Tag Archives: movies

Frankenstein Fest (13 Days of Halloween)

First up, was Barack Obama. Then, Bride of Frankenstein. I’d forgotten how wooden the preamble is. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron gather on the proverbial dark and stormy night to babble about Mary’s unpublished novel. Mary is certain it’ll be published one day. Lord Byron rapturously summarizes the major beats of the story while the viewer sees a montage of these very same events. They suspiciously resemble the arc of the film, not the novel. Fortunately, it’s over in mercifully short order and Mary begins to tell a new tale, the story of the creation of the Bride of the Monster. Elsa Lanchester, who had a lengthy and varied career (all those Disney movies!), plays both Mary Shelley and the Bride.

Bride of the Frankenstein features the creepy scene where mad Dr. Pretorious shows Dr. Frankenstein his success growing tiny, Barbie-sized people who he keeps in Bell Jars. What makes the scene particularly disturbing is the whimsical music, it underscores the complete of Pretorius and his complete disconnection with that funny little thing called sanity.

It’s a fine film, once you get through that preamble (it’s only a few minutes long, use it to open a bottle of wine), Director James Whale was truly an artist. The fictionalized film about Whale’s death, Gods and Monsters, takes it’s name from a line in Bride of Frankenstein. Boris Karloff is terrific as the Monster. The pop culture image of the Monster is that of a lumbering, emotionless creature. The Monster of the book, and the first two films, is anything but. The scene with the blind man in the cabin, where the Monster cautiously makes his first friend, is quite moving.

Next up, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, which was on at 10 instead of 8 because of the Obama-thon.

I watched Son of Frankenstein and have already posted about it and about the epic decline in quality the franchise suffered after Bride, so I pushed ahead to 1942’s Ghost of Frankenstein. In Son of Frankenstein, the Doctor’s son, Wolf, inherited the castle, the crazy hunchback, Ygor, and, of course, the monster. (Who is now played by Lon Chaney, Jr).

In Ghost, Wolf’s brother, Ludwig, takes up dear old dad’s work after the villagers capture the monster, who it turns out escaped with Ygor at the end of Son. Wackiness ensues. Or maybe that’s the wine talking.

After an intermission to watch Obama on the Daily Show, I planned to move on to House of Dracula, except I realized it hadn’t arrived yet. I also realized that I don’t really care so I skipped on to House of Frankenstein. I should note that House of Dracula marks the debut of Glenn Strange as the Monster. Lon Chaney, jr remains, but now plays Lawrence Talbet/the Wolf Man. John Carradine plays Dracula. Bela is nowhere to be seen. This cast remains the same for House of Frankenstein, and I should mention that Lionel Atwill gamely continues to play the Inspector.

Three Frankensteins were enough for one night. Plus, I was out of wine, so I watched Rachel Maddow and went to bed.

drag race

When I moved to Washington, DC in 1988 (holy shit, that was 20 years ago) my real introductions to the town were Adams Morgan Day and the Drag Race. I missed the Drag Race this year, but I think the Washington Post article sums it up beautifully:

If you haven’t spent a frigid evening watching a sparkly herd of men stampede as if on a life-or-death escape from a Bedazzler that already attacked them once, then, honey, you simply haven’t lived.

I’m deeply sorry I missed the polygamists.

Theory: It is impossible to witness the drag race and not utter the word “Fabulous.”

The Cher/Gwen Stefani/Princess Di-and-bodyguards? Fabulous. Judy Garland making eyes at Liza Minnelli? Creepy and fabulous.

Those nine middle-age guys dressed up as polygamist-sect members in matching pink gingham? Fundamentally Fabulous.

Tonight I forge ahead with the Frankenstein film fest. I have to admit I put on Bride of Frankenstein last night and then immediately became so occupied undoing the screwed-up sleeve on my dress that I was startled when the closing credits started running. I’d completely tuned out the whole movie, so tonight will have to be a do-over. Bride is the best of the batch, after all – if it was one of the crappy later monster flicks I might have let it slide.

Influential 80s movies (13 Days of Halloween)

John Landis wrote and directed American Werewolf in London, which wowed audiences with it’s amazing effects (Oscar win for Rick Baker), humor, gore, sex, and more gore. It’s pretty dated now and the effects don’t stand the test of time, but the movie is still funny, goofy fun. The soundtrack remains amusing, it’s chock full of songs that make reference to the moon – “Moondance”, “Bad Moon Rising,” multiple versions of “Blue Moon.”

Next up was 90210. I had to know if Naomi ended up doing time after getting caught with Adrianna’s stash. Plus, I needed the dish about Silver and Dixon’s date last week. And what about Teacher Ryan pining away for Guidance Counselor Kelly while Youngish Allegedly-Hip Principal Dipshit figures out what to do about his own problem. Namely that he never knew he had a love-child from his teen romance with Adrianna’s mom 18 years ago. She so kept the baby. Except then she gave the baby up. Plus, even if an episode is boring, you can always count on Jessica Walter showing up and having an excellent Lucille Bluth moment because that’s who she’s basically playing.

Then it was time for A Nightmare on Elm Street, which I realized I’d never seen before. It was kind of boring and very 1984. At first that seemed appropriate because I’m finishing the cuff of a purple sweater dress I just made that’s a wee bit 80s, but then it started to make me sleepy so I put it (the movie, not the dress) on the backburner and watched James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein instead. I have a truly fab Bride wig and costume, maybe I’ll wear it Friday while I hide in the basement from Trick-or-Treaters and conclude the film fest.

Cat People (13 days of Halloween)

Not the 1982 remake featuring Nastassja Kinski, the 1942 Val Lewton classic featuring the fabulous Simone Simon and all those gorgeous great cats depressingly contained in small cages with cement floors. (Guess which one is one the Library of Congress United States National Film Registry? Not the 1982 remake featuring Nastassja Kinski).

It’s amusing to listen to film geeks bickering about whether this one is technically Film Noir or Horror, I don’t see why it can’t be both. Regardless, it’s got great sound design – the swimming pool scene! – and it’s still lots of fun.

Son of Frankenstein (13 days of Halloween)

Thanks to AMC’s Fear Fest ’08, Overlord has been collecting Frankenstein movies for me. I know Frankenstein is really a monster for all seasons so I ought to stick to the ghost stories for my 13 Days of Halloween film fest, but since I recently read Susan Tyler Hitchcock’s excellent book Frankenstein: a Cultural History I feel I should watch some extra Frankenstein this year.

After I watch Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939), Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), House of Dracula (1945), House of Frankenstein (1944), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), Curse of Frankenstein (1957), and, of course, Young Frankenstein (1974) I may not think so anymore.

Tonight is Rowland Lee’s Son of Frankenstein, the 1939 Classic that asked the immortal question, “What if Dr. Frankenstein had a son named Wolf Frankenstein and what if he was as batshit insane as his father?”

This is the film that introduces the viewer to the character of Ygor (played by Bela Lugosi) and introduces the police inspector (Lionel Atwill) with a wooden arm – details Mel Brooks would later have great fun with in Young Frankenstein. Starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and Bela Lugosi, this is actually the 3rd outing in Universals Frankenstein’s monster franchise, Bride of Frankenstein being the immediately sequel to Frankenstein. Since the Frankenstein movie mythology begins it’s decent into nuttiness with this picture it’s probably better not to include the first two in discussions with the rest. In Son of Frankenstein, we also get a precocious curly-headed child who pops in now and again to attempt to humanize his father, Dr. Wolf Frankenstein. Or annoy the viewer. Maybe both. (Why the hell does that kid have a Colonel Sanders drawl?)

…sorry, got distracted, Ygor just showed Wolf Frankenstein the Monster and Wolf shrieked like a girl, “It’s alive!” which made me jump….

While I’m getting my thoughts back on the rails I should make a confession: I’ve actually taken a few days off to rest my eyes and recover from a migraine, so the last few Halloween posts were drafts I already had ready that I had my blog auto-post. I think some wacky things have been happening and a few posts have auto-disappeared in the process so if things seem weirder than usual around here it’s not you, it’s me. Really.

I’m slowly resuming my television watching by sticking with older black and white movies with nice steady camera work so as not to become nauseated and have to shelve the project again. So, that brings us back to Son of Frankenstein. The first two films, Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, were directed by James Whale and have a sense of gravitas and pathos. From Son of Frankenstein on the films engage in a race to the middle of the Saturday morning Creature Feature pack.

Next up I planned to scare myself witless watching (the original) The Haunting, after which I could awake all night listening to my house creak and those fucking banana leaves slap against my windows. I wised up in the nick of time and put on the loopy William Castle classic, House on Haunted Hill. As a bonus, I remember enough of the movie that I can pretty much listen to the movie while resting my eyes and just peek in on it periodically to catch the best shock effects. The 1999 remake lacks the goofy charm of the original and, most importantly, Vincent Price. Also, Elisha Cook, who was in Rosemary’s Baby and pretty much everything else ever made.