This week on SVENGOOLIE...

[RedRiver]

Having seen Mr. Laughton's moustache many times, I decided to watch THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS on another channel. I do hope somebody enjoyed Svengoolie's presentation of this exceptional thriller. I tuned in for the last twenty minutes. The thing STILL scares me! One of the creepiest horror films I've ever seen.

"HE can die?"
"HE...can die!"

[intothenitrate]

I don't get Svengoolie in my neck of the woods, but I did recently pick up the Criterion edition of Island of Lost Souls on DVD. The image quality is just incrementally better than the bootleg I acquired a few years ago, but the sound quality is superbly improved. I also really enjoyed the extras on the disc in which contemporary experts extol the wonders of the film.

Paramount, wanting to cut itself a piece of the horror/sci-fi box office pie (in the wake of Universal's colossal successes with Dracula and Frankenstein) perhaps did too good a job delivering the chills. The film isn't just great, it's accident of history great. It seems to be one of those efforts in which all the departments pulled together in brilliant unity to produce something singular. I know virtually nothing about Erle C. Kenton, but with this film, he pulled the ensemble together in such a way that you never, ever succumb to disbelief about what's going on.

It's easy to single out Laughton's performance as the quintessence of Mad Science, but what struck me upon subsequent viewings was the performance of Arthur Hohl as Montgomery. I've enjoyed him in other films playing slightly shady, slightly goofy characters. But in this film, he's deadly serious -- and utterly convincing. It's his inner conflicts and his deep self-loathing that really sell the horror of what's going on. What an impeccable performance!

[RedRiver]

I habitually forget this is a Paramount production. My instinct is to think all the great horror of that period came from Universal. This film is a little darker, more serious. The pathos in the Universal classics is derived from one character, usually the monster. Here it's more pervasive. The whole situation is ugly. If the first two Frankenstein films are my favorites of the genre, this one slips right in after them. Very few can compare.

I like Lugosi in this. All the "half man/half beasts" are good. The thick, furry one who does the killing is fascinating. But Lugosi is kind of the head creature. A little more with it. More suspicious. When he arches those bushy eyebrows, you know things are going to change! This minor role is one of the legendary actor's best performances.

[intothenitrate]

They really did "pull out all the stops" on the production, and Lugosi's performance is no exception. When he delivers the lines (containing the words) " HALF MEN, HALF BEASTS...THINGS," there is a searing pain in his voice and body. It goes way beyond melodrama.

[RedRiver]

Before Sssss...there was CULT OF THE COBRA! This week on Svengoolie.

[RedRiver]

What fun! CULT OF THE COBRA is no nonsense, unpretentious horror at its best. Movies like this don't attempt greatness and they don't achieve it. If they had higher production qualities and more serious stories, they wouldn't be as much fun. I don't compare this to the great Universal entries or the poetic 1950's fantasies. It's something you enjoy thoroughly, then forget about!

Five GIs discover a cult of snake worshipers in Asia. They make the mistake of pissing off Faith Domergue, who follows them to New York. I can see showing a pretty lady around the city. Try some of that pizza we've heard so much about. Stop by David Janssen's bowling alley. But this girl doesn't merely have a venomous personality. She's the real thing! A serial cobra!

Janssen should have become a fugitive a little earlier in his career. He might have lived through the first act. Bart Maverick was lucky at cards. This is one gamble he should not have taken. Young Jared Barkley, son of Victoria, is the suspicious one. He's met some slimey characters before, but this is ridiculous! This movie reminds me of Val Lewton's CAT PEOPLE. Dark, confined. One very similar plot element. But where Lewton turns budgetary constraints into creative wonder, this film sticks with across the board fun. But again, What fun!

[moira finnie]

Red,
I got through watching Cult of the Cobra (1955) and boy, it was amusing and enlightening. Little did I know that:

1.) In 1955 NYC did not have any tall buildings, though horses were still used to pull wagons through the streets.
2.) Marshall Thompson's worst career move was NOT co-starring with Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion.
3.) David Janssen mysteriously had NO evident acting skills prior to The Fugitive. He even walked like a dork as Rico, the Bowling Alley owner. He must have been through a heap of acting workshops, body movement classes and heartbreak between this role and his best known role as Richard Kimble, Sad Sack Extraordinaire.
4.) Ed Platt specialized in roles as CEOs of cults (See his work in Atlantis, The Lost Continent for further evidence).
5.) At midnight in the mid-50s Salvation Army Sallys went around the streets of NYC hitting up businessmen for donations after scaring the bejeesus out of them by sneaking up behind them in the dark.
6.) None of these former GIs seemed to spend much time working, though they found time to sneer at researcher nerd Richard Long's lack of a big paycheck--even though he got the only human girl these guys seemed to know--and commercial artist Marshall Thompson "made his own hours." How can we get jobs like these?

Good news: The Black Cat (1934) is scheduled for next week on Svengoolie.

[RedRiver]

"Sounds like a lot of supernatural baloney to me."
"Supernatural, perhaps. Baloney, perhaps not."

[intothenitrate]

The Black Cat (1934) is scheduled for next week on Svengoolie.

I don't get Svengoolie, but I'll definitely watch my copy in solidarity.

[RedRiver]

That's nice. Classic fans support one another!

[RedRiver]

A black cat may mean bad luck to the superstitious, but fans who watched Svengoolie's program last night had the good fortune to see some good old-fashioned horror by the people who did it better than anyone. Edgar G. Ulmer's THE BLACK CAT, titled but not drawn from the Poe story, is creepy, expressionistic and just a little bit sick. "You married my wife and my daughter? EEWW!"

Who would do such a thing? Dr. Karloff, of course! The mad scientist of this particular dark and stormy night. Old friend Bela is back after a long stretch in a war related prison camp. "Many went there. Few returned." Wanting only to reconnect with family, he is, needless to say, alarmed at what he finds.

Thick-headed manservants, devil worshipers, and young lovers naturally (dosen't anybody go to Niagara falls?) round out cast and story for an intriguing, and disturbing, 65 minutes. There's a ghostly, surreal look to the set that reminds me of an M. C. Esher drawing. Even the opening titles are striking and provocative. Most people could give a **** about that. Classic movie fans know just what I'm talking about!

I didn't think I liked this film all that much. I might have confused it with THE INVISIBLE RAY. That one is a tad sluggish for my tastes. This little kitty cat is quite entertaining. The combination of cast, style and story are the reason when somebody says horror, we immediately think Universal. If this is not your favorite shocker from that esteemed studio, just wait a few days. Mr. Larry Talbot is back next week in THE WOLFMAN! That one is certainly one of the best.

[CineMaven]

At TCM's film festival, before the screening of "The Black Cat" - it was wild to see Karloff's daughter and Lugosi's son talk about their Dads and how kind, gentlemanly, and generous they were, with a good sense of humor. And they kibbitzed each other as though they siblings. They were great to see and Sara Karloff told a funny story of being on an elevator with her father and people, watching them as it slowly dawned on them who the man sharing the elevator was.

A black cat may mean bad luck to the superstitious, but fans who watched Svengoolie's program last night had the good fortune to see some good old-fashioned horror by the people who did it better than anyone. Edgar G. Ulmer's THE BLACK CAT, titled but not drawn from the Poe story, is creepy, expressionistic and just a little bit sick. "You married my wife and my daughter? EEWW!"

This is one of the great S & M classics of horror. Lugosi was actually the nice guy in this one, and Karloff, the bizarre, totally debauched, strangely compelling ( to me ) not nice guys. I loved his smoking jacket and angular hair do. His home was the height of Art Deco...highly fetishized. The movie feels very modern to me. The young couple - clueless. ( I love David Manners. ) Their lives hang in the balance over a chess game.



...And Lugosi, finally gone mad due to a paralyzing fear of cats and the knowledge that his wife and daughter wound up in the clutches of this "mad man", exacts revenge on Karloff that was too good for him. Fantastic movie.

* * * * * * * * *

"Even a man
who is pure at heart,
and says his prayers by night,
may become a wolf,
when the wolfbane blooms
and the autumn moon is bright."



Make-up artist Rick Baker presented this movie at the film fest and told of seeing this movie as a boy. It influenced him wanting to pursue this as a career. Great great cast. And I guess seeing things on the big screen enhances my emotions because I felt terribly sorry for the tragic Larry Talbot. He doesn't stand a chance.

[RedRiver]

exacts revenge on Karloff that was too good for him

The next time somebody says, "I'll skin you alive..."

Larry "Try the Gillette Track Three" Talbot is the most pathetic of all the unfortunately afflicted film monsters. Frank is a sad case. He brings tears to my eyes. But he doesn't fully understand what's going on. He's like my dog! "OK. I don't know why you're so mad, but let's move on!" Poor Larry knows all too well what happened last night, and what will happen with the next full moon. THE WOLFMAN is a beautiful, sensitive story. Not to mention it scares the **** out of you! Classic horror doesn't get much better than this one.

Thanks for a thoughtful response, CineMonster!

[CineMaven]

Sure thing Red.

But change that moniker from CineMonster or I'll skin you alive!!

[RedRiver]

On this thread, that's a compliment!