Archive for the '' Category

Thu
Jan
14

Scream and Scream Again



A serial killer, who drains his victims for blood is on the loose in London, the Police follow him to a house owned by an eccentric scientist.

Wed
Dec
30

The Great Mouse Detective



In Victorian London, England, a little mouse girl’s toymaker father is abducted by a peglegged bat. She enlists the aid of Basil of Baker Street, the rodent world’s answer to Sherlock Holmes. The case expands as Basil uncovers the crime’s link to a plot against the Crown itself.

Tue
Jun
16

Fly, The



Scientist Andre Delambre becomes obsessed with his latest creation, a matter transporter. He has varying degrees of success with it. He eventually decides to use a human subject, himself, with tragic consequences. During the transferance, his atoms become merged with a fly, which was accidentally let into the machine. He winds up with the fly’s head and one of it’s arms and the fly winds up with Andre’s head and arm. Eventually, Andre’s wife, Helene discovers his secret and must make a decision whether to let him continue to live like that or to do the unthinkable and euthanize him to end his suffering.

Mon
Dec
15

Royal Scandal, A



Catherine The Great had been portrayed by Mae West, Elizabeth Bergner, Marlene Dietrich, and Pola Negri. She lived to be 67 years old. Amazing, if we are to believe her amorous ways. Lubitsch was to have directed this, but he became ill and the reins were handed to Preminger, with Ernst looking over his shoulder and making sure that Otto’s customary heavy hand was somewhat lightened. The ancient Biro/Lengyel play “Czarina,” which had been used as the basis for other movies about the Russian queen, was adapted this time by Mayer and Frank, veteran screenwriters who knew what they were doing. To Bankhead’s St. Petersburg castle comes Eythe, a young cavalry officer who has ridden for days to tell her of a coup planned by two generals. Eythe admits that he has plenty of energy left despite the travel, so Bankhead requests that he return later that night for a “private interview.” Eythe is handsome, albeit a bit sappy, but he must have some ability in the lovemaking department, because his rise to the rank of general is rapid. Eythe is soon in love with Baxter, a virginal woman who is a lady in waiting. Bankhead falls hard for Eythe, and, when she learns that he is affianced to Baxter, the young woman is sent away. Eythe is heartbroken but still owes allegiance to his queen, so he helps overcome the plot to dethrone her. Bankhead is so happy at what he’s done, she allows Eythe and Baxter to reunite while she finds new thrills in the arms of Price, the French ambassador. With all of the sleeping around Bankhead does, it’s a wonder any state business ever got done in the years when Catherine was Great. A few laughs, but Bankhead chews up the scenery and the pacing is off a beat. Lubitsch had filmed this as FORBIDDEN PARADISE in 1924.

Tue
Jun
3

Tingler, The



The coroner and scientist Dr. Warren Chapin (Vincent Price) is researching the shivering effect of fear with his assistant David Morris (Darryl Hickman). Dr. Warren is introduced to Ollie Higgins (Philip Coolidge), the relative of a criminal sentenced to the electric chair, while making the autopsy of the corpse, and he makes a comment about the tingler-effect to him. Ollie asks for a lift to Dr. Warner, and introduces his deaf-mute wife Martha Higgins (Judith Evelyn), who manages a theater of their own. Dr. Warner returns home, where he lives with his unfaithful and evil wife Isabel Stevens Chapin (Patricia Cutts) and her sweet sister Lucy Stevens (Pamela Lincoln). Dr. Warner, upset with the situation with his wife, threatens and uses her as a subject of his experiment. When Martha dies of fear, Dr. Warner makes her autopsy and finds a creature that lives inside every human being, feeds with fear and is controlled by the scream. Once Martha was not able to scream, the tingler was not rendered harmless and became enormous. When the living being escapes, Dr. Warner and Ollie chase it in a crowded movie theater.

Mon
Apr
14

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein



The world of freight handlers Wilbur Grey and Chick Young is turned upside down when the remains of Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula arrive from Europe to be used in a house of horrors. Dracula awakens and escapes with the weakened monster, who he plans to re-energize with a new brain. Larry Talbot (the Wolfman) arrives from London in an attempt to thwart Dracula. Dracula’s reluctant aide is the beautiful Dr. Sandra Mornay. Her reluctance is dispatched by Dracula’s bite. Dracula and Sandra abduct Wilbur for his brain and recharge the monster in preparation for the operation. Chick and Talbot attempt to find and free Wilbur, but when the full moon rises all hell breaks loose with the Wolfman, Dracula, and Frankenstein all running rampant.

Fri
May
4

Edward Scissorhands



In a castle high on top of a hill lives an inventor’s greatest creation – Edward, a near-complete person. The creator died before he could finish Edward’s hands; instead, Edward is left with metal scissors for hands. Edward has always lived alone, until a kind lady called Peg discovers Edward and welcomes him into her home. At first, everyone welcomes Edward into the community, but soon things begin to take a change for the worse.

Mon
Feb
12

House of Wax



A sculptor of wax figures for a museum is horrified when his partner proposes setting fire to the unpopular museum in order to collect the insurance money. As the wax figures melt amid the blaze, the two men have a fight. The sculptor is knocked out in the scuffle and left to “perish” among the flames. He resurfaces many years later for the launch of his own wax museum. The opening coincides with the sudden disappearance of some dead bodies from the city morgue. His assistant begins to suspect his boss of foul play, especially after the deranged wizard of wax begins eyeing his assistant’s lovely girlfriend’s friend as a model for a waxed figure of Marie Antoinette.