MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932)
Article #283 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-23-2001
Posting date: 5-9-2002

A sideshow entrepreneur with a gorilla is performing experiments with gorilla blood injected into the veins of women. When the gorilla becomes attracted to a certain woman, he sets his sights on using her for his next experiment.

Considering that this movie eventually (more or less) syncs up with the Poe story, one can’t really complain too loudly about it not being true to the source; considering how many other movies supposedly based on the works of Poe fare in this respect, this movie is a minor offender. My only complaint is that I really don’t care for the character of Dupin being reduced to a mere romantic lead; he has the potential to be a much more interesting character. Other than that, I was quite surprised with how much I liked the movie this time around; the Caligari-like sets are great, the use of light and shadows (especially in Lugosi’s presentation of the ape) is wonderful, and a great deal of wit is evident in the proceedings. It lags a little in the middle of the movie, and, despite the fact that Mirakle has a gorilla (played by Charlie Gemora), they keep intercutting shots of a real chimpanzee in key scenes; maybe they thought all apes look alike. Good work by Lugosi, lots of fun character actors (uncredited), and Brandon Hurst as the prefect of the police.

THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1929)
Article #277 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-18-2001
Posting date: 5-3-2002

An inventor finds himself the victim of an attack by soldiers who want to use his submarine invention to rule the world.

This movie is largely silent, but with sound sequences, which gives the whole thing a rather unusual ambience. I suspected it wasn’t going to be a faithful adaptation the minute I saw that all the names of the characters were Russian-sounding (it takes place in the fictional country of Hetvia), and sure enough, outside of the fact that a submarine plays a role in the story and there’s an island involved, it has nothing to do with the Verne novel, despite the fact that he’s given credit. The scenes with sound are stiff and unconvincing in comparison to the silent sequences, showing how primitive sound was in its early years. The story is so-so, but the spectacular underwater sequence in which (so I’ve read) a huge cast of dwarves was employed, is memorable indeed. A giant octopus gets into the action, as well as a slurpasaurus (though I suppose, technically, the gator wasn’t supposed to be a dinosaur, but just a big sea monster). Lionel Barrymore plays the inventor.

THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956)
Article #255 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-26-2001
Posting date: 4-11-2002

An entrance to an underground civilization is discovered atop a mountain in Asia. In descending underground from this entrance, explorers discover a race of albinos and their slaves, the mole people.

This is more of a fantastic adventure movie than a horror movie; the mole people actually play a somewhat minor role in the proceedings. I find it a lot more enjoyable in its use of spectacle; the shots of the underground city are fun to look at, and the hellish sights of the slave fields are particularly impressive. The story is pretty silly, and the idea that sunlight is fatal to these creatures isn’t really convincing, but that sort of thing is par for the course in any adventure movie.

I also couldn’t help but notice that the professor who opens the movie with the history of “middle of the earth” theories isn’t a scientist, but a professor of English (versus history or science), which I thought was rather curious.

I also can’t pass by without mentioning the presence of John Agar in the movie; it’s a bit of a sad coincidence that one of his movies should popped up as a Movie of the Day just a scant few days after his passing. I dedicate this one to the memory of this man and his many contributions to the science fiction cinema of the fifties. Thank you, John, and goodbye.

MURDERS IN THE ZOO (1933)
Article #253 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-24-2001
Posting date: 4-9-2002

An insanely jealous millionaire/hunter disposes of his rivals through the use of deaths having to do with zoo animals.

This is one nasty piece of work, with the opening scene in particular being rather sadistic. Still, it does have a great performance by Atwill; he’s never been so evil in his life, and the hateful gleam in his eye in some scenes is enough to chill your bones. Kathleen Burke (Lota, the panther woman from ISLAND OF LOST SOULS) and Randolph Scott are also on hand. The movie drags a bit in the middle, and Charles Ruggles’ timid comic relief press agent is given far too much screen time, but this is definitely one case where you’re not sure who is going to survive till the final reel.

THE MUMMY’S HAND (1940)
Article #252 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-23-2001
Posting date: 4-8-2002

An archaelogist discovers a vase which he believes shows the way to the tomb of princess Ananka. Little does he know that the tomb is guarded by Kharis the mummy, who will kill anyone who tries to enter the tomb.

The first time I saw this movie on my local Creature Feature they got the reels mixed up and I ended up watching the first half of THE MUMMY’S HAND and the second half of NIGHT MONSTER; no wonder it didn’t make any sense. I managed to finally catch it several years later. The movies in the Mummy series (of which this was the first; the original THE MUMMY does not belong, though some of its footage is used) weren’t the best of Universal’s horror output, but they were good enough to get by. George Zucco and Edouard Cianelli are both having fun as Egyptian high priests, and Tom Tyler was quite good as Kharis (I love that bizarre thing they do with his eyes). Also on hand is Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, and that perennial wisecracking reporter Wallace Ford (NOT playing a wisecracking reporter in this one). It’s also nice that the mummy attacks avoid having the mummy chase someone, as the fact that he could actually catch someone seriously trying to get away always seemed fairly hard to swallow.

THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932)
Article #251 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-22-2001
Posting date: 4-7-2002

A hunter’s yacht sinks near an island, and he is the only survivor. He finds the island inhabited by Count Zoroff, who has dedicated his life to hunting “the most dangerous game”—man.

At least two other official versions of this story exist; this one is easily the best. Helmed by the same people who gave us KING KONG, and shot on some of the same sets as that movie (you might recognize the log), this was released earlier even though it was shot afterwards; KONG’s release was held up by the animation. Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Noble Johnson are all on hand from the cast of KONG, along with Joel McCrea and Leslie Banks. The movie starts off with a bang, but then slows down a little before building up steam again as it progresses. There are some great little moments here and there; Count Zoroff ordering his servant to smile, Count Zoroff offering a cigarette to the hunter and snubbing the drunk brother of the heroine, and the hunt itself. The final shot is stunning.

THE MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR (1954)
Article #250 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-21-2001
Posting date: 4-6-2002

A woman hears legends of a strange monster that lives in a cove nearby. She begins to believe the stories and investigates.

This cheap little movie has so-so acting, stodgy direction, problems with sound, and a script that is clumsy both in dialogue and in construction. Still, I can’t help but have a little affection for what was essentially Corman’s first movie. Wyott Ordung (who penned the script for ROBOT MONSTER and directed this one) appears as Pablo, the man who keeps trying to knock off the heroine in the movie’s poorly-handled subplot. Roger Corman produced; he would definitely go on to better things. Still, the underwater photography was ambitious for a movie of this budget and the submarine looks nifty. And did you know that protozoa looked like cyclopic octopi? The ending is lifted from OEDIPUS REX (and yes, that is a joke).

MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949)
Article #249 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-20-2001
Posting date: 4-5-2002

An entrepreneur discovers a giant gorilla and the girl who owns him in the wilds of Africa. He brings them back to star in his nightclub, but things go awry when some drunkards harass the beast, who goes on a frenzy of destruction.

John Ford was originally supposed to be a co-producer of this movie along with the masterminds behind the original KING KONG, but he pulled out of it, though his name still appears on the credits. This is another triumph for Willis O’Brien, who seemed to just love giving the title character a whole range of emotions and movements; it also feature Ray Harryhausen as one of his technicians. In many ways, this is another reworking of the ideas behind KING KONG, with Robert Armstrong playing a variation of Carl Denham, though I can’t help but notice that with each succeeding giant ape movie made by this time, they backed off from the savagery of the original. It is probably the closest that O’Brien ever got to making his Gwangi story, what with the cowboys taking on Joe in one of the early scenes. This is the only one of the three ape movies where the ape is allowed to survive at the end. As was always the case with Cooper and Schoedsack, this is roaring good fun, especially during the great nightclub sequences. And I love the tug-of-war!

THE MAZE (1953)
Article #248 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-19-2001
Posting date: 4-4-2002

When a woman’s fiance is called back to the castle of his family in Scotland, and he mysteriously breaks off their engagement, she goes to the castle along with her aunt to find him harboring a deep dark secret.

I have a lot of affection for this eerie horror/SF movie, though it took me a couple of viewings. The first time I saw the movie, I did get caught up in the eerie mood and the atmospheric sense of dread and tragedy that pervaded the castle, but the revelation concerning the nature of the true lord of the castle caused me to break out in laughter rather than to rear back in horror, and it ruined the movie for me. The second time I saw it, I was prepared, and was able to see beyond this flaw and appreciate how touching and sad the ending of the movie was. Part of the credit must go to Richard Carlson’s excellent performance, one of the best of his I’ve seen. This was originally shot in 3D, but I’ve never seen it that way. This one is worth a look.

THE MANSTER (1960)
Article #246 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-17-2001
Posting date: 4-2-2002

A scientist experimenting with mutations experiments on an unsuspecting reporter, who undergoes a change of personality, becomes homicidal, and eventually grows a second head.

As silly-sounding as the premise is, I think this is a highly effective horror movie; it certainly is the best two-headed man movie I’ve seen. I think the exotic oriental atmosphere helps immensely; the movie was an American/Japanese collaboration and takes place in Tokyo. Sure, the two-headed effects look fake, but they put some work into them, giving the second head a little independent movement that can be quite eye-catching at times. It also does a good job of having the man’s physical transformations synch up with events in his life, and some of the imagery in this film is unforgettable; if you remember nothing else about this movie, you will remember the eye on the shoulder sequence, and the scene that takes place behind a tree towards the end. This is one of those movies that scared me as a kid, and I still think it works today.

Tom Weaver made a comment about the lead in this movie resembling Lon Chaney, Jr., and that was something I’d never noticed before. I definitely agree with his comment that it would have been very interesting to have seen the movie made ten years earlier with Lon Chaney, Jr. in the lead role, as I think the part would have been a very good one for Chaney; I think it would have played to his strengths as an actor.