4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
This October, I’m going to be doing something a little bit different with my contribution to 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films. I’m going to be taking a little chronological tour of the history of horror cinema, moving from decade to decade.
Today, we take a look at the 1930s.
8 Shots From 8 Horror Films
Dracula (1931, starring Bela Lugosi as the Count, Dir by Tod Browning, DP: Karl Freund)
Frankenstein (1931, dir by James Whale, DP: Arthur Edeson)
White Zombie (1932, directed by Vincent Halperin, DP: Arthur Martinelli)
The Mummy (1932, directed by Karl Freund, DP: Charles Stumar)
The Invisible Man (1933, dir by James Whale, DP: Arthur Edeson)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935, dir James Whale, DP: John J. Mescall)
Mark of the Vampire (1935, dir by Tod Browning, DP: James Wong Howe)
Son of Frankenstein (1939, directed by Rowland V. Lee, DP: George Robinson)
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.
139 years ago on this date, Bela Lugosi was born in Hungary. Today, we honor his memory with….
4 Shots From 4 Bela Lugosi Films
Dracula (1931, dir by Tod Browning, DP; Karl Freund)
White Zombie (1932, dir by Vincent Halperin, DP: Arthur Martinelli)
Ninotchka (1939, dir by Ernst Lubitsch, DP: William H. Daniels)
Bride of The Monster (1955, dir by Ed Wood, DP: Ted Allan and William H. Thompson)
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Today, let us take just a few moments to pay tribute to one of the icons of Halloween. He was born into nobility but he never let that stop him from visiting the village at night and getting a taste of the common life. I’m talking, of course, about the original royal influencer, Count Dracula! Everyone knows Dracula. Everyone wants to either be with or even be Dracula. It’s no wonder that he’s been the subject of so many biopics.
In honor of the Count’s legacy, here are….
4 Shots From 4 Dracula Films
Dracula (1931, starring Bela Lugosi as the Count, Dir by Tod Browning, DP: Karl Freund)
Horror of Dracula (1958, starring Christopher Lee as the Count, Dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Jack Asher)
Dracula (1979, starring Frank Langella as the Count, Dir by John Badham, DP: Gilbert Taylor)
Dracula 3D (2012, starring Thomas Kretschman at the Count, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Luciano Tovoli)
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.
Today is the 138th anniversary of the birth of Bela Lugosi! In honor of his legacy, here are….
4 Shots From 4 Films
Dracula (1931, directed by Tod Browning)
White Zombie (1932, directed by Vincent Halperin)
Island of Lost Souls (1932, directed by Erle C. Kenton)
Bride of the Monster (1955, dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr.)
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
This October, we’ve been using 4 Shots From 4 Films to pay tribute to some of our favorite horror directors! Today, we honor the legacy of the great Tod Browning!
Tod Browning’s 1931 DRACULA is a masterpiece of terror, the film that launched the Golden Age of Horror and made Bela Lugosi a star. Four years later, Bela and Browning teamed again for MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, loaded with horrific atmosphere but staked through the heart by two fatal blows – too much comic relief and an ending that’s a trick, rather than a treat, for horror buffs.
Lugosi and his “daughter”, Carroll Borland
The shadow of vampirism is terrorizing a small European village, as Sir Karel Borotyn is found murdered, drained of his blood! Inspector Neumann investigates, not believing in such supernatural hokum and suspecting everyone. Lovely young Irena Borotyn, engaged to handsome young Fedor, stands to inherit her father’s estate, with family friend Baron Otto serving as her guardian. When a peasant is found also drained of blood, the villagers suspect the evil Count Mora and his daughter…
Producer/director Tod Browning’s THE DEVIL DOLL is a film reminiscent of his silent efforts with the great Lon Chaney Sr. This bizarre little movie doesn’t get the attention of Browning’s DRACULA or FREAKS , and the ending’s a bit on the sappy side, but on the plus side it features Lionel Barrymore dressed in drag for most of the time, some neat early special effects work, and a weird premise based on a novel by science fiction writer A. Merritt, adapted for the screen by Guy Endore, Garrett Ford, and Erich von Stroheim (!!).
Barrymore stars as Devil’s Island escapee Paul Lavond, and he pretty much carries the picture. Lavond and fellow con Marcel (Henry B. Walthall ) make it to Marcel’s home, where wife Melita (a pop-eyed Rafaela Ottiano) has been keeping the faith on her hubby’s experimental work… turning animals miniature, to solve the coming food shortage…
Ex-carnival and sideshow performer Tod Browning had combined his love for the macabre and carny life in films before in two silent films with the great Lon Chaney Sr (THE UNHOLY THREE, THE UNKNOWN), but with FREAKS Browning took things to a whole new level. The cast is populated with genuine “abnormalities of nature”, legless and armless wonders, bearded ladies and skeletal men, a crawling human torso and microcephalic pinheads, parading across the screen to shock and frighten the audience. Yet it’s not the “freaks” that are the monsters in this movie, but two specimens of human physical perfection, their healthy bodies hosting malice and murder.
The film opens with a sideshow barker drawing a crowd to a horror hidden in a box, victim of what happens when you dishonor the code of the freaks – “offend one and you offend them all”. A flashback introduces us to the members of this dark carnival…
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.
This October, I am going to be using our 4 Shots From 4 Films feature to pay tribute to some of my favorite horror directors, in alphabetical order! That’s right, we’re going from Argento to Zombie in one month!
Today’s director is Tod Browning, who started his career during the silent era, ended it in the sound era, and was responsible for some of the most important horror and suspense films of both!
Paul Lavond (Lionel Barrymore) was just your ordinary Parisian bank owner until he was wrongly convicted of robbery and murder. Sentenced to Devil’s Island and estranged from his beloved daughter, Lorraine (Maureen O’Sullivan), Paul spends 16 years plotting how to clear his name and progressively growing more bitter and angry.
He also befriends a scientist named Marcel (Henry B. Walthall). Marcel has figured out the formula for shrinking people. He’s convinced that shrunken people will eat less, use less fossil fuels, and take up a lot less space on the planet. They’ll probably also be less likely to wage war on each other. That’s right — the secret to world peace is shrinking the population.
However, Paul has other plans for that shrinking formula! What better way to clear his name and seek revenge than by using a shrunken army of henchmen?
Uhmmm — okay, it sounds a little bit overcomplicated to me but who am I to doubt the wisdom of Lionel Barrymore?
(Yes, I know he’s Paul Lavond but, honestly, Lionel Barrymore is Lionel Barrymore regardless of who he’s playing.)
Anyway, Paul and Marcel escape from Devil’s Island but Marcel dies shortly afterward. Paul, however, forms a partnership with Marcel’s widow, Maleta (Rafaela Ottiano). Disguising himself as an elderly woman, Paul returns to Paris. Not only does he use his disguise to watch over his daughter (who doesn’t realize that the kindly old woman is actually her father) but he also starts to develop quite a reputation for selling incredibly realistic dolls…
The Devil-Doll is an odd little mix of comedy and melodrama and, to be honest, it’s a bit too uneven to really work. That said, the film is definitely worth watching just for the sight of Lionel Barrymore playing an elderly woman. (Classic film lovers will immediately notice that, when in disguise, Lionel greatly resembles his sister, Ethel.) This Christmas, when I’m watching It’s A Wonderful Life for the 100th time and Mr. Potter is cackling and plotting to put the Bailey Building and Loan out of business, I’ll have a hard time not thinking about The Devil-Doll.
The Devil-Doll was one of the final films to be directed by the legendary horror specialist, Tod Browning. I’ve read that Browning’s later films suffered because Browning plunged into depression after the death of Lon Chaney, Sr. and he never quite recovered. And, really, The Devil-Doll feels like a film that would have been perfect for Chaney’s unique talent.
But, that said, Lionel Barrymore appears to be having a lot of fun as Paul and his performance is the main reason to watch the film today.
