This week on SVENGOOLIE...

[RedRiver]

I've always wished Boris had done villain duty on that show. He was probably in poor health. He died shortly after. But talk about perfect casting!

[Western Guy]

Would not that have been great: Boris as a Batman villain. You know, I'm sure Boris would have done it, if he could have remained pretty much sedentary, because he didn't turn down much work, including those execrable Mexican movies he filmed prior to his passing.

[RedRiver]

movies he filmed prior to his passing.

At least, as far as we know. With Boris, you can't be too sure!

[Western Guy]

Yes, good point. I remember Vincent Price once saying he wanted I'LL BE BACK engraved on his tombstone. Still waitin', darn it.

[RedRiver]

Blackie Lagoon is back, for the first time since...May! If you're interested, it's REVENGE OF THE CREATURE this weekend. Discussed on this thread a few months ago. I was all set to let this thread go when I checked the schedule. Let's not rush into this. Svengoolie may be down, but he's not out!

January 12 promises the outstanding ISLAND OF LOST SOULS. Erle C. Kenton's creepy telling of the Dr. Moreau story is one of THE VERY BEST horror films of The Golden Age. Or any other era! Disturbing more than terrifying, suspenseful rather than shocking, this dark, quiet chiller will give you nightmares. Not to be missed under any circumstances. 1/19 is CULT OF THE COBRA if my information is valid. This adorable B feature is so fifties it makes me want to go to the malt shop! Three GIs meet a gypsy who can turn into a snake. I hate that! Cheap, black and white, and more fun than a barrel of mongooses! It sounds silly. It's actually quite exciting.

Robert Siodmak's COBRA WOMAN seems to get a little more respect from serious fans. But I think "Cult" is more fun. Direct, to the point. And who the Hell isn't scared by a great big snake?

Let's just see what the next few weeks have to offer!

[moira finnie]

Oh, good. They will be showing some movies I don't know by heart this month! Cult of the Cobra (1955) certainly sounds like fun, based on this trailer. Faith Domergue appears to have had quite a good sense of humor about her career, which certainly had its ups and downs. If you are interested, her conversation with Tom Weaver can be read here, drawn from Weaver's book, I Was a Monster Movie Maker: Conversations With 22 Sf and Horror Filmmakers (McFarland, 2001).:

[youtube][/youtube]

I have a hard time with Island of Lost Souls (1932), since it may be Laughton's scariest performance, but I'll give it another try. Listening to NPR's Science Friday yesterday, they did a round-up of the most intriguing and possibly significant science stories of 2012. When one contributor mentioned the injection of human DNA into animals (to enhance them or us, I'll be damned if I know!), but it gave me a bit of a chill, and, of course, made me think of the prescience of H.G. Wells and this film. Just because we can do something scientifically, should we do it doesn't seem to cross anyones' mind--except for a few medical ethicists and cranky scaredy cats such as me.

[RedRiver]

I wish I had a list of the things I considered impossible thirty years ago. I was one of those who said electronic books will never replace the real thing. "You can't curl up with a good computer." Oops! As a mater of fact, a friend has given me a used E-reader. One of the books stored on it is THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU!

"Lost Souls" is not for everybody, Moira. I just find it incredibly creepy. "HIS is the hand that makes. HIS is the hand that gives. HIS is The House of Pain!"

[Rita Hayworth]

Cult of the Cobra is another favorite of mine, Moira!

[moira finnie]

Thanks, Kingme. Since you and Red both recommend this one, I'll record it when it rolls around.

[Western Guy]

CULT OF THE COBRA is a fave of mine, too. Good "who's gonna get it next" storyline with recognizable actors. Fun time.

Moira: Re: ISLAND OF LOST SOULS. Know what you mean about yesterday's sci-fi conceivably becoming today's scary science. Was watching a program not long ago where it was theorized that some of those creepy creatures that have washed up on shores could actually be genetic experiments. Their bizarre carcasses have been explained away more prosaically by "experts", but then there are people who still believe the "official" report that what crashed in Roswell was a weather balloon.

[CineMaven]

I'm addicted to the Criterion Collection's "Three Reasons:..." trailers for movies they distribute. Here's the one for "The Island of Lost Souls." By golly, is Laughton devilish. This and "Freaks" has got to be the two most disturbing films of the pre-code era. Chilling.

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[Western Guy]

FREAKS, to me, would be an absolute masterpiece if Browning (or MGM) hadn't tacked on that final "happy ending" scene. To have ended the picture with that grotesque shot of the chicken-lady would have been much more effective and memorable than that happily-ever-after wrapup that just seems so out of place with what has gone before.

Just my two cents.

[RedRiver]

those creepy creatures that have washed up on shores

I think those are congressmen!

[Western Guy]

. . or Canadian politicians.

[RedRiver]

Charles Laughton has a moustache in the classic chiller, ISLAND OF LOST SOULS! Tonight on Svengoolie!