This year marks the 90th anniversary of the release of one of the greatest and most influential movie sequels of all time: The Bride of Frankenstein. Naturally, after the success of Frankenstein in 1931, directed by James Whale, Universal Studios executive Carl Laemmle Jr. was eager to follow up with a sequel, but Whale was reluctant. Laemmle was wisely reluctant to do a sequel without Whale. When the sequel finally arrived in 1935, it proved to be worth the wait. Not only was The Bride of Frankenstein a hit and influential on later horror movies and filmmakers, its scenes and images have become iconic and part of the landscape of Halloween.
There is a lot going on in The Bride of Frankenstein, which is impressive because it is only 75 minutes and never feels rushed. In a delightfully amusing prologue Mary and Percy Shelley and Lord Byron are gathered together again to celebrate the success of Mary’s novel, Frankenstein. Bryon summarizes the book, which serves as a recap of the first movie (though that movie bears little resemblance to Shelley’s novel). Then Mary Shelley reveals the details of a second volume deemed too shocking to publish. This is The Bride of Frankenstein. The story of The Monster and Frankenstein picks up right where the first movie left off and we learn that they both survived the fire at the windmill. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is at first unrepentant and wants to get back to experimenting, that is until he is approached by the truly mad Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) who wants them to combine discoveries in a new creation. Meanwhile, The Monster (Boris Karloff reprising his iconic role) wanders around and is abused and harassed by everyone he encounters, even after he saves a girl from drowning (perhaps a callback or attempt to make up for the infamous lake scene in the first movie). Then he encounters a kindly blind man who shows him friendship and teaches him to speak. Eventually though, he ends up with Frankenstein and Pretorius.
As far as mad scientists go, Dr. Pretorius, with his wild hair and nonchalance toward the macabre, puts Dr. Frankenstein to shame. Frankenstein comes across as a man who became lost in obsession. Pretorius, on the other hand, delights in being so mad that he was booted out of his university for “knowing too much.” When he shows Frankenstein his own creations, living miniatures of a king, queen, bishop, and more, he does so with all the flair and scripted delight of a magician putting on a show. When Pretorius finally meets The Monster his reaction is so understated that it makes him seem even more insane.
One of the movie’s most famous scenes, perhaps one of the most famous of classic cinema, is The Monster meeting the blind hermit. This is where The Monster learns to speak and develops his iconic speech pattern: “Fire…No good!” Many horror fans and movie monster fans find The Monster to be exceedingly sympathetic and that is in large part because of this movie and this scene. The other iconic scene is the creation of The Bride, with the elaborate laboratory, lightning storm, and, of course, the Monster’s Mate herself. At first she looks like a mummy wrapped in bandages; then a dissolve shows her in her iconic look: a flowing white gown, high-top black hair with a silver jagged streak on each side. She shrieks and hisses and does little else, yet her striking visage has had such a profound impact that she has become a figure, a totem, of classic horror movies and Halloween in general. Her look has been reproduced and parodied in countless TV Shows, movies, commercials, cartoons. This all the more impressive considering how little screen time she has, only a few minutes, and appears in no other Frankenstein movies. I am always surprised by this; I think that I was mistaken about the last time I watched and she appears more; nope.
The Bride is played by Elsa Lanchester, who also plays Mary Shelley, and while there is no significance in this, I have always enjoyed the coincidence. She only receives credit as Mary Shelly. The “Monster’s Mate” is credited with a question mark. This is fun marketing but is a disservice to her; at least she is known as the Bride now. She underwent 3 hours of make up and the iconic hairdo which wrapped her hair into the wig and was uncomfortable to say the least.
The argument over whether “Frankenstein" refers to the monster or the doctor is not new (it refers to Doctor Victor Frankenstein, changed to Henry Frankenstein in these movies for no reason) and is at least as old as this movie. The title itself is the perfect example. Dr. Frankenstein has a fiancé and later wife, Elizabeth, but the title clearly does not refer to her. The credits refer to the creations as the Monster and the Monster’s Mate. Most confusing of all, when the Monster's Mate comes to life, Pretorius calls her “the Bride of Frankenstein” perhaps sparking off this whole what do you call the monster debate.
There’s some camp value to The Bride of Frankenstein in the frantic energy of Colin Clive as Frankenstein and the over-the-top reactions of Una O’Connor to seeing The Monster. This only adds to the movie’s overall entertainment value, which is still strong 90 years later. It’s hard to convey the influence, both direct and indirect, of The Bride of Frankenstein. Clips of it turn up in everything from Weird Science to About a Boy. Mel Brooks’s brilliant Young Frankenstein parodies and pays homage to The Bride of Frankenstein, it even used some of the same props. “To a new world of gods and monsters!” Pretorius declares as he lifts his glass to toast Frankenstein after their devilish bargain is struck. The Bride of Frankenstein did indeed usher in a new world of horror cinema.
Bride of Frankenstein is available to stream on Prime Video and will air on TCM on Halloween at 5:30 CT.
Released in 1934, The Black Cat is unusual for a Universal Studios horror picture because it features none of their signature monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy, or any monsters, at least no supernatural ones. However, The Black Cat does feature the biggest horror stars of the era, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff giving some of the best performances of their careers. The title card says the movie is “suggested by the immortal Edgar Allan Poe classic” but that claim is more than a stretch as the only thing the plot has in common with the Poe short story is the inclusion of a black cat in one scene. Fortunately, the story invented by screenwriter Peter Ruric and co-writer and director Edgar G. Ulmer makes for a superbly dark and creepy old-school horror picture.
While traveling on the Orient Express through Hungary on their honeymoon, newlyweds Peter (David Manners) and Joan (Julie Bishop) end up sharing a train compartment with Dr. Vitas Werdegast (Bela Lugosi), who is very polite but mysterious. They also share a carriage but after an accident Dr. Vitas takes them to the closest shelter, which happens to be his destination: the home of an “old friend,” Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff). We learn that Vitas and Poelzig are actually deadly enemies. During the Great War Poelzig betrayed their army, leading to a massacre and Vitas being sent to a prison camp where he says, “the soul is killed slowly.” Poelzig built an elaborate estate on the site of the massacre, kidnapped Vitas’s wife, whose body he keeps preserved in a glass case, and is now married to Vitas’s daughter. Poelzig is also a Satan worshiper and wants to use Joan in a ritual. In short, he is a very bad guy. It is no wonder why Vitas is so set on revenge. Vitas has also been driven mad from his time in the prison camp and is so set on getting vengeance that even learning that his daughter is still alive doesn’t alter his revenge mission.
The highlight of The Black Cat is watching Lugosi and Karloff duel, first with their words and later with their fists. Vitas and Poelzig have a strange respect for each other even though their hatred for each other permeates every scene. Karloff is excellent as the sinister and evil Poelzig. We first see him in silhouette and his tall, gaunt, and slender figure is used to great effect. Karloff’s lilting voice also adds an extra creepy layer to his dialogue. Lugosi gets to be the hero, sort of—anti-hero might be a better description. He has been so overwhelmingly wronged by Poelzig that he has your sympathies even though his plan is to horribly torture Poelzig. His main redeeming quality is that he wants no harm to come to Peter or Joan and goes out of his way to protect Joan (Peter proves to be superfluous, even misunderstanding Vitas’s rescuing Joan). As Vitas, Lugosi brilliantly delivers many wonderful and eerie speeches that do as much to create a chilling atmosphere as the setting and score.
Poelzig’s home is not a creepy gothic castle but a surprisingly modern looking estate. Peter describes it as a “nice, cozy, unpretentious insane asylum.” The lair where Vitas’s wife’s preserved body is kept and the satanic ritual is performed is a mix of dungeon and mad scientist’s lab. Vitas’s torture of Poelzig happens offscreen but still makes you squirm. The Black Cat was made before the puritanical Production Code heavily restricted the content and subject matter of all movies. With its plot dealing with violent revenge, torture, satanism, implied rape, and necrophilia, there’s little chance it could have been made after the code became strictly enforced. Because of this, The Black Cat still retains some surprising shock value even after nearly 90 years. This movie is not nearly as well known or widely seen Dracula (1931)or Frankenstein (1931),but it is as deserving of classic status, and in many ways it is the scarier classic horror movie.
The Black Cat airs on TCM on Halloween at 1:30 PM CT and is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.
This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some horror movie recommendations to help you celebrate Shocktober.
The 1945 horror film Isle of the Dead, from director
Mark Robson and auteur producer Val Lewton, makes for a peculiar viewing
experience in era of the COVID-19 pandemic. The story concerns a group of
people quarantined on a small island after one of them dies suddenly of the plague.
Making their situation even more tense, is the growing suspicion that one of
them may be a vorvolaka, a mythic vampire-like creature that feeds on the
living.
The story takes place in Greece during the war of 1912.
Boris Karloff stars as General Pherides, a stern, cold, even tyrannical general
referred to as the “Watchdog” of his country. In the opening scene we see him
sentence a subordinate to death by suicide for letting his troops lag behind.
An American reporter, Davis (Marc Cramer), accompanies Pherides to an island
cemetery to visit the tomb of his long dead wife. Mysterious singing leads them to the house of an
archeologist, Dr. Aubrecht (Jason Robards, Sr.), and his guests, including the ailing Mrs. St. Aubyn (Katherine Emery) and her young travelling companion,
Thea (Ellen Drew). Kyra, the superstitious housekeeper, believes they
are the victims not of a plague but of a vorvolaka and that Thea is the
mythic, life draining creature. One of the guests dies suddenly that
night. Dr. Drossos diagnosis the cause as septicemic
plague (the most lethal form of the plague/Black Death) and General Pherides
orders a quarantine.
Almost everyone in the group thinks that the General’s
quarantine order (which includes forbidding gatherings of more than two people)
is an overreaction. They challenge him, claiming they do not have to
follow his orders since they are civilians. Dr. Drossos says when the warm south winds come, the fleas carrying the plague will die
and they will be safe to leave the island. The archeologist is
overly skeptical, saying that the doctor’s claims sound as ridiculous as old
superstitions. He even lights a fire to the old gods he says will be as
effective as the quarantine. General Pherides believes in the law, science, and
medicine but as the plague spreads and people die, including Dr. Drossos, he
begins to believe science has failed. The persistent claims from Kyra about a
vorvolaka consume his mind until he too targets Thea as the cause of the
plague.
From 1945 until the COVID-19 pandemic, Isle of the Dead
surely played differently. The film’s sympathy is on the side of the characters
who think the General’s quarantine and ban on gatherings are an overreaction
and unnecessary. When the General stops Thea from escaping the island, it is meant
to show his cruelty. Watching this film now, the most tense and anxious moments came from characters ignoring the
General’s orders, which he made according to medical advice. In 1945, Isle
of the Dead was a film about how the right situation can lead to a single
person seizing control and becoming mad with power. It is still about that, to be sure, but
in 2021 it is also about how an event like an epidemic spurs different
reactions, including dangerous ones. In both views of the film, General
Pherides is an unsympathetic man who loses his mind and goes from trying to
protect people to trying to kill the same people. He is also a man that becomes
dangerous as he loses confidence in science and medicine and gives into
superstition.
Isle of the Dead falls into the second tier of the
series of low budget horror films Val Lewton produced for RKO in the 1940’s.
The horror classics Cat People(1942) and I Walked With a Zombie
(1943) are firmly in the top tier. Those films partnered Lewton with director
Jacques Tourneur, who made use of eerie imagery to emphasize the
fear felt by the characters. Director Mark Robson does a fine job at the helm
of Isle of the Dead but lacks the stylistic touches and eye for eerie
imagery that made the previous Tourneur/Lewton films great. For a film set on
an island cemetery there is a disappointing lack of creepy or
eerie imagery depriving the film of a richer atmosphere. Despite these flaws
Isle of the Dead is still an intriguing, low key horror movie and an
interesting one to watch during a pandemic.
by Lani
Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies schedule for upcoming
films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading
and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check
your local listings or TCM.com for actual
air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a
film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's
programming schedule.)
10/3, 8 PM - Jinnah (1998) TCM Star of the Month for October is British actor Christopher Lee, a fitting honor since Lee is well-known for his horror films. He played Dracula (10 times!), Frankenstein's monster, the Mummy, and a host of other weirdos; sometimes he was even the hero, but there was generally a lot of blood involved. During his long career, Lee's imposing physical presence and booming voice meant he was often cast as a the bad guy - in fact he played a villain in the Star Wars series, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and opposite James Bond! In tonight's film Lee takes center stage in a very different role portraying Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the modern nation of Pakistan. The casting of Lee was controversial; not, as you might think, because Lee was a white actor playing an Asian character, but because of his association with Count Dracula. However, audiences in Pakistan ultimately responded positively to Lee's portrayal and the film is broadcast every year on Pakistan's independence day. Unfortunately, it seems that the film never got a proper theatrical release anywhere, so audiences outside Pakistan haven't really had a chance to see it. Tonight's air date is the North American premiere. As a fan of Sir Christopher Lee, I look forward to seeing what he felt was his most important role. BONUS: 10/24, 4:30 AM - Dracula A.D. 1972(1972) My official pick may be an art house biopic, but I can't deny my love for Lee's weird horror movies - especially the ones with frequent partner/foil Peter Cushing. The two actors first appeared opposite each other as Dracula and Van Helsing in 1958's Horror of Dracula. Though Lee would play Dracula several more times over the next 14 years (ruining his reputation as a serious actor in the eyes of the entire nation of Pakistan in the process), this was Cushing's first appearance as Van Helsing since the '58 film. This time around the setting is contemporary "swinging" London where the Count has been resurrected and is hunting the descendants of his old nemesis.
10/11, 8 PM - Hollywood Canteen (1944) The Hollywood Canteen was a special nightclub for serviceman during WWII, where they could get a hot meal, dance with a pretty girl, and meet real film stars before shipping out. Actress Bette Davis was the driving force behind the Canteen, supervising its construction, recruiting fellow stars to volunteer there, and managing it with her agent Jules Stein. Two years after it opened, the Canteen got its own film - a romantic comedy about a young G.I. who falls for starlet Joan Leslie (playing herself). The story was really an excuse to pack the film with star cameos by Davis, Canteen co-founder John Garfield, Joan Crawford, and Jack Benny (and many more), and musical numbers from the Andrews Sisters and Roy Rogers. However, it's an interesting glimpse into how Hollywood contributed to the war effort. With its patriotic message and star power, the film was a big success at the box office and a portion of the profits went back to the Canteen. Davis was rightfully proud of the success of the Canteen and her contribution is recognized during tonight's programming theme of "Actresses Who Made a Difference," part of TCM's month-long spotlight series on Trailblazing Women. If you are interested in learning more about the history of the real Hollywood Canteen (good and bad), check out episode #27 of the You Must Remember This podcast, "Bette Davis and the Hollywood Canteen."
10/19: Presidents on Film 8 PM - Fail-Safe (1964) 10 PM - Advise & Consent (1962) 12:30 AM - Seven Days in May (1964) 2:45 AM - Gabriel Over the White House (1933) With Election Day looming, you may be suffering from presidential fatigue; however, I think it's the perfect time to watch these political films...if only to remind you to vote on November 8th! Each of tonight's films depicts a President under pressure: trying to fend off World War III in Fail-Safe, pushing through a controversial Cabinet nominee in Advise & Consent, as the target of a military coup perpetrated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seven Days in May, and (following a visit from archangel Gabriel) crusading against government corruption and organized crime in Gabriel Over the White House. Depending on the day, any of these scenarios seems unfortunately all too plausible.
10/28: Universal Horror 8 PM - Dracula (1931) 9:30 PM - The Mummy (1932) 11 PM - The Invisible Man (1933) 12:15 AM - The Wolf Man (1941) On Halloween night, TCM will feature several Hammer Studios horror films of the 50s and 60s starring Christopher Lee; however, tonight, you can see the Universal Studios horror films of the 30s which inspired those later films, even more so than any literary sources. The Universal films created the iconic looks of classic literary characters like Dracula, The Invisible Man, and Frankenstein's monster; while also adding new creatures to their rogues gallery like the Mummy and the Wolf Man. If you're in the mood for an atmospheric, spooky chiller - these films deliver. However, if you're in the mood for a laugh, there's plenty to giggle about here, too - from far-fetched plots to hammy acting. BONUS: 1:30 AM - The Black Cat (1934) This creepy, but stylish thriller was "inspired by" Edgar Allan Poe's short story of the same title (and that's where the inspiration ended) and featured the first pairing of horror stars Karloff and Lugosi. The two actors are not playing supernatural monsters this time, but portray a sadistic cult leader and a man out for revenge. The film also features David Manners, the young hero who had previously faced off against both Lugosi in Dracula and Karloff in The Mummy.
This
is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has
arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month
long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of
horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down
upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that,
admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like
comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days
leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary
movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.
Night 10: Meta-Horror Night, “You know what they call my films today? Camp! High camp!”
Targets is a very peculiar film. It is more of a slow burn
thriller than a traditional horror movie, but it is partly about horror films
and meditates on both horror movies and real life horrors. Targets
is director Peter Bogdanovich’s first feature film. He made the film in 1968 for
legendary producer Roger Corman, whose only requirements of Bogdanovich was that
he use actor Boris Karloff (who owed Corman two days’ work), and use stock
footage from Corman’s 1963 film, The Terror(starring Boris Karloff). The story
could be about anything. Bogdanovich wrote the screenplay with then wife Polly Platt, who was also the production designer. The result is a dual story, low
budget movie that moves slow, but is interesting.
Boris Karloff plays an elderly horror movie legend named
Byron Orlok who wants to retire against the wishes of the studio executives and
the director of his latest movie, played by Peter Bogdanovich. The movie begins
with the stock footage from The Terror (which also stars Jack Nicholson)
doubling for footage of Orlok’s latest movie. It is a horror film with a
castle, period costumes, and a terrible thunderstorm. It’s the kind of horror
movie that Karloff himself made throughout his career, and like the films made
by Hammer Films. Orlok is unhappy watching a preview of the film and decides to
retire. He says that he feels like an anachronism and says the world belongs to
the young.
The second story is about a seemingly average, normal, clean
cut looking young man named Bobby Thompson, played by Tim O'Kelly. He is a veteran and likes to collects guns. We see his home
life; he and his wife live with his parents. He starts acting strangely. When
out shooting at cans with a friend he lets the sight of his gun linger on the
other person while their back is turned. He is distant from his wife and smokes
in bed with all of the lights turned out. Then he types a cryptic note
in red ink on his typewriter and begins a killing spree. He takes his rifle
and some other guns, finds a high place, and starts picking off people.
The stories are not related directly but you know that
they will eventually intersect. Bogdanovich works subtly to meld the stories
together. The first time we see the Thompson is in a gun shop across the
street from where Orlok screened his movie. The young man puts Orlok in his
gunsight and lets it linger. It is safe to assume that the two men will have a
confrontation at the premiere of Orlok’s movie at the drive-in theater where he
will make his final public appearance before retiring.
You can tell that Bogdanovich really wanted his movie to be
90 minutes long. Scenes play out a bit longer than they should and sometimes
that helps the narrative, sometimes it doesn’t. There are several extended scenes of the Bobby Thompson’s average home life as he is becoming
slowly and quietly unhinged. These scenes don’t really build character,
but when they work, they have you searching for clues for why he’s cracking up.
Even then, however, these scenes could still be shorter. The most effective of
these lengthy scenes happens when Thompson is up on a refinery tower and
unpacks his lunch. It’s an odd, humanizing moment (even psycho killers need to
eat too), and it means that he planned ahead enough to pack a lunch, which is
unnerving.
The scenes with Boris Karloff work purely because it is
interesting to watch Karloff playing a character loosely based on himself. He
spends his scenes either with his assistant contemplating retirement or with
Bogdanovich, who is trying to convince him not to retire. I get the distinct
feeling that their scenes together exist just because Bogdanovich wanted to
hang out with Boris Karloff. I can’t blame him; I would’ve done the same thing.
The best scene of Targets by far is of Karloff telling an audience an old ghost
story about a man encountering Death.
This movie was made at a time when the country was changing,
culture was changing, and all the while the Vietnam War raged in the
background. Targets is not explicitly about gun control, mental health, or even
Vietnam, though the specter of each looms over every scene. It seems fairly
obvious that the young man is based on Charles Whitman, who killed several
people from the University of Texas tower in Austin only two years prior. That very year,
1968, would see two American political figures, each a symbol of promise and
hope in their own way, gunned down by assassins: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert
F. Kennedy. If you read books about film history, Targets will likely be in more
than one of those books. It is not a landmark film like Rosemary’s Baby or
Night of the Living Dead but it is a notable part of the shift that began to occur in horror films in the late 60s.
Up until this time in film history nearly every horror film
was set in the past, in a faraway land, or a large spooky house or castle. The
most notable exception to this was a few horror films produced by Val Lewton in the 1940s and 50s.
That changed in 1968, the same year Targets was released, with movies like
Rosemary’s Babyand George Romero's Night of the Living Dead that set the supernatural in a
modern setting subtly and believably. As George Romero continued to make horror
films, soon joined by Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper, and David Cronenberg, horror
films moved further and further away from costumes and monsters in castles. The
most interesting aspects of Targets are its juxtaposition of real and movie horrors, and its awareness of the fading out of
fashion of Gothic, fantasy horror movies in the character of Byron Orlok.
Karloff as Orlok sees newspaper headlines of shootings and murders and becomes
depressed. “Nobody’s afraid of a painted monster,” Orlok says in one scene. His
horror movies can’t compare to the horrors in the newspaper and, soon, he
feels, the public will feel the same.
