Horror Film Review: The Leopard Man (dir by Jacques Tourneur)

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1943 film The Leopard Man is set in a small town in New Mexico. It’s a place that seems to be hidden away from much of the modern world and where the cultures of Mexico and America mix, occasionally with unease. Jerry Manning (Dennis O’Keefe) is an American publicity agent who is dating a nightclub performer named, Kiki (Jean Brooks). Kiki has a rivalry with another performer, the far more flamboyant (read: interesting) Clo-Clo (Margo). Jerry, however, feels that he’s come up with the perfect way for Kiki to upstage Clo-Clo. Jerry has rented a leopard!

Unfortunately, it soon becomes obvious that neither Jerry nor Kiki knows how to handle a leopard. Clo-Clo startles the leopard with her castanets, causing the leopard to escape and flee into the desert. Now, Jerry has two problems. Not only is Kiki mad at him but the leopard’s owner, Charlie (Abner Biberman), expects Jerry to pay for the missing animal.

Actually, make that three problems. Soon after the leopard escapes, a teenage girl is chased to the front door of her house. When she bangs on the door and begs her mother to let her in, her mother assumes that her daughter is making up a lie to get out of helping around the house. The mother ignores her until suddenly, her daughter screams and blood starts to seep in from under the door…

All of the locals believe that the girl was killed by the leopard. Soon, more people in town are also killed. The police are sure that it’s the leopard but Jerry soon comes to think that something else might be happening. Could it be that something or someone else is committing the murders and attempting to frame the leopard?

A moody and rather fatalistic film that looks truly impressive for a B-movie that was shot on the studio backlots, The Leopard Man is really more of a mystery than a traditional horror film. That said, the film is full of atmospheric and creepy scenes, particularly a lengthy sequence in which the townspeople commemorate the anniversary of a centuries-old massacre. The specter of death, both past and future, hangs over both the town and the film. That’s not surprising when you consider the The Leopard Man was produced by Val Lewton and directed by Jacques Tourneur, the same time that previously created the original Cat People. Much like Cat People, The Leopard Man is a film that’s power comes as much from what we don’t see as what we do see. The Leopard Man is a triumph of atmosphere and tension.

While neither Jerry non Kiki are very interesting characters, the film is full of memorable character roles. The citizens of that small town in New Mexico are all vividly drawn and portrayed, with the film perfectly capturing the quiet desperation of being both poor and forgotten in American society. My favorite character was Clo-Clo. As played by Margo, she is fierce, determined, and — in a few small moments — rather tragic. If they ever remake The Leopard Man, I’m claiming that role right now.

Horror Film Review: Island of Lost Souls (dir by Erle C. Kenton)

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In the 1932 film Island of Lost Souls, Ruth Thomas (Leila Hyams) has reason to be concerned. She’s on the island of Samoa, awaiting the arrival of her fiancée, Edward Parker (Richard Arlen). When Parker’s boat doesn’t show up, it can only mean one thing. He’s been shipwrecked! Did he survive or was he lost at sea?

Well, Ruth need not worry. Parker did survive being shipwrecked. He was picked up by a freighter carrying a wide selection of animals to an isolated island. Unfortunately, when Parker complained about the way that Parker was abusing some of his admittedly odd-looking passengers, the captain responded by dumping Parker on that island as well.

On the island, Parker becomes the guest of Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) and his assistant, Montgomery (Arthur Hohl). Parker also meets and finds himself becoming attractive to the seemingly naive Lota (Kathleen Burke). Though Moreau seems to be a good host, Parker grows suspicious of him. It turns out that there’s a room in Moreau’s compound, a room that Lota calls “the house of pain.” At night, Parker can hear horrifying screams coming from the room.

Initially believing the Moreau is torturing the island’s natives, Parker soon discovers an even more disturbing truth. Moreau has been experimenting with trying to transform animals into humans. Lota, it turns out, was once a panther and the woods surrounding the compound are full of other Moreau creations. Though Moreau claims that his intentions are benevolent, he rules his island like a dictator. The animal-men are kept in line by the Sayer of the Law (Bela Lugosi) and any transgressions are punished in the House of Pain…

The Island of Lost Souls was the first cinematic adaptation of H.G. Wells’s The Island of Dr. Moreau. (Perhaps the most famous adaptation came out in 1996 and is the subject of Lost Souls, a fascinating documentary that, I believe, can still be found on Netflix.) I watched it last night on TCM and I have to admit that I had a mixed reaction to it. On the one hand, the film’s atmosphere of mystery and danger is palpable and Charles Laughton’s performance definitely set a standard for all misguided scientists to follow. The human-animals are fantastic creations and the film’s ending still has some power. Bela Lugosi’s performance of the Sayer of the Law was superior to his work as Dracula. (As shown by both this film and Ninotchka, Lugosi was an outstanding character actor.) Kathleen Burke also does a great job as Lota, which makes it all the more interesting that she was apparently cast as a result of winning a contest that was sponsored by Paramount Pictures.

(On a personal note, I always find it amusing that pre-code films always feature at least one scene of an actress removing her stockings, even if the scene itself has next to nothing to do with the rest of the film. In this case, the legs belong to Leila Hyams.)

On the negative side, Richard Arlen is not a particularly interesting hero and, from a contemporary point of view, Island of Lost Souls is a rather slow-moving film. Watching it today requires modern audiences to make a bit of an adjustment to their expectations.

With all that in mind, I still recommend Island of Lost Souls. Watch it for Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi. Watch it as a valuable piece of cinematic history.

Horror on TV: The Twilight Zone 3.24 “To Serve Man”

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

You know what?

I’ve spent this October irritated by the lack of episodes of the Twilight Zone on YouTube. I mean, I understand the importance of copyright laws and everything but seriously, how can you take away the Twilight Zone in October!?

However, I finally managed to find one — and exactly one — episode of The Twilight Zone on YouTube. And it’s a classic! (And who knows how long it’ll be available so don’t hold off on watching it!) Here is the classic “To Serve Man” episode of The Twilight Zone!

Enjoy and bon appetit!

Short Film Review: 4 Quarters of Silence (dir by Cody Broadway)

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone! I want to take a small break from talking about horror movie and Halloween to tell you about 4 Quarters of Silence, a short documentary film that may not be scary but is definitely very inspiring. It’s a 16-minute film that I was lucky enough to see this weekend and, halfway through the movie, I had tears in my eyes.

And I thought to myself, “Lisa, don’t you dare start crying…”

And I kept watching the movie. And those tears did not go away and by the end of it all, I had given up on not crying. However, those weren’t tears of sadness. 4 Quarters of Silence tells an incredibly inspiring little story, one that earned the tears that I shed.

The film opens with a title card that informs us that there are 1,483 high school football teams in Texas. As a native Texan, I can definitely believe that. However, there is only one football team that is totally made up of deaf players. That team, located in Austin, is the Texas School for the Deaf’s Rangers. 4 Quarters of Silence follows the Rangers as they prepare for and play a game against a high school from San Antonio.

However, the emphasis really isn’t on who wins the game. For the film, if not the coaches and the players, the game is almost a secondary concern. Instead, 4 Quarters of Silence concentrates on the players and their coach, John Moore, as they refuse to allow their disability to keep them from doing something that they love.

John Moore is truly the star of the show, a passionate and inspiring coach who expects as much from his players off the field as on. One of my favorite parts of the film contrasts the bombastic half-time speech of the San Antonio coach with Coach Moore’s equally passionate signed speech in the TSD locker room.

The love that Coach Moore has for both the game and his players is truly inspiring and I’m glad that 4 Quarters of Silence documented it. It’s a truly touching film and one that successfully challenges many of the common assumptions that the hearing are too quick to make about the deaf. Keep an eye out for it!

4 Shots From Horror History: The Wolfman, Insidious, Let Me In, The Cabin In The Woods

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This October, I’m going to be doing something a little bit different with my contribution to 4 Shots From 4 Films. I’m going to be taking a little chronological tour of the history of horror cinema, moving from decade to decade.

Today, we begin our current decade!

4 Shots From 4 Films

The Wolfman (2010, dir by Joe Johnston)

Insidious (2010, dir by James Wan)

Let Me In (2011, dir by Matt Reeves)

The Cabin In The Woods (2012, dir by Drew Goddard)

Horror on the Lens: Snowbeast (dir by Herb Wallerstein)

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s horror on the lens is the surprisingly effective 1977 made-for-TV revenge-of-the-yeti film, Snowbeast!

You can read my full review here!

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.26 “Kill My Love” (dir by Herschel Daugherty)

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s excursion into televised horror is Kill My Love, an episode of Thriller that originally aired on March 26th, 1962!

In this episode, Richard Carlson plays Guy Guthrie. To the outside world, Guy looks like the perfect husband and father. However, he’s actually a cruel sociopath. When his mistress threatens to expose him, he murders her. When his wife realizes what Guy has done, he murders her as well.

But then Guy’s beloved son (David Kent) starts to figure out what his father has done and Guy is forced to decide just how far he’s willing to go to hide his secrets…

This episode, of course, is introduced by the one and only Boris Karloff!

Enjoy!

4 Shots From Horror History: Halloween, Paranormal Activity, Colverfield, The House of the Devil

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, we complete to the aughts!

4 Shots From 4 Films

Halloween (2007, dir by Rob Zombie)

Paranormal Activity (2007, dir by Oren Peli)

Cloverfield (2008, dir by Matt Reeves)

The House of the Devil (2009, dir by Ti West)

Horror on the Lens: Panic at Lakewood Manor (dir by Robert Scheerer)

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s horror on the lens is a made-for-TV movie from 1977. This movie has many different names: Panic at Lakewood Manor, It Happened At Lakewood Manor, and Ants.

Panic at Lakewood Manor is a mix of different genres. It’s a disaster film, a soap opera, and ultimately a revenge-of-nature horror film. The film begins with our cast gathering at Lakewood Manor, a luxury hotel that’s only partially finished. In fact, the owners are so determined to complete construction that they ignore the threat posed by …. KILLER ANTS!

Anyway, this is a made-for-TV movie from the 70s so it’s never as graphic as what we’d expect to see today. That said, I once accidentally stepped on a fire ant mound while I was barefoot and OH MY GOD DID THAT EVER HURT! AGCK!

If you’re a fan of old movies, you’ll enjoy seeing a lot of familiar faces in this one. Even Myrna Loy shows up!

(Incidentally, this film was written by Guerdon Trueblood, who directed the brilliant The Candy Snatchers.)

The TSL’s Daily Horror Grindhouse: Bleed (dir by Tripp Rahme)

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

What happens when you take a little Paranormal Activity and mix it in with a little Rosemary’s Baby and then toss in Devil’s Due and then top it all off with a sprinkle of Deliverance and The Chernobyl Diaries and just a hint of the remake of I Spit On Your Grave?

You end up with a big ol’ mess of a movie. I just watched Bleed on Netflix and the plot is so convoluted that I’m still trying to figure out what exactly I just watched.

But, before I try to figure this all out, let’s take a look at the trailer:

Sarah (Chelsey Crisp) is a newlywed who appears to have it all. She’s got a wonderful husband, Matt (Michael Steger), they’ve got a beautiful house out in the country, and even more importantly, they’ve got a baby on the way! So what if the nearby town seems to be a little bit creepy and is full of country-accented men with beards? And so what if there’s a deserted prison nearby, one that is rumored to be haunted by the spirit of a preacher-turned-serial killer who died when a fire broke out at the prison? And what about that mysterious woman who keeps showing up in the nearby field and screaming like a banshee? That’s just local color! Anyone who thinks that’s unusual has obviously never lived in Oklahoma or visited Hot Springs, Arkansas.

In order to celebrate their new home, Sarah and Matt decide to invite their best friends out to the house. Dave (Elimu Nelson) and Bree (Brittany Ishibashi) are a likable couple, especially now that Bree is regularly taking her medication. Bree is schizophrenic and hears voices when she doesn’t take her meds. To the film’s credit, it portrays Bree as a positive character and never goes down the path that I feared it would follow.

Suddenly, Sarah’s good-for-nothing brother, Eric (Riley Smith) shows up. His girlfriend, Skye (Lyndon Smith) is with him. The first thing that Eric does is ask for money. The second thing that Eric does is get high. The third thing that Eric does is talk about how he and Skye have spent the past few months driving across America and searching for ghosts. And hey, isn’t there a haunted prison somewhere nearby?

Meanwhile, Skye takes a bath. While she’s in the bathtub, she suddenly see an evil-looking apparition standing over her. She screams for help and Matt responds. The apparition has vanished. Sarah glares at Matt and the towel-clad Skye. “I didn’t know she’d be half-naked!” Matt protests. Of course not! Why would someone get undressed before taking a bath?

Anyway, Eric convinces everyone but Sarah to search for ghosts with them. Sarah drops them off at the ruins of the prison, promises to come back for them in a few hours, and then starts back home. Unfortunately, she has an accident on the way back and ends up getting a ride with a creepy deputy. And it quickly becomes clear that the deputy isn’t in any hurry to get her back home…

Meanwhile, at the prison, all Hell breaks loose. Skye sees another evil spirit. Eric’s throat gets slashed but oddly, it stops bleeding after a few seconds. Voices are heard. Objects move. So many Paranormal Activity-type things occur that I’m actually surprised (and relieved) that Bleed wasn’t a found footage film…

One thing that Bleed does is that it keeps you guessing. At first, I assumed it would be another city folk vs. hillbillies type of film but then it turned into a ghost story. And, for a long while, I thought it was just another ghost story but then it turned out to be something different all together. Admittedly, the film sometimes struggles to handle the constant shift in tone but, oddly, that kinda works. It definitely keeps the viewer off-balance.

As you might expect from a film that’s constantly changing tone, Bleed is a bit uneven but it’s definitely a watchable and intriguing horror film and the film makes good use of that atmospheric prison. For a lot of viewers, Bleed will probably be a love-it-or-hate-it type of film. It’s well-directed but the story is just almost unnecessarily complicated. My recommendation is that you watch it and judge for yourself.