13 Nights of Shocktober: Tales of Terror

by A.J. 

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, for the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some horror movie recommendations to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 11: Vincent Price & Roger Corman Night

“And it is with death and dying that we concern ourselves. What happens at the point of death? What happens afterwards? What happens after death to someone who does not choose to stay dead…”

Tales of Terror

Here are two of my favorite Shocktober subgenres in one movie: a Vincent Price-Roger Corman movie and a horror anthology. It gets even better. Tales of Terror is made up of three short films, each starring the great Vincent Price and each based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. I’m not sure it gets more Shocktober than this. Legendary B-movie producer-director Roger Corman made so many films of such wildly differing quality that you never know if you’re going to watch a quality entertaining picture or fodder for Mystery Science Theater 3000 or Rifftrax. Corman hit his stride in the early 1960’s with a cycle of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations starring Vincent Price. The best of these is The Masque of the Red Death (1964), probably the worst is The Raven (1963). Tales of Terror (1962) leans more toward The Masque of the Red Death on the Corman-Price spectrum. 

Each of the three stories is prefaced with a narration by Price and red silhouettes on a black screen hinting at the story to come. The first story, based on Morella, has a young woman, Lenora (Maggie Pierce), arriving at the dilapidated mansion of her long-estranged father, Locke (Price). Her mother, Locke’s beloved Morella, died in childbirth and he blamed and resented his daughter so much for “killing” Morella that he sent her away. He begins to open up to her but mysterious apparitions and Lenora’s own sickness intervene. It is a weird, creepy story that maintains a tone very much in keeping with Poe’s more melancholy, macabre stories. 

The second story is the standout of the anthology. In an impressive feat, it successfully combines Poe’s The Black Cat, The Cask of Amontillado, and even touches upon the Tell-Tale Heart. Of course, an adaptation of any Poe short story necessitates expanding the characters and plot. In a brilliant stroke, screenwriter Richard Matheson (writer of several The Twilight Zone episodes and author of I Am Legend) combines two stories with the same plot device (hiding a body behind a wall) and allows the expansion to come from Poe’s stories. The Black Cat is about a man who murders his wife and then must dispose of her body. In this short film, he murders her is because she was having an affair with his rival. The choice to make the man Montresor (Peter Lorre) and his rival Fortunato (Vincent Price) is such a smart one that it seems obvious. This is the comedic entry in the anthology and it blends comedy and the macabre well. The comedy doesn’t really kick in until Price makes his entrance and starts hamming it up as the vain and ridiculous Fortunato, a famous professional wine taster. Peter Lorre is great as Montresor, a down on his luck wine taster. They have a wine tasting duel which is pretty silly and very entertaining. Montresor is a mean drunk always in search of money but Lorre plays him as a buffoon. This doesn’t make him sympathetic but makes him a tolerable character, especially since you know he is headed for a comeuppance. 

The final installment is an adaptation of The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, not exactly a horror story but a macabre one. It involves a dying man, Valdemar (Price), hypnotized at the moment of death to allow for a more peaceful crossing into the afterlife. However, the hypnotist, Carmichael (Basil Rathbone), is a cruel and sinister man with designs on Valdemar’s soon to be widow, Helene (Debra Paget). Rathbone is most famous for playing Sherlock Holmes in a series of films in the 1940’s, but he is also great at playing a dastardly villain. This short departs the most drastically from Poe’s original work, involving a zombie of sorts, but the additions work and it provides a nice conclusion. 

Each of these tales plays like a daytime friendly Tales From the Crypt episode. They involve unsavory or cruel characters but the short length makes them easy watch. As with Corman’s other Poe adaptations, the period costumes and sets go a long way to creating atmosphere. Each of the characters Vincent Price plays are very different from each other, allowing him to show off his range and skill as an actor. In Morella he is a cruel, cold person haunted by heartbreak. In The Black Cat he is an immoral but ridiculous character. In the last story he is a kind, innocent old man, who, in a macabre way, ends up being a hero. Price is easily convincing in all three roles. One of the great things about Tales of Terror is it also has great roles for Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone to show off and have fun. The special effects are dated but that is part of the atmosphere and appeal. These Vincent Price-Roger Corman movies are not scary, but they are spooky great fun to watch on any Shocktober night.

Tales of Terror is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount Plus.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Mad Love (1935)

by A.J.

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.

Night 1: Classic Horror Night
“That Dr. Gogol is 100% crazy!”
Mad Love

The classic 1935 horror film Mad Love (not to be confused with the gen-x romantic drama starring Drew Barrymore and Chris O’Donnell) is a weird, wild film and a very creepy one too. Watching it today, you wonder how a film like this made it past the strict and puritanical Production Code, which policed the subject matter and content of films during the classic era.

This 68-minute movie has two horror premises playing out simultaneously. 1) Yvonne, an actress in a Grand Guignol type theater, retires to marry Orlac, a promising pianist and composer, much to the dismay of her obsessive fan, the brilliant surgeon, Dr. Gogol. Dr. Gogol’s obsession with Yvonne goes from unhealthy to creepy to dangerous. 2) After Orlac’s hands are badly damaged in a train accident, Dr. Gogol performs a hand transplant, giving him the hands of a recently dead murderer. Orlac, unaware of the transplant begins to think he is going mad when his hands seem to act on their own and throw knives with great precision. Instead of telling Orlac the truth, Dr. Gogol decides to feed Orlac’s paranoia. Once Orlac is arrested or committed, then Dr. Gogol believes he will be able to have Yvonne.

Peter Lorre, in his American movie debut, gives a great performance as the fiendish Dr. Gogol. Though Yvonne and Orlac are the protagonists, Lorre is the clear star and dominant screen presence. He is plenty creepy and menacing, but his performance even elicits some sympathy too. We see Dr. Gogol’s sympathetic and malicious sides at the same time in an especially creepy and well-staged scene where he talks to his evil side in a mirror. Lorrie is also completely bald as Dr. Gogol; it is a small touch, but it makes him seem extra creepy. Though Yvonne gives up her career to be married and becomes a damsel in distress, she is not a passive character and Frances Drake’s performance gives her some depth. Colin Clive, famous for playing the frantic Dr. Frankenstein in James Whale’s 1931 Universal monster classic, plays Orlac. He brings some of that same frantic energy to the scenes of Orlac troubled and panicked by his sudden violent impulses.

Mad Love’s director, Karl Freund, was a notable cinematographer that worked on films such as All Quiet on the Western Front, Metropolis, and Sunrise, a film whose cinematography is visual poetry. Mad Love would be his final film as a director, but he would continue to work as a cinematographer and win an Oscar for his work on The Good Earth (1937). With his background as a cinematographer, Freund has a keen eye for powerful, effective visuals. This isn’t limited to effects shots or horror imagery: a close up of Lorre looking at Yvonne is as creepy and sinister as any horror image. The Grand Guignol theater is a treasure trove of macabre sights. Scenes of Dr. Gogol talking to the wax statue of Yvonne and playing music to it are unsettling, not just because of the content but also the way they are staged. The most powerful and shocking image in Mad Love, perhaps in any horror movie of the 1930’s, is of Dr. Gogol appearing to Orlac disguised as the beheaded killer whose hands Orlac now has. He is draped in black with a toothy, sinister smile and wears a neck brace where his head has been “reattached.” He shows Orlac his metallic hands as proof. It is a frightening and disturbing scene. 

There are also some great moments of levity that do not clash with the horror plot. Dr. Gogol’s housekeeper/landlady is a daffy old woman with a parrot on her shoulder. Keeping a wax statue of an actress is just one of Dr. Gogol’s eccentricities that she gossips about. When she is drunk and sees the real Yvonne she says, “What are you doing out?” and drags her to Dr. Gogol’s apartment. There is also a persistent reporter wanting to profile Dr. Gogol. He actually helps the police instead of blocking them. When he hears Dr. Gogol’s scheme he says, nonchalantly, that it’s an old trick. It’s worth noting that Yvonne also figures out Gogol’s plan very quickly.

Like all films of the classic era, Mad Love has no closing credits making the ending feel abrupt and adding to the movie's odd tone. This a bizarre and surprising movie that has not lost its shock value over the decades. There is no gore or blood, so someone squeamish could watch this, or even a hardened horror fan, and still be shocked, frightened, and thoroughly entertained on any Shocktober Night. 

Mad Love airs on TCM on Friday, October 30th at 4:15PM CT. 

Classic Movie Picks: October 2015

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.)

Spotlight on Women Filmmakers
This month TCM kicks off a three-year initiative to shine a spotlight on women in film while raising awareness of the lack of gender equality in the industry. October's festival focuses on directors from the early days of cinema through to the current generation of trailblazing women. 47 women directors will be profiled over 9 nights. There is a lot to choose from, so check out the full schedule online. Here are some of the films I'm looking forward to from the series: 

10/6, 8 PM - Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) dir. Dorothy Arzner
10/13, 8 PM - Crossing Delancey (1988) dir. Joan Micklin Silver
10/13, 11:45 PM - A Dry White Season (1989) dir. Euzhan Palcy
10/15, 11:30 PM - The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (1980) dir. Connie Field
10/22, 9:45 PM - Daughters of the Dust (1991) dir. Julie Dash
10/22, 1:30 AM - Middle of Nowhere (2012) dir. Ava Duvernay
10/27, 11:15 PM - Salaam Bombay! (1988) dir. Mira Nair
10/29, 10 PM - Walking and Talking (1996) dir. Nicole Holofcener


Decline of Western Civilization Parts I, II, and III
10/15, 2:45 AM - Part I (1981)
10/16, 2:30 AM - Part II, The Metal Years (1988)
10/24, 2:45 AM - Part III (1998)
This documentary trilogy directed by Penelope Spheeris chronicles music subcultures of Los Angeles in the 1980s and 90s. Part I, which looks at L.A.'s thriving punk scene circa 1980, airs on October 15 as part of a night devoted to women documentarians. Part II takes up seven years later as the punk scene is being overshadowed by glam metal and Part III looks at a group of homeless young gutter-punks. This year, for the first time, all three films were released as a DVD set; however, you can see them for free this month on TCM - set your DVR!


10/9 - Roving Hands
8 PM - Mad Love (1935)
9:30 PM - The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
11:15 PM - Hands of a Stranger (1967)
Mad Love and Hands of a Stranger were inspired by the same source material, the 1920 novel Les Mains d'Orlac. In fact, the novel has spawned at least five film adaptations including 1991's Body Parts which until now I knew only as a movie whose VHS cover I would try to avoid looking at when browsing my local video store. This category of VHS tapes included other 80s-90s horror films like Nightmare on Elm Street, Child's Play, and Monkey Shines -- and I haven't watched any of these films to this day. However, the films in tonight's line-up have just the level of horror that I can handle.
In Mad Love, Peter Lorre plays a mad doctor who gives a pianist a hand transplant. The hands happen to be from an executed murderer and they exert an evil influence over their new body. Hands of a Stranger, reverses the sympathies of the story, with the doctor having noble intentions and the pianist as the crazed maniac. Beast with Five Fingers has Lorre again, this time being stalked by the severed hands of his former employer, an ex-concert pianist. (Note: beware concert pianists who've undergone any type of hand surgery!) 

Bonus Pick: 10/31, 3 PM - The Tingler (1959)
This is one of my favorite low-budget horror films from a king of the genre, producer/director William Castle. The premise, which revolves around a lobster-esque monster which feeds on fear, is ridiculous enough to remove any terror. However, there are some moments of real tension and star Vincent Price is excellent, as usual. 

10/18: Silent Lost and Found
8 PM - The Grim Game (1919)
9:30 PM - Sherlock Holmes (1916)
11:45 PM - The Grim Game (1919)
1:15 AM - The Round-Up (1920)
2:30 AM - The Life of the Party (1920)
Tonight's line-up features four silent films once thought to be lost. The Grim Game stars escape artist and illusionist Harry Houdini as a wrongly imprisoned man who must escape (surprise!) in order to save his fiancee. The two showings tonight feature alternate scores; at 8 PM, you'll hear music by Brane Zivkovic and the later version will have music by Steve Sterner. The other films tonight include a Sherlock Holmes story and two features from 1920 starring Fatty Arbuckle. Should be a treat for silent film enthusiasts.


10/28: Semi-Spooky Selections from the Disney Vault
8 PM - The Three Little Pigs (1933)
8:15 PM - The Big Bad Wolf (1934)
8:30 PM - Three Little Wolves (1936)
Three Silly Symphonies shorts featuring the Three Little Pigs and their wolfish nemesis.

8:45 PM - The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
Animated adventures of characters from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Wind and the Willows, featuring the voices of Bing Crosby and Basil Rathbone. 

10 PM - The Old Mill (1937)
Oscar-winning animated short about a community of animals inhabiting an abandoned mill threatened by a severe storm.

10:15 PM - The Plausible Impossible (1956)
Episode of the Disneyland TV show in which Walt Disney explains how animation can make the impossible "real."

11:15 PM - Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
5 AM - Return From Witch Mountain (1978)
Popular live-action film about supernatural siblings on the run from an unscrupulous millionaire (Ray Milland) and the sequel in which the kids must escape the clutches of  maniacs out to rule the world (Christopher Lee & Bette Davis).

1 AM - Lonesome Ghosts (1937)
Mickey Mouse short which proves that Mickey was ghost hunting before it was cool.

1:15 AM - Frankenweenie (1984)
An early short film by Tim Burton about a boy scientist who brings his dog back to life.

2 AM - Mr. Boogedy (1986)
3 AM - The Ghosts of Buxley Hall (1980)
Two made-for-TV movies about hauntings at a family home and military academy, respectively.