STING OF DEATH (1967)
Article #236 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-7-2001
Posting date: 3-23-2002

A strange jellyfish creature terrorizes guests on an island in the Everglades.

This movie, directed by the man who gave us DEATH CURSE OF TARTU, has largely the same strengths and weaknesses of that film. The best thing is the Everglades footage, which gives the film a nice setting. On the downside, most of the scenes go on too long, and the conflicts that drive the story are labored and overdone, particularly the way everyone overreacts when they meet the deformed handyman. The costume of the creature is more apt to net laughs than to inspire terror, though it’s pretty much what I would expect a half-man, half-jellyfish to look like. And though some of the scenes work all right, some of them are just plain ridiculous, particularly a scene where teenagers flail around in the water while being attacked by deadly jellyfish that look for all the world like baggies filled with brightly colored items. Still, this may be the only movie with a were-jellyfish; that must count for something somewhere.

SUPERNATURAL (1933)
Article #218 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 10-20-2001
Posting date: 3-5-2002

A woman is executed for strangling men. When a scientist with a theory concerning transmutation of spirits takes her body after the execution, the spirit ends up possessing another woman.

This is my favorite of the Halperin Brothers’ horror movies that I’ve seen. It’s genuinely eerie and full of good performances, though I can’t help but notice that they have this thing about superimposed glaring eyes, specifically Lugosi’s glaring eyes. I do have to admire them insofar as they seemed to put as much work into their movies as their budgets would permit; I don’t always care for their results, but I don’t get the feeling they were just churned out.

SVENGALI (1931)
Article #199 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 10-1-2001
Posting date: 2-14-2002

A music instructor with hypnotic powers takes over the will of the fiancee of a friend in order to make her a famous singer.

When I saw this as a child, I found myself caught up in the movie, despite the fact it wasn’t the usual horror fare I enjoyed at the time. Strictly speaking, it isn’t a horror movie at all, despite the hypnotism angle; Svengali isn’t a cardboard villain, but a fully-developed character with weaknesses, comic moments, and the ability to recognize that with all his power, he can’t get what he really wants. The sets were designed in the style of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, and John Barrymore does an excellent job in the title role. The cast also features Marian Marsh and Donald Crisp. Still, I always find myself wondering what Bela Lugosi might have done with this role; he was rarely given roles this complex, and many ways the role would have been a natural for him, so I like to speculate on how it would have come out.

SON OF DRACULA (1943)
Article #154 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 8-17-2001
Posting date: 12-31-2001

A woman becomes involved with Count Dracula (or his son) in order to gain eternal life, which she intends to share with the man she loves.

Though I do like Lon Chaney, Jr. as an actor, I think he’s wrong for the Dracula role (and I would feel the same about Karloff, for that matter). It isn’t his acting ability that I question; I just think he lacks the right physical and vocal presence for that sort of character, though IMO he gives his very best shot. Still, I have to admit that despite this problem, the movie doesn’t really suffer; in fact, I suspect it may be Universal’s best take on the Dracula series. Credit definitely must go to Robert Siodmak, who makes the movie eerie and visually compelling. The shot of the coffin rising out of the swamp is for me the epitome of atmospheric horror. An interesting story and a good cast (featuring Louise Allbritton and Evelyn Ankers) also help. I hadn’t seen this movie in years until I saw it again recently; I definitely look forward to watching it a few more times.

And yes, I know, some people have made the point that Chaney is NOT playing Dracula, but rather his son. Nonetheless, as far as I can tell from the script, there’s not a whole lot of difference between Drac and his offspring, so as far as I’m concerned, my belief that Chaney is wrong for the role still stands.

STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR (1940)
Article #131 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 7-25-2001
Posting date: 12-8-2001

A reporter offers evidence in a murder case that incriminates a suspect, and the man is condemned to death. When a tenant who shares the same apartment building with the reporter is killed, the reporter is the first to discover the body, and realizes that his own actions make him look like a suspect in the murder.

This film is considered by many to be the first film noir, and though it doesn’t contain all the elements associated with the genre, I can see why. The presence of Peter Lorre as a psychotic murderer (an excellent performance) is what places the movie at least marginally in the horror genre, and the dream sequence that the reporter undergoes when he fears that people will see him as the murderer is also quite fantastic; it’s probably the best part of the movie.

Unfortunately, I have real problems with the story as a whole; I think the coincidences that drive the story are very hard to swallow, (the reporter is seen engaging in the same exact behavior as the man he incriminates, the man who really committed the murders is the same in each case, etc.), and I don’t really care for the fact that the movie seems to be morally judging the reporter for having done nothing more than truthfully testifying in court; to place the blame for the man’s wrongful condemnation on his shoulders (as both the movie and his girlfriend do) is patently unfair. I also find it hard to believe that his newspaper would allow him to be a reporter on the story when he himself is one of the witnesses; I suspect that would be considered somewhat unethical, and that another reporter would have been sent. All in all, despite its good qualities, I find the movie to be ultimately unconvincing and silly, and though it may be the first noir, there were better to come.

Incidentally, the cast includes Charles Halton (as the man who shares the apartment building with the reporter) and Elisha Cook Jr. (as the innocent man sentenced by mistake).

SON OF KONG (1933)
Article #130 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 7-24-2001
Posting date: 12-7-2001

Carl Denham, on the run from creditors, heads back out to sea. There he finds out information about a hidden treasure on Skull Island, and goes back there, where he encounters a small descendant of King Kong.

At the time of this writing, I see that this movie is still sitting on the list as one of the ten worst movies of the thirties at IMDB, and, whatever the flaws of this movie or the disappointment it engenders in the wake of KING KONG, it doesn’t deserve this fate. The problem is that it’s a well-known disappointment versus an obscure disaster; in order to be listed there, you have to have enough votes. Actually, I have a great affection for this movie; I saw it as a kid (before I ever saw KING KONG, mind you), and really enjoyed it. Nowadays, I still enjoy it, and a lot of it has to do with the ways it ties back to the original. I like the fact that Carl Denham feels guilty about what happened to Kong, that he is being held financially responsible for the destruction Kong wreaked in the earlier movie, and that Denham is not welcome by the natives on the island on his return, all of which show that some thought was given to the repercussions of his actions in the earlier movie. I don’t mind that son of Kong is cute and nice; in fact, I can’t help but notice that whenever Cooper, Schoedsack and O’Brien returned to giant apes after KING KONG, they were always of the friendly variety. And I find the movie interesting and watchable throughout (which is more than I can say for MURDER BY TELEVISION, currently NOT on the list of the ten worst movies of the thirties).

THE SNOW CREATURE (1954)
Article #129 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 7-23-2001
Posting date: 12-6-2001

An abominable snow man is captured in the Himalayas and is taken to the United States. There it breaks loose and terrorizes a city.

In general, I think yeti movies were a shade better than sasquatch movies, though not by much; even this one, arguably the weakest yeti movie I’ve seen (I think Jerry Warren’s MAN BEAST is much better) does have at least one interesting moment. It occurs in the middle of the movie, after the monster has been captured and before it escapes; the monster is held up in customs until they can decide its immigration status, a touch that, though it seems ridiculous on the surface, actually seems to me to be well thought out and a legitimate issue to be addressed if this happened in real life.

The beginning of the movie is okay, but the movie falls apart completely once the monster escapes; one suspects that W. Lee Wilder (producer and director, and who had a more famous brother named Billy) ran out of money at this point. The movie has some of the dullest police investigation work I’ve ever seen, and the shots of the monster at large seem to be largely the same shot (the monster comes out of the darkness out of a totally black background), which is used repeatedly, and sometimes in reverse. This is certainly not the abominable snowman movie of choice.

SIEGFRIED (1924)
Article #128 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 7-22-2001
Posting date: 12-5-2001

A prince kills a dragon and bathes in its blood, which makes him invincible, except for a part of his body which was covered by a leaf. He also acquires a cloak of invisibility. In order to win the heart of the princess he loves, he uses this item to help her brother win the hand of the evil princess Grunhild. When Grunhild discovers the strategem, she plots revenge.

This fun, exciting fantasy epic directed by Fritz Lang was the first of two movies based on DIE NIBELUNGEN. The second was called KRIEMHILD’S REVENGE. I don’t know if it was based on the Wagner opera, or whether both versions were just based on the same stories, but I know the soundtrack on my copy of this movie includes the music from that opera. The fight with the dragon is a particular highlight. I’m looking forward to catching the second movie some time in the future.

SHE (1935)
Article #127 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 7-21-2001
Posting date: 12-4-2001

Explorers discover a lost civilization in the arctic wastelands. The seemingly immortal queen of the land believes one of the explorers is the reincarnation of an old lover.

This is a fairly enjoyable version of H. Rider Haggard’s novel, of which there have been several adaptations, mostly during the silent era. It’s produced by Ernest P. Schoedsack, who along with Merian C. Cooper and Willis O’Brien gave us KING KONG; this time, directorial chores are handled by Lansing C. Holden and Irving Pichel, who played Sandor in DRACULA’S DAUGHTER. Randolph Scott is on hand in this one, as well as Rathbone’s Dr. Watson, Nigel Bruce. It’s the sets that really steal the show in this movie, as the story was pretty old hat by this time; in fact, what stands out most in my mind about the movie was a huge cylindrical gong that was used in a couple of scenes.

I’ve never read any H. Rider Haggard, but I think I’d like to sometime; the large number of adaptations of SHE, as well as KING SOLOMON’S MINES, leads me to believe he must have immensely popular at one time.

THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943)
Article #126 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 7-20-2001
Posting date: 12-3-2001

A woman searches for her missing sister, and the search leads her to a cult of devil worshippers.

This moody, bleak Val Lewton film is one of my favorites; it is loaded with so many fascinating scenes that I don’t mind the convoluted plot or the fact that certain parts of the story hold little interest for me. There’s a shower scene that is more than a little reminiscent of the one in PSYCHO, though no murder is committed; there’s the scene where the detective is stabbed, and the woman’s encounter with his corpse on the subway; and there is the chilling final scene of the movie that always sends the shivers down my spine. There are many scenes like these in the movie. I also like the fact that the first time you meet the woman’s sister, she is instantly recognizable from all the descriptions of her appearance given earlier in the story; you’d know who she is without a word being said. The movie marked the directing debut of Mark Robson, and features Kim Hunter in her first role, Tom Conway (in the same role he played in THE CAT PEOPLE; he seems to have survived his death in that movie), and Lewton regular Elizabeth Russell in one of those tiny but pivotal roles you just can’t forget.