Sci-fi Saturday - Puppet Master

AVATAR (2009)

I was thinking of a witty introduction to this re-review of James Cameron's monolithic money making machine. But it brings me no joy to be so sarcastic in this instance. When it comes down to it the guy released some of my favourite movies of all time between 1984 and 1991 and then promptly lost the magic touch. Yes there are plenty of True Lies fans around these days, and it's a fun movie. But it's a very basic Schwarzenegger vehicle at its core without having much else going on. Yes there are plenty of Titanic fans around these days, but it's not for me. The central drama comes from an insipid romance without nuance or depth, via characters than are so poorly drawn that it's often irritating instead of engaging. Both films feel like imitations of previously told stories and a series of recycled tropes. Which brings us back around to Avatar...

Sci-Fi Saturday - Et tu Koba?

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2014)

Reboots, and worse yet 're-imaginings', are something of a sore point for many franchise fans. After all, we all have our favourites and on most occasions remakes simply add a frustrating 'not that one the other one' moment to cinema discussions. It was interesting to see then, that Rise of the Planet of the Apes did the unthinkable by escaping the shadow of a much maligned Tim Burton effort some years before. It even managed to go beyond the trite 'Rise of' style moniker which usually signifies a sub-par effort from the creators. But they pushed forward with motion capture technology, provided a story with some emotional resonance and managed to offer many viewers a good time. There were some questionable inclusions of course - the casting, the clichés, and the unnecessary references to the Charlton Heston film. But overall it was pretty impressive once things got moving. Would a follow be able to do the same, or even up the ante?

Winter Horror-Thon

PART THREE: ICONS OF SIN

Time for some religious imagery in this last stop on the tour, as we move away from science fiction and into a few fantasy worlds. It's still going to be a pit stop of world cinema locations mind you. If anyone was expecting a review of something mainstream like Ti West's X they're going to be disappointed. Day Shift? Yeah right. I'm going to need something more outlandish than that. Call me when the much needed spin-off starring Scott Adkins is ready to go. Instead get ready for trauma as everyone's childhoods are ruined by visions of hell and a lot of monsters formed from puke and entrails. I'm not sure the representations of Catholic or Buddhist faiths are entirely accurate here. It's just a hunch. But they're frequently entertaining as a result.

Scorecard

NOVEMBER

FILM OF THE MONTH: Tokyo Fist

Winter Horror-Thon

PART TWO: HELL ON EARTH

Time for a few nightmare visions from the world of subtitled cinema. It would be impossible to avoid the topic on this particular blog after all. Some of these examples present ideas of life from alien planets, some include images of visitors from other dimensions, and some are simply your worst existential fears coming to true all at once. Each of them in this instance are part of rather different sub-genres, but all of them are strange and interesting in their own ways. Movies about flying saucers or demons might suggest one set of images in your mind's eye, but these approaches provide something else entirely. This selection also presents something a little unexpected from each respective studio, as well as films worth seeking out.

Review Roundup - Annual Thing

2022 CATCH-UP: PART THREE

The blockbuster is dead, long live the blockbuster. With the biggest hitters of the year all being sequels or nostalgia fuelled reboots it's hard to get excited about them any more. But for some reason when it's apparently too hard for anyone to write a good Star Wars movie or a good superhero adventure, the Mission: Impossible team is here to provide both. This shouldn't be rocket science but the latest big screen outings for those franchises have been a mess, to put it lightly. After showing the James Bond producers how it's done the same big names are back, providing both the dog fighting thrills absent from the Skywalker Saga and the kind of simple charm absent from something like a Marvel outing. Which I will get to soon enough.

Winter Horror-Thon

PART ONE: THE CHASE IS BETTER THAN THE CATCH

Oh hey guys, it's been a while. I hope all two of my readers are holding up in the cold conditions we've been facing lately. To keep it all together I'm back here typing about dumb horror movies in the dark, after all it's traditional at this time of year. Let's take a look at a few sequels to all time classics and see how much, if any, of the original magic is left. Some are better than you might remember and are worth revisiting. Like an old friend who sheds some new perspective on past events. Others are just perplexing time wasters with nothing to offer, like an old acquaintance you can't seem to avoid. Let's see which of these familiar faces are here to warm us in these long winter nights, and which of them us make is feel like we're at a wake.

Scorecard

OCTOBER

FILM OF THE MONTH: Terror in the Streets ☆☆☆☆

Horror Bites - Mystery of the Druids

HALLOWEEN SEQUELS (1989 - 1998)

Previously I took a brief look at the first few sequels in this series, with parts two and four respectively. Also known as the instalments that work in their on ways, even if they're not the most gripping stories ever told. Part two in particular was pretty sedated, just like Laurie Strode herself. However whichever camp you're in I'd imagine that those films are the highlights of a quickly diminishing franchise. Which is odd when there are some interesting elements to work with. Family ties in particular would have worked as a foundation. One of the recurring characters is a psychiatrist too, which is a unique idea. However the writers instead decided to focus on magic rocks and psychic visions.

HCF Review - Ghost Fights Ghost

ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND

I don’t need much of a reason to talk about an old-school Golden Harvest classic, but one with a touch of the supernatural is a good excuse. Sometimes simply called Spooky Encounters depending which version you come across, the Western release title feels like a better fit for what’s in store. At first the plot concerns a series of mishaps which befall an everyday guy, while his employer and his wife have an affair behind his back. But soon he comes across a few ghosts and more than one reanimated corpse, as well as other kinds of ghoulish shenanigans. It’s also an example of Hong Kong ‘hopping dead’ movies in which corpses (or sometimes vampires) are revived, but they’re still stiff from rigour and have to jump around to attack. It’s weird, it’s creative and there’s nothing else quite like it.

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HCF Review - Axe to Grind

SHOT IN THE DARK (2021)

Trauma and catharsis are a staple element in the thriller genre, amongst others. After all, a good character arc is tough to be beat. However, sticking to that chosen style is probably a wise choice for a first time director. While there are exceptions to that rule out there to choose from, Keene McRae has two other writers and two editors on board, making this less a single vision and more of a series of ideas thrown together. Is this a chilling horror story inspired by true events, as the title cards suggest, or is it someone’s attempt to make an indie romance? There’s a lack of focus in all departments which means that the final product is less than compelling. But there are a lot of ingredients here, so let’s take a look at which ones work.

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Scorecard

SEPTEMBER

FILM OF THE MONTH: The Horse's Mouth ☆☆☆☆

Review Roundup - Annual Thing

2022 CATCH-UP: PART TWO

The summer days have come and gone, and so have all the tent-pole movies. Which is fine by me as I ponder the best way to fit in more than twenty Zatoichi stories or everything that Anthony Wong has ever shown up in. The allure of modern blockbusters fades as the days get shorter. How can I spare time for yet more Doctor Strange when there are Ringo Lam movies to revisit? However, there are some glimpses of imagination out there in the wilderness, even if they're too weird for mainstream tastes and are likely to mean the artists involved won't be given a budget to work with again. The individual components might not be fresh, but they're assembled with creativity.

Weekend Retrospective - State of the Art Bang-Bang

ROBOCOP (1987) 

As one of the all time science fiction greats, RoboCop goes beyond a straightforward blend of futuristic ideas and 1980s satire. It's a film that has it all; the biggest squibs, the biggest guns, the best men's room scene. There's a lot of horrifying violence and a lot of horrifying corporate ambition. But at the same time it still manages to be darkly funny. Which is thanks in part to the way everything is so excessive, from the amount of blood to the amount of over acting. These ingredients perfectly portray a world full of excess. A film about a cyborg that fights crime is a recipe for trashy B-movie cinema, however the whole thing is crafted with precision. All the moving parts are engineered to be exactly right, from the script, the performances, and of course the robot effects.

HCF Review - Part Two

 RUNNING OUT OF TIME 2 (2001)

In the past there seemed to have been an unspoken rule in which hit movies from Hong Kong got weirdly overwritten sequels. Certain key elements, usually major stars, would be lost along the way. In their place were odd story developments that tried to overcompensate for this absence. The likes of Project A Part II and A Chinese Ghost Story 2 come to mind. The charm of the original character dynamics are gone, replaced by convoluted story lines that are fun but don’t quite work. In the case of Running Out of Time there’s an immediate problem – the original premise cannot be repeated. But since well received films demand a follow-up here we are again. It wants to be cool, and it wants to maintain the magic. The slick visual style and the quirky music are still present and correct. However the script and the characters leave a lot to be desired.

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Scorecard

AUGUST

FILM OF THE MONTH: Ikiru ☆☆☆☆

HCF Review - Countdown

RUNNING OUT OF TIME (1999)

Everyone loves a good ticking clock, after all it’s the rhythm of time… and life. Except of course those who are given a set number of days left to live after their blood tests come in. But as various movies of the past have explored, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. Maybe having only four weeks left to live, at least in a fictional setting, could push someone to new extremes they never thought were possible. Johnnie To certainly thinks it could get a criminal genius and a master of disguise to put one last plan into action. But the director is also clearly a fan of adding buddy comedy elements and offbeat humour to the storyline. With the clock running down can he maintain a cool and slick tone as the cops try to solve a series of crimes? Or will he be unable to resist throwing in a few gags along the way?

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Review Roundup - Annual Thing

2022 CATCH UP - PART ONE

How does the old expression go? Something old, something new, something borrowed... let's be real for a moment there's not much new out there. Most of what is being borrowed has been circulating for aeons which means when it's old, it's really old. Big superhero flicks and franchises are starting to become so stale that they're practically dessicated at this stage. Yet another Predator movie? Beavis and Butt-Head are back again? A film starring Chip 'n Dale? Good grief. Maybe there's something wrong with the universe and we've all become trapped in a cinematic hell of our own making. Though for the record those first two are worth seeing, the third not so much. Still, perhaps there's some human imagination at work out there somewhere...

Review Roundup - Hunting Grounds

PREY (2022)

Oh Predator, you ugly old rascal. It was once a straightforward idea in which two disparate genres, action and horror, collided suddenly. The burliest '80s heroes stumble their way into a monster movie without realising, that's it. And yet this concept was apparently too simple to follow up in a franchise that has seen some real lows, last gracing us with a mystifyingly bad Shane Black effort. But since nothing can be left alone when brands need to exploited forever we're back in familiar territory, and so is the mandible faced killer. The hideously mutated appendages of that prior instalment have been cut away. But are the results a real return to form or is this simply a competent thrill ride after so many disasters?

 

Scorecard

JULY

FILM OF THE MONTH: Jurassic Park ☆☆☆☆

Monster Bites - Treading Behemoths

GODZILLA VS MOTHRA: BATTLE FOR EARTH (1993)

After Godzilla made a low-key return in 1984 the films that followed were less than restrained. Which goes without saying when they included time travel and human souls inside of mutant plants. This instalment is no exception, lifting scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark and throwing a meteor collision into the story. In the past it was easy to get behind all of these shenanigans, just because there was a lot of silly laser action. But these days it's harder to be so forgiving. There are plenty of wacky new ideas, but there are also a low of old recycled ones. Mothra being on the call sheet is a big selling point, so it's easy to see why this all came about. Some of the other inclusions on the other hand are more confusing.

Horror Bites - Blood and Steel

THE MASK OF SATAN (1960)

AKA Black Sunday, since this is a story which has been given many titles over the years. To make things clear this is the one about vampires and castle crypts, not the Robert Shaw movie with the airship. Though admittedly if you want some blimp thriller action that's pretty good too. Not to be confused with the brain transplant movie Black Friday. Anyway, I digress, we can call it La maschera del demonio or Revenge of the Vampire if you prefer a more straightforward description. Whatever the title card says this is Mario Bava's first foray into the horror genre. He'd taken the reigns during production of the interesting feature I Vampiri, uncredited, this is the real debut. And what a debut it is.

HCF Review - The Cult

THE SACRED SPIRIT (2021)

To paraphrase the old legal maxim; ignorance is not an excuse. This central theme runs through The Sacred Spirit, as it explores the lives of a family facing the tragedy a missing child. Worse yet, some of them seem to embrace ignorance and would rather turn a blind eye to reality altogether. There’s a lot of talk about religion, con artists, and contacting the dead. But most of these ideas are distractions from the problems of real life. This isn’t a procedural, it’s more of an odd domestic drama. Which is an interesting angle from which to examine the subject matter. Can it still work when it throws out things like suspense, detective work, and even normal emotional responses to loss? It’s sold as a tragic-comedy but the story isn’t so easy to digest – not only because of certain parts of the story, but because of the way it’s constructed.

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Scorecard

JUNE

FILM OF THE MONTH: Speed ☆☆☆☆

HCF Review - Rust

TETSUO II: BODY HAMMER (1992)

Welcome my son, welcome to the machine. Oh and welcome back Tsukamoto fans. It’s time to enjoy some zany action and some over-acting, in the first of two sequels to Tetsuo: The Ironman. The black and white photography has been replaced by harsh primary colours. The budget seems to be generally higher. And it’s not a continuation of the previous movie, so anything goes. However, there is also the problem with diminishing returns to consider. Being tied to an existing idea means that this is more of a redux than anything fresh and exciting. On paper it should be a kind of Evil Dead II scenario, but it doesn’t quite work out. Which is odd considering this is the film I’ve watched most often in the director’s catalogue. Let’s cut open the mechanical innards and see why.

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HCF Review - The Swordsman

KILLING (2019)

Welcome to the edge of the blade. And welcome back Tsukamoto fans. In some ways the culmination of what had come before, Killing includes further development of the themes of manhood and violence found in Tokyo Fist. The harsh, occasionally cheap looking, digital photography from Fires on the Plain has become appropriately muted and visually interesting. Tsukamoto himself delivers one of his best performances, as a mature authority figure instead of a confused younger leading man. And sadly this is the final film scored by Chu Ishikawa who died during production. The rapid percussion and hypnotic tones that accompanied so many fever dream narratives will be sorely missed. It’s a melancholy tale for this reason, but of course the contents of the story as a whole are pretty sombre.

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HCF Review - The Pacific

FIRES ON THE PLAIN (2014)

Welcome to the inferno. And welcome back Tsukamoto fans. Some might say there’s no such thing as a true anti-war film. After all, something is always lost when real life events are changed from a journal to a movie for our trivial entertainment. But the director and actor certainly gives it his best shot here, no pun intended. His films are hardly entertaining in the conventional sense to begin with, so him adapting a historical account is certainly an intriguing prospect. It was originally intended to be an expensive affair, rather than the independent feature which was produced. So it’s also interesting to see what was done with the lower budget. Which is of course nothing new for the film-maker and his company Kaiju Theatre. Let’s peer into the fog and see what horrors lie in wait.

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HCF Review - The Tomb

HAZE (2005)

The visceral nightmare that is Haze has limited appeal, but then again it’s only a limited running time. It’s a brisk forty-eight minute venture into the abyss that anyone can enjoy, surely? Even in this so-called ‘Long Version’ it’s a perfectly formed piece of extreme cinema. It sticks around to offer a few existential questions and zips away with few, if any, answers. Third Window Films offer it as part of a bundle, in which you can also enjoy two of the director’s other films. The zany but heartfelt sci-fi short Adventure of Denchu-Kozo, and the cold and bleak samurai drama Killing. For those looking for a few nightmares and dreamscapes beyond Tetsuo The Ironman, it’s a set worth having. But I digress, let’s take a look into the shadowy claustrophobia that the subject at hand has to offer.

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Scorecard

MAY

Film of the Month: Sexy Beast ☆☆☆☆

Horror Bites - The Bloodthirsty Trilogy

THE EVIL OF DRACULA (1974)

So we reach the third and final chapter in The Bloodthirsty Trilogy. At this stage it's foolish to expect Vlad to show up of course, but there are various other new inclusions to discuss. It's a darker and more sombre affair for one thing. Well, beyond some of the silly Amicus style music effects that play every so often. It's an apt title in other ways, as the events of the story are pretty darn evil as things unfold. A lot of things are repeated too of course, whether they're old clichés or simply images from the previous movie. Shin Kishida is the vampire again, which means that the first film in this series is the odd one out. Or maybe it just means the writers were lacking new ideas. Perhaps they just wanted a popular returning actor. But the rest of the tale isn't so much of a carbon copy.

Horror Bites - The Bloodthirsty Trilogy

LAKE OF DRACULA (1971)

Dracula returns in the second instalment of the Bloodthirsty Trilogy. Well, in spirit anyway since he never shows up. Again. If anything Legacy of Dracula would have been the more appropriate title this time around. In terms of content its influences sit somewhere between the original story and the 1958 Christopher Lee version. It's another remix of old and new images. It's far more stylish and colourful than the previous entry in this brief series. Does that make it the superior film? Well it depends on what you're after, as both have their flaws. The presentation is more interesting, but it lacks any real characterisation. It's flashier but less theme driven, so your mileage may vary.

Horror Bites - The Bloodthirsty Trilogy

THE VAMPIRE DOLL (1970)

Also known as Legacy of Dracula, despite the fact that the man himself makes no appearance, and is never mentioned. So perhaps this alternative title refers to the legacy of English language fiction in general? There are a lot of horror films from Japan, many of them dealing with spirits and demons from regional folklore. Vampires, if they show up at all, are more likely to be blood sucking ghosts than reanimated corpses. Kwaidan and Kuroneko are some of the more famous releases. But in this less well known series of chillers the film-makers looked to the West for inspiration. The later films in this loosely connected trilogy do include pale men wearing capes. But interestingly this first instalment includes elements from other examples of American cinema. 

Scorecard

APRIL

FILM OF THE MONTH: Heat ☆☆☆☆

Horror Bites - Going Underground

DAY OF THE DEAD (1985)

With the market flooded with zombie movies following Dawn of the Dead, it's surprising that George A. Romero didn't decide to hold off and wait a full ten years before revitalizing the genre one more time. Perhaps it would have been more warmly received if it wasn't competing with tongue-in-cheek fare like Demons and Return of the Living Dead. Maybe it was just the wrong year to release something like this, which is easy to say in retrospect. Times had changed and fun was back in vogue. Films from Amblin and John Hughes were now all the rage. But refusing to read the room like any true pioneer, George went into darker territory and refused to include any glib nonsense. It's still another horror classic in its own way.

Horror Bites - For Dummies

DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)

George A. Romero's second, and most popular, zombie flesh-eater story is something that really shouldn't work. The pacing is odd, the video and sound quality is sometimes poor, and the library music is weird and often feels twenty years older than the movie itself. The living dead make-up just seems to be grey or blue paint for a large proportion of the shambling extras. And the blood is, at best, a watery orange mixture. Yet in spite all of these weird problems and oddities it endures, continuing on like its rotten antagonists. It was re-cut in Italy on release, and of course remade in the 2000s, but the original version remains a cult classic whichever edition you see. Let's begin the dissection and take a look at what makes this strangely fresh cadaver tick; all the little things that make it so influential.

Horror Bites - Under Seige

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

This has never been my favourite instalment in George A. Romero's original walking dead trilogy. It was slow, the picture quality was always second rate, and the special effects were limited. But that's why I need to revisit it every so often. Despite these short comings, or at least my memory of them, it's a movie that can never be forgotten. It does more with less and the results are a more nightmarish story than its sequels offer. Plus the home video release restored by the Criterion Collection looks way sharper than ever before. The grittiness of the film is now crystal clear, its long dark shadows are darker than ever, and the rotten flesh and dripping blood is more pungent.

Scorecard

MARCH

FILM OF THE MONTH The Italian Job ☆☆☆☆

Horror Bites - Back in Black

THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (1943)

Nobody does a vampire like Bela Lugosi. The evil glint in his eye, the Hungarian accent, and the deliberate body language. It's a definitive piece of cinema history, forever type-cast but forever legendary. But what is the definitive vampire film from his years in the cloak? It's not Dracula, since despite his mesmerising performance there's a stilted and censored third act to deal with. It's not Mark of the Vampire because despite the stylish undead sequences it's a meandering affair, with a nonsensical final twist. So this might just be it, a film in which the all the pieces fit together. But this is a bold claim, so let's take a trip into the tombs of old and see what's scurrying about inside.

Horror Bites - The Most Dangerous Game

THE BEAST MUST DIE (1974)

Amicus Productions were best known for their horror anthologies. The rest of their output? Not so memorable. Perhaps it's because they were still in the mindset of making short stories, and simply padded everything else out to feature length. How else to explain why each cast member involved here is used so sparingly? Like the similarly bizarre mash-up of ideas in Scream and Scream Again there are some famous faces here. But they've been wasted for reasons that are never clear. Why not structure your film around them? This is a film that provides more questions than answers, which is a shame when many elements are fun and irreverent.

Horror Bites - The Man With Two Brains

BLACK FRIDAY (1940)

Time for a genre mash-up. With Boris Karloff no longer playing his parts from under a heavy layer of appliances, his roles shifted towards scientist instead of monster. In this case a rather shady doctor who's eager to try out a new brain transplant theory. The other elements of the story are not really about medical research or technology. Instead this is actually a gangster revenge story. It sounds like a recipe for success, a merging of older expressionist horror and newer film noir elements. But the film itself is strangely lifeless and flat. There are a lot of interesting ideas floating around here, but for one reason or another nothing is compelling, as we will soon discover.

 

Scorecard

FEBRUARY

FILM OF THE MONTH The Vikings ☆☆☆☆

Horror Bites - X The Unknown

THE INVISIBLE RAY (1936)

The power of radioactive elements isn't generally a subject for films in this period, at a time when science fiction stories were less common. Things would of course be very different some years later in the true atomic age. Instead this is a kind of prototype for later features, many of which still cast classic horror stars. As a result it's a strange mixture of ideas in which new discoveries are seen as miracle cures, as well as fuelling deadly weapons. The narrative itself is often a mixed bag but it's a fairly compelling one, despite the lack of actual medical accuracy. But it makes a change from mad scientists studying biology as their subject. Instead it's about starlight and rocks from outer space.

Horror Bites - Ape Escape

MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932)

Time for a diversion into the rather odd sub-genre of... apes running amok and kidnapping women. Perhaps the whole monster meets girl thing started here; one year before King Kong. Although this cliché extends to all kinds of creature features so it's an interesting progenitor. Where would B-movie nonsense have been without this early horror tale? But this is generally a mad scientist story, one that is concerned with strange ideas about proving the theory of evolution. There are a lot of weird moments included here, even if Bela Lugosi tries his best to keep things focused. It's also pretty dark and sinister even for a pre-censorship feature. Let's take a closer examination...

 

Horror Bites - Lunatic Fringe

DOCTOR X (1932)

The 1930s were a Golden Age of horror for many reasons, including the creation of many screen icons that are still found in popular culture today. Expressionist cinema gave them a certain look, while various actors gave them a certain sound. But what about the less well known features from this part of the decade, before censorship and changing audience tastes? There are plenty of experimental movies out there, and this is one of them. Perhaps it's a result of Warner Bros competing with Universal. Not content with just one genre or even just one colour, this is a strange hybrid story of murder and mad scientists. How successful is the final product? It really depends on what you're looking for.

Scorecard

JANUARY

FILM OF THE MONTH Grosse Point Blank ☆☆☆☆

HCF Review - Furious Vengeance

RAGING FIRE (2021)

There are a lot of crime dramas in the annals of world cinema. Most of the expected tropes have been worn out long ago, but that’s okay. There’s always room for one more, and in this case it marks Benny Chan’s final directorial effort. Drawing from his own work in the likes of New Police Story and Michael Mann’s Heat, this is a moody and stylish affair. The whole thing is painted with amber night-time lights and harsh electronic screens. There are some blistering action sequences along the way for good measure. Is this a story with any depth beyond all this window dressing? Is it more than a well-lit melodrama? Not really. But fans of the lead actor, and the selection of familiar genre staples included here, will want to take a look regardless. So let’s take a closer look at this latest thriller, and enter yet another world full of grey morality and cruel injustices.

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Horror Bites - Crushing Depths

UNDERWATER (2020)

Did you ever see Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien? He asked knowingly. There are lot of copycat movies out there, while many more take inspiration from it's look and feel. From Outworld to Contamination and everything in between, there are homages and there are outright copies. Some are weird Italian features with bizarre dubbing. The key to making any of these work is of course bringing something new to the table. Even Luigi Cozzi knew that he needed some crazy monster egg effects to make a memorable creature feature. The films in question just have to be engaging, and it's something that I'm not sure this latest entry to to the sub-genre manages to pull off.

Horror Bites - Grave Consequences

THE BODYSNATCHER (1945)

If there was ever a film that showed the employment fates of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, then this is it. After playing stumbling horror creatures Karloff was now afforded far more verbose characters to work with. There's plenty of variety and screen presence in this period. Producer Val Lewton wasn't sure about the casting in this case, but was quickly persuaded by the actor's charm. Lugosi on the other hand looks unwell and is given a minor role. Their places have changed since the likes of Son of Frankenstein. This is their last film together, and the cruel events on screen may mirror reality in some ways. But it is still a very entertaining film worth talking about for other reasons.

Scorecard

DECEMBER

FILM OF THE MONTH: The Adventures of Robin Hood ☆☆☆☆