Tag Archives: Universal Horror

Retrospective: Jungle Woman (1944)

20 Saturday Feb 2021

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Following on from the relative hit of Captive Wild Woman the year before, Universal felt strongly that they had a potential hit series on their hands, especially with “exotic beauty” Acquanetta in their stable to recreate her character of Paula Dupree aka The Ape Woman. 

Universal later revealed that Jungle Woman was an ashamed attempt to rewrite Cat People with a woman transforming into an ape instead of a leopard.
Naturally this would be difficult to translate as the sexual feline factor is lost and as such, rewrites were put in place to make the transition psychological instead.

J. Carrol Naish plays a more than accomplished role as Dr. Carl Fletcher, whose character is in stark contrast to John Carradine’s warped and twisted Dr. Sigmund Walters from the previous film.
This is a deliberate ploy on the part of the screenwriters, Bernard L. Schubert, Henry Sucher and Edward Dein as they present Dr Fletcher on trial for the murder of Paula Dupree at the start of the film, leaving the audience to question how genuine his plee of innocence claims to be. This is weighted even more so when he professes his guilt until he is then forced to tell the true story through a feature length flashback.

The trouble is that the plot is essentially an incredibly weak one and doesn’t offer a lot in expanding the universe or subjecting any real terror on the audience.

The film finds Paula Dupree in an insane asylum having been taken under Dr. Fletcher’s wing after he witnesses the climax of the last film.
Dr. Fletcher is fascinated by this animal magnetism that Paula presents, but fails to realise the true threat that she possesses, especially as her jealousy is fuelled once more when she falls for Bob (Douglass Dumbrille). 

Unfortunately, Bob only has eyes for Joan (Lois Collier), Dr Fletcher’s daughter and with it our love triangle is formed.

The beats are all too familiar and the film shuffles along without any real purpose or direction, so when the inevitable conclusion does arise, we’re left a little bereft of satisfaction.

Jungle Woman does benefit from some early cameos though from Evelyn Ankers (who continues to impress on my journey through the Universal vault) and Milburn Stone who both return to reprise their roles and present the case for Dr. Fletcher’s defence.

The film would ultimately be the last for Acquanetta and Universal as the model felt that she was being used and thus refused to renew her contract, despite the production company having bold plans for her to return again.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Mummy’s Curse (1944)

14 Sunday Feb 2021

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For what would be the final instalment of The Mummy franchise for Universal Picture and its fourth outing for the shambling mummified corpse of Kharis, I’m surprised and delighted to say that it took an upward trajectory on the satisfaction front, especially following The Mummy’s Ghost, which personally was a huge disappointment.een completely blown free

Don’t get me wrong, the cobwebs haven’t blown away completely and The Mummy’s Curse has more than its fair share of creeks in the plotline, namely the obscure choice to move the location to New England because of its vast swampland. It also suffers from a strange and curiously long flashback sequence using stock footage which feels out of place in the film series.

Lon Chaney Jr returns for the third time as the titular menace and the storyline actually ties neatly onto the ending of its predecessor 

The film begins as a company is draining the swamps and along the way one of the workmen turns up murdered and reports of Kharis resurrected and on the rampage soon spreads like wildfire.

From here on in there are the usual tropes expected from the now well-trodden franchise. There’s the disciple of the Arkam sect, Princess Ananka transformed (this time played by Virginia Christie) the central target for Kharis’ drive, and the scientific, archaeologist hero at the centre of the fold.

There are some key significant moments that lift this a little from the quagmire, namely the initial rise of Ananka from the swampy bogs, lifting her hand out from its depths with an image that has now been so often reproduced. Also, Martin Kosleck’s (The Frozen Ghost ) performance of Ragheb, the backstabbing, lustful protege from the Arkam sect.

The central theme that seems to run through the story is one of wrong-doing, mistrust and broken allegiances that literally bring the house down at the end of the film.

There is some familiarity about it all which brings some warmth to the genre, and although it doesn’t offer too much new, The Mummy’s Curse does manage to entertain enough to keep the viewer a little interested in how it will all come to a head in the conclusion.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)

07 Sunday Feb 2021

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The Mummy’s Ghost would be the second of three sequels to Universal’s The Mummy, following The Mummy’s Tomb and would also see Lon Chaney Jr step into the shuffling bandaged corpse of Kharis.

Unfortunately The Mummy’s Ghost is by far the weakest of the franchise so far, which for me comes down to lazy writing. It feels as though the creative department were happy to rest on their laurels and aim for more of the same in the franchise.

In doing so, it fails to stimulate and to say that it runs through the numbers in the process would be a misjudgement, as there are a lot of numbers that Universal are happy to skip past to deliver the basics in horror for the time of its initial release. 

Once again we are greeted with a high priest handing down the duties to a younger member of the fold, Yousef Bey played by a suitably hammy John Carradine (House of Dracula). Kharis is still transfixed by the lure of tana leaves and tramps around for his latest fix while Bey tries to stick to his mission in finding the body of Ananka and return her to her resting place in Egypt.

Ananka however has transformed her soul into the body of another, Amina (Ramsay Ames), which puts a spanner in the works.

Time has not been kind in the passing years, and this feature feels stale as a result and if it weren’t part of a franchise would have been served better entombed in the past.

It’s one saving grace that allows it to stand out happens to be shrouded in its bitter end, with Kharis carrying an unconscious Amina into the swamp, where they can be reunited in the afterlife. This is delightfully offbeat considering its age, and I can only wonder how this came across to the audience of the time. It may have had a more profound impact if more care and dedication were taken into building up a more imaginative narrative to steer away from the now tired formula.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Strange Confession (1945)

12 Tuesday Jan 2021

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By the time Universal were producing their fifth instalment of the Inner Sanctum Mysteries starring Lon Chaney Jr., the fizzle had run out in this writers’ mind.

Strange Confession sees Chaney Jr. as chemist Jeff Carter, who has been running tests to find a cure for influenza. 

One could argue that this film could be viewed with the lens of all the horrors that Capitalism can arise. Carter works for an egocentric tycoon, Roger Graham (J. Carroll Naish) who is always eager to gain a profit by any means even if that means cutting corners. When Carter grows wise to Graham’s ways he initially resigns, and works at a local store. Once married to  Mary (Brenda Joyce) and raising a son, their fiances take a strain and Carter finds that he has no choice but to work once more for Graham. It is here that he potentially finds the influenza cure and is encouraged by Graham to go to South America to perfect his findings.
Unbeknownst to Carter however, Graham has eyes on rolling out the formula despite not having a 100 percent success rate, and also to prize Mary away from Carter while he is away.

Tragedy inevitably strikes when Carter’s son is fatally struck down by the killer virus. Once Carter learns of this, he only has vengeance on his mind.

It takes the final reel before this film hits home and true, but the lead up to its conclusion is slow and cumbersome.
Stand out performance goes to Lloyd Bridges as the bright and cheery friend to Carter, Dave Curtis, and potentially the only real spark in the film.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Frozen Ghost (1945)

07 Thursday Jan 2021

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When I came to casting a retrospective of the Universal Inner Sanctum Mystery movies, I decided to watch them all fairly close together. As such, due to the similarity in style and substance, combined with the fact that Lon Chaney Jr. starred in all sic of the, a blurring of the narratives came about. 

In the case of The Frozen Ghost, I found that I struggled to bring to mind what actually occurred without looking it back up again. This is surely an indicator that the movie had little or no impact on me, which says a lot about my connection to the movie.

When I did research back into it again, the visuals soon sprang to mind and I was left pondering about why it didn’t resonate so well.

My resolution comes down to that the film was just a bit messy in its delivery. 

The tale presents Chaney Jr as mentalist Alex Gregor, who is provoked by an intoxicated non-believer in his audience that he is a fake, so out of anger, hypnotizes the individual spurring a heart attack that leads to the man’s untimely death.

Gregor is now consumed with grief and then turns within himself, ending his relationship with assistant Maura (Evelyn Ankers in a subdued performance, albeit still a strong one) and runs away to work as a lecturer for an old friend, Mme Valerie Monet (Tala Birell).

Trouble creeps up once more however when Valerie also turns up dead and Gregor becomes prime suspect number one.

The continuing theme involved with the Inner Sanctum Mysteries centres around mystery, intrigue and in the case of the movies, a wronged man troubled with murder most foul.

The Frozen Ghost has to shift and change on numerous occasions to accommodate the plight of its lead protagonist, who tries to figure out if he truly is responsible for the death of these individuals through the use of paranormal abilities.

The road isn’t a straight one to the conclusion and the perpetrators are all too obvious, so the attempt at clever deception is lost much to the detriment of the film.

The performances are still strong regardless, but unfortunately the executions is just too weak. 

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Climax (1944)

29 Tuesday Dec 2020

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Originally billed as a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, The Climax changed its course partly due to the unavailability of Claude Rains’ availability to reprise the role of the phantom. Instead some reworking in the script department led to some significant changes and bringing in Boris Karloff for his first feature released in colour. Karloff would play the role of demented physician, Dr. Hohner, driven by jealousy and the need to dominate his fiance, a prima donna at an established Vienna Royal Theatre, and murders her in his obsession.
Interestingly, Universal would resurplus some of the magnificent set that was used in their 1925 adaptation of Gaston LeRoux’s gothic novel and Susannah Foster who brought Christina Dubois to the silver screen in TPOTO (1943), would return albeit as a young operatic singer on the rise, Angela Klatt

Klatt bears a striking similarity to Hohner’s fiance, who has been missing some 10 years now, hence why Hohner has been able to avoid justice. With Klatt’s appearance though, it triggers the inner demon and conflict in Hohner’s mind and he seems hellbent on once more, keeping the diva for himself.

The film plays a familiar tune to previous Universal features and as such struggles to offer anything new in the horror scene. It is bolded by the presence of Karloff, Foster and Turhan Bey (The Mad Ghoul) as the romantic lead, Franz Munzer, but it’s Gale Sondergaard (The Cat and the Canary) as the dutiful Luise, poised to make Hohner pay for his past deeds that really shines through. 

A solid enough entry to the Universal Horror movies, but not nearly worthy of its predecessors.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Mad Ghoul (1943)

13 Sunday Dec 2020

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Presented with his first top billing for Universal, Turhan Bey (The Mummy’s Tomb) has been slowly rising through the ranks to be given this recognition. Much like his co-star Evelyn Ankers (The Wolf Man) who gets her time to shine in the spotlight. 

The Mad Ghoul centres on an Ancient Mayan life-preserving technique that resurrects creatures after they have shuffled off this mortal coil. Attempting to play out this diabolical task is a mad scientist, (naturally) Dr. Alfred Morris (George Zucci – The Mummy’s Hand) who sets about to prove it possible using a human subject.
Morris enlists the help of his student, Ted (David Bruce) to carry out his experiments. Ted however is too infatuated with Isabel (Ankers), but his love is not reciprocated, and when Morris too succumbs to Isabel’s charms, he decides to eradicate his opposition by performing his scientific query on Ted, and succeeds in doing so. The catch is that, in order to stay alive, Ted must continually replace his heart with that of the recently deceased. So throughout the film, Morris leads Ted in a ghoulish state to cemeteries in order to dig up the dead and steal their myocardium. There is great humour to be found here as both gentlemen mooch around attaining hearts so that they can eventually win the heart of Isabel.

Isabel, though, has her eyes for only one man, Eric Iverseon (Bey) and as such, Eric becomes the target for destruction. 

Morris’ grip on the situation begins to dwindle, trying to keep Ted as his ghoulish puppet, to carry out his dastardly deeds, but his pursuits eventually come untangled as his command loses its strength and Ted develops a will of his own.

For a film that uses some of Universal’s former motifs, The Mad Ghoul does enough to cobble a story together that connects with the audience and whilst it doesn’t stand up to some of the stronger titles that have come before it, entertains nonetheless and proves to be a solid enough encounter.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: House of Dracula (1945)

07 Monday Dec 2020

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Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year is Universal’s second Monster mash up, House of Dracula, and being one of the last movies to feature these iconic creatures also indicated that the times were changing and a new shift in horror was about to occur.

Treated as a direct sequel to House of Frankenstein, this feature would once again Count Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, and a mad scientist together.

This time though, it is the Count (once again played by John Carradine) that seeks a cure for his vampirism. Although there are questions around the legitimacy of his intentions as he seems to still go about his day (or should I say night?) without a care. This in complete contrast to the doomed and tragic figure, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr reprising his role once more). Dracula approaches Dr. Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) to aid him in his quest for a cure, who believes he can do so using a mysterious plant that can reshape bone. It is Dr. Edelman’s belief that using a series of blood transfusions, he can assist Dracula.

It is at this point that Larry Talbot enters the scene, also hoping that the Doctor can help him. Dr. Edelmann however is too consumed with the Count and so Talbot gets himself incarcerated by the police for fear that he will turn into a wolf and kill again. Whilst imprisoned, Inspector Holtz (Lionel Atwill in one of his last film roles) and Dr. Edelmann witnesses the transformation, with the latter now convinced, and promises he will try to find a cure.

Larry Talbot continues to be one of the most fascinating characters in the Universal Monster franchise, with his inner conflict and turmoil, the characteristics that Chaney Jr played so well. Here Talbot is driven to suicide, throwing himself off the cliff into the waters below, only to survive the ordeal. Dr. Edelmann finds Talbot in the caves beneath the castle and in doing so stumbles across Frankenstein’s monster (Glenn Strange) still clutching the skeletal remains of Dr. Neimann from the previous movie. Edelmann takes the monster back to his castle but swears not to revive him for fear that it will only cause ruin.

Through all these distractions, the Count has been using his charms on the Doctor’s assistant Milizia (Martha O’Driscoll) but is prevented by the good old cross. The Doctor’s other assistant, Nina, (Jane Adams) a hunchback, witnesses the Count’s attempts and notices the absence of his reflection. Time for another blood transfusion, only Dracula turns the tables, hypnotising Nina and Edelman and then reversing the transfusion, so that Edelmann is given the vampiric blood. 

This action proves to be the Count’s downfall however as Edelmann exposes Dracula’s coffin to sunlight, killing him. This is just beyond the half an hour mark leaving the question again as to the true danger that Dracula exhibits when he doesn’t last the entire feature.

With the Wolf Man being treated and the Dracula out for the… count (ahem), this leaves a hole for a villain to fill. In steps a transformed Edelmann, struggling with the vampiric blood in his system that sends him crazy and a climax that brings about the rise of Frankenstein’s creature, a horde of angry villagers, and only a cured Talbot to bring down the house.

House of Dracula serves up a much neater storyline compared with its predecessor, House of Frankenstein, and the performances are strong. It still struggles to incorporate all the different aspects, but considering it’s short running time of just over the hour mark, there’s enough packed in to entertain, and ultimately became a commercial success as a result.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The House of Frankenstein (1944)

04 Friday Dec 2020

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Some thirteen years after the release of Dracula back in 1931, Universal now had a decent backlog of Universal Monsters in their midst.
After the relative success of Frankenstein vs The Wolf Man, which pitted two of their creatures head to head in its climax, it was a logical step to combine as many as possible into the one film. 

In order for this trick to be pulled off successfully however, requires some clever plot devices to wrangle each intricate characteristic into a believable situation. Curt Siodmak was called upon to carry out this difficult task, which seems a logical choice as he had overseen a lot of the Universal horror movies during the time. His decision was to introduce a new character in Dr. Gustav Niemann, a mad scientist played by Boris Karloff in what would be his last role in the Universal horror franchise. Accompanying him from a prison break is hunchback (another trope), Daniel (J. Carrol Naish), who is willing to carry out Niemann’s demands with the promise of a new body. 

Niemann though only has revenge in mind for the three people who wronged him and sent him to prison. 

This story is really told in two parts; the first part being the revenge on Burgemeister Hussman, which Niemann does by initially killing Professor Lampini and taking on his identity as a travelling showman and his Chamber of Horrors. The show in question just so happens to contain the skeletal remains of Count Dracula with the stake still impaled. Legend has it that if the stake were to be removed, Dracula would once again walk the earth. Naturally this happens, but Niemann convinces the Count (John Carradine) to carry out his task of ridding him of his nemesis with the promise of protection. Once the Count offs Hussman though, the group land in a spot of bother and Niemann quickly reneges on his agreement and ditches Dracula’s coffin, forcing him to submit to the sunlight and ultimately be destroyed. Dracula’s demise seems all too easy and as such renders him slightly useless in the movie and far from menacing.

The latter half of the movie focuses on the resurrection of Frankenstein’s monster (Glenn Strange) and The Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) who were last seen washed away with the flood that submerged the ruins of Frankenstein’s castle. It turns out that they had been frozen in ice, and Niemann thaws them both, once again hoping to use them to his advantage. 

The film is aided by the return of Chaney Jr and the troubled Larry Talbot who continuously serves as the heart of the franchise. Here, a love triangle is formed as he finds himself falling for a gypsy girl Ilonka (Elena Verdugo – who was a descendant of the Verdugo family that founded Los Angeles), rescued by Daniel and Niemann. The former has also fallen for Ilonka’s charms and is then driven by jealousy when his love is not reciprocated, and also by anger from Niemann’s failure not to live up to his promise.

The climax is nicely tied up with a collision of personalities all vying for different means, and when that clash comes it can only lead to the demise of all, be it silver bullet, thrown from the roof, or driven into the swamp quicksand from angry villagers wielding flaming torches.

On face value, Siodmak ticks all the boxes of what can be expected from each of the characters but ultimately, there is nothing new to offer at hand, and because of this the film falls short on satisfaction. It is still a solid production, entertains, but never does enough to lift itself above the standards of its predecessors.

It was great to see Karloff (he definitely owns this movie and deserves to wield the lead antagonist mantle) and Lon Chaney Jr share screen time together, but the chance to have the creatures provide any form of menace are  squandered. 

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Phantom of the Opera (1943)

28 Saturday Nov 2020

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Having explored numerous aspects of Gothic Literature for Universal’s cannon of horror features, it was time to turn their attention once more back to Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera; a tale of a deformed phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, murdering people to aid the woman he loves, Christine, to become a star.

It was a bold choice as nearly twenty years prior, the production house had successfully released a version starring “The Man With A Thousand Faces” Lon Chaney as the titular Phantom back in 1925. 

It was deemed however, that ample time had passed despite Chaney’s son, Lon Chaney Jr now a contracted player for Universal, which meant that the ‘25 version was still fresh in the minds of some people. Chaney Jr allegedly expected the part to fall to him in order to reprise his father’s role, but the studio elected instead to cast Claude Rains (The Invisible Man). This did not go down well with Chaney Jr. and apparently some bitterness ensued between him and his The Wolf Man co-star.

It has to be said that I have always enjoyed Rains’ performances on screen and this was no exception as he brought a certain level of heart and empathy to his role as Enrique Claudin. Claudin is the doomed romantic, whose heart belongs to Christine Dubois, a soprano that he has been privately funding her singing lessons.

We certainly feel for Claudin, who is a violinist for the Paris Opera House and is let go due to the ailing use of his fingers. Looking to make ends meet, he then ventures to his music publisher in the hopes of getting money from a piano concerto that he has written. Tragedy has struck however, when he learns that the publisher is attempting to steal his work. In a fit of rage Claudin strangles and kills the publisher, only to have the publisher’s assistant throw etching acid in his face, deforming him.

From here on in, Claudin withdraws to the shadows with his new moniker of the phantom, and then goes to extreme measures in order to propel Christine to stardom.

The film plays out well enough and Rains more than holds his own, but it never feels dark or sinister enough to scare or thrill the audience. It doesn’t help that it is peppered with operatics with an upbeat jovial manner, potentially to juxtapose the dark energy that surrounds it. And it is the setting after all, but if that was the aim, then the darker elements needed to be amplified much more.

As it stands, it’s a solid film, but is no match for its predecessor. There were plans for a sequel called The Climax, but a combination of not being able to cast Rains again due to other commitments and problems working through a decent storyline that would work, it failed to materialise and instead would be reworked as a completely different movie starring Boris Karloff.

With Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical aside, the story would not be revisited again until 1962 Hammer Films starring Herbet Lom, then another twenty year abstinence until Robert Englund would don the mask in 1989 for 21st Century Film, and a Dario Argento feature in 1998.

  • Saul Muerte