Tag: Drama
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The House of Seven Gables (1940)
Not only was this a first-time watch for me, but I was also previously unfamiliar with the story of The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. While the movie mentions curses, witchcraft, and hidden stairways, it plays more like a straight drama. Even the “thrills” of this thriller are tied more to family…
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He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
The 1924 silent classic, He Who Gets Slapped, did not air on TCM as part of its Lon Chaney marathon that I recorded on October 14, 2020. Instead, it aired as part of its circus movie marathon exactly a month later. Wherever you’re able to see it, I highly encourage that you do. For my…
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The World, The Flesh and The Devil (1959)
Besides wanting to watch it ever since I read its synopsis, I was encouraged when TCM host Ben Mankiewicz spoke highly of The World, The Flesh and The Devil in its introduction prior to a recent airing. Sadly, I was disappointed on both fronts. While there are interesting elements of the “last man on earth”…
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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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Strange Illusion (1945)
Written by Adele Comandini, Fritz RotterDirected by Edgar G. UlmerStarring Jimmy Lydon, Warren William, Salley Eilers, Regis Toomey, Charles ArntReleased March 31, 1945RT 87 min.Home Video Alpha VideoClassic Horrors rating = 6 (out of 10) Not a horror movie, per se, Strange Illusion nevertheless revolves around a ghostly, perhaps supernatural, dream. Haunted by the mysterious death of his father, college…
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Invisible Ghost (1941)
Next off my stack of unwrapped, unwatched movies… Written by Helen Martin & Al Martin Directed by Joseph H. Lewis Starring Bela Lugosi, Polly Ann Young, John McGuire, Clarence Muse, Betty Compson, Ernie Adams Released April 25, 1941 RT 64 min. Home Video Kino Lorber (Blu-ray) Classic Horrors rating = 8 (out of 10) WHY I’VE NEVER SEEN IT In July,…
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One Million B.C. (1940)
Written by Mickell Novack & George Baker & Joseph Frickert Directed by Hal Roach Jr., Hal Roach Starring Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Lon Chaney Jr. Released April 5, 1940 RT 80 min. Home Video VCI Entertainment (Blu-ray) Classic Horrors rating = 6 (out of 10) For a movie that not only depicts human beings living at the same time…
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Mahal (1949)
Written by Kamal Amrohi Directed by Kamal Amrohi Starring Ashok Kumar, Madhubala, M. Kumar, Vijayalaxmi, Kanu Roy Released 1949 (India) RT 165 min. Home Video Bollywood Films Home Entertainment (DVD) Classic Horrors rating = 7 (out of 10) I once watched a three-hour and twenty-minute Bollywood movie about cricket (Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, 2001). Against all…
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Vampyr (1932)
Written by Christen Jul and Carl Theodor Dreyer Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer Starring Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Jan Hieronimko, Henriette Gerard Released May 6, 1932 (Germany) RT 83 min. Home Video The Criterion Collection Classic Horrors rating = 7 (out of 10) Reflecting on an article I wrote some time ago about film adaptations of…
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Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn (1936)
Written by Randall Faye Directed by Milton Rosmer Starring Tod Slaughter, Sophie Stewart, Eric Portman US Release August 18, 1936 RT 70 min. Home Video AlphaVideo Classic Horrors rating = 7 (out of 10) Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn opens how I imagine the play on which it is based would open. However, I’ve…
Classic Horrors Club 