Category: Golden Age
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The Monster & the Girl (1941)
Universal monster movies from the 1940s have a distinct look. Had I not seen the Paramount logo at the beginning of The Monster & the Girl (1941) from Shout! Factory’s The Universal Horror Collection Vol. 5, I still would have suspected something was different about it. Indeed, this is one of over 700 films that…
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Love from a Stranger (1937)
aka Night of Terror Get out your whiteboards and markers for this one… In 1924, Agatha Christie (you may have heard of her) wrote a short story called, Philomel Cottage. In it, a woman named Alix Martin inherits a fortune. Her boyfriend, Dick Windyford, disapproves of her financial independence. When she meets Gerald Martin and…
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The Undying Monster (1942)
It doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to believe Twentieth Century-Fox was eager to capitalize on the success of Universal’s The Wolf Man (1941) when it made The Undying Monster a year later. Then again, that might not be the case, because it was not promoted as one. As Jeff Rovin writes in The…
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The Man with Nine Lives (1940)
Added to the many miracles performed by modern science that have accounted for the saving of thousands upon thousands of human beings, comes its newest and most modern discovery – frozen therapy. Estimates of how long frozen therapy can produce a state of suspended animation range from days to years. But on the fact that…
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The Return of Doctor X (1939)
Talk about a bad rap! All right, The Return of Doctor X (1939) isn’t a fantastic movie; however, with a running time that’s barely an hour, It’s perfectly fine. It certainly doesn’t deserve the reputation that precedes it. Ironically, the one feature of the film that is usually mentioned is the one that works the…
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The Black Room (1935)
Although produced by Columbia Pictures, the graveyard sets in The Black Room (1935) are as gorgeous as any number of Universal Pictures genre films of the same era. They’re obviously built on a soundstage; nevertheless, they are works of art. From the painted backdrops to the simulated ground covering and tombstones, the art direction by…
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The Vampire Bat (1933)
The set-up for The Vampire Bat (1933) couldn’t be any simpler and it’s established in the film’s opening moments. Bats fill the sky on a dark night as the tower clock chimes, a mysterious figure leaps across the rooftops, and a woman screams. Cut to Burgermeister Gustave Schoen (Lionel Belmore) and his cronies struggling to…
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The Raven (1935)
When I recently re-watched The Raven (1935), I didn’t remember liking it as much the first time I saw it. In fact, if comparing it to my memories of The Black Cat (1934), I might like The Raven even more. It’s a nasty little thriller, letting Bela Lugosi shine as an evil madman, while letting…
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A Place of One’s Own (1945)
Henry Smedhurst (James Mason) and his wife (Barbara Mullen) have always wanted a place of their own and, at retirement age, they are finally able to buy one… for a steal. While they’re aware that Bellingham House has sat vacant for 40 years, if they knew its reputation, I’m not sure they wouldn’t have bought…
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Woman Who Came Back (1945)
Woman Who Came Back (1945) has a great gothic opening, generating a creepy atmosphere that’s sustained throughout the movie. In Eben Rock, Massachusetts, a “crypt” beneath the church holds documents that detail the history of witchcraft in the area. Nearby stands the palatial home of the judge responsible for killing 18 women 300 years ago……