Tag: Mad Scientist
-
The Mad Monster (1942)
In the book, “Hollywood’s Pre-Code Horrors 1931-1934,” Raymond Valinoti Jr. reports that during the production of Island of Lost Souls (1932), Production Code representative Jason Joy told Paramount: I assume that some thought has been given to the possibility of injecting the idea of crossing animals with humans. If this is the case it is…
-
The Mad Ghoul (1943)
Maybe it’s because I just watched a ratty old print of The Mad Monster (1942) on YouTube and a crisp new transfer of The Mad Ghoul (1943) on Blu-ray, but I enjoyed the latter… a lot. One of the “lesser” films among the Universal Horror Collections, I liked it better than some of the sequels…
-
The Head (1959)
If you sucked all the humor out of The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962), you might be left with The Head (1959.) However, you’d then have to bloat it with almost 20 additional minutes. This leaves a deadly serious film that’s too long and not much fun. I’d take “Jan in the Pan” any day…
-
The Strange World of Planet X (1958)
aka Cosmic Monsters The Strange World of Planet X (1958), aka Cosmic Monsters, aka The Cosmic Monster, belongs to that sometimes-odd sub-genre of mid-century British science-fiction. Think of Hammer’s Four Sided Triangle or Spaceways… Curse of the Fly, The Brain, Konga, etc. They’re all a little dry… a little unusual. At least they are to…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
The Crime of Dr. Crespi (1935)
Derek M. Koch, from Monster Kid Radio, is currently hosting “Edgar August Poe” on his weekly podcast. This month, I’m taking his episodes as inspiration for my Friday Fright reviews and will be writing my opinions of the movies and posting them here on the day after his podcast becomes available. Any similarity in thought…
-
Before I Hang (1940)
Written by Robert Hardy Andrews, Karl Brown Directed by Nick Grind Starring Boris Karloff, Evelyn Keyes, Bruce Bennett, Edward Van Sloan US Release Sept. 17, 1940 RT 62 min. Home Video Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Classic Horrors rating = 6 (out of 10) Warning: review contains plot spoilers. Unless you grew up during a particular…
Classic Horrors Club 