favourite Freaks…“One of us. One of Us!” a year after Dracula was released.

Interestingly though, Browning’s detailed approach was strangely absent and rumours have circulated since that the production was often in disarray.

Browning even left much of the direction with cinematographer Karl Freund although he would never be officially credited for his involvement.

Despite this, the film was ultimately a success and would spawn a series of gothic horror movies that would stretch a further couple of decades and a further five more sequels.

  • Paul Farrell

LINKS:
Dracula Movies on Hammer Horror Productions