Monthly Archives: September 2014

Hammer-Time

Posted on September 29, 2014 by amangr

I think it’s fitting that, for its resurrection from the dead, Hammer Films chose a tale concerning resurrections from the dead–for three days anyway. But when one pair of grieving parents chooses to disregard the rules, their angel turns into … Continue reading →

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Saluting Elke Sommer

Posted on September 27, 2014 by amangr

The 1960s was a great decade for blondes in the movies. Although the ultimate blonde Marilyn Monroe would only survive through the first years of the decade, her chief imitators–Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren were both going strong, and … Continue reading →

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More thoughts on Lon Chaney, Jr.

Posted on September 17, 2014 by amangr

In thinking more about why Chaney’s horror performances tended to seem forced, I am starting to consider the role of empathy. Karloff once remarked that the Frankenstein monster was the best friend he ever had, and that feeling came out … Continue reading →

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Lon Chaney, Jr.–Cowboy

Posted on September 14, 2014 by amangr

A lot has been written about Lon Chaney Jr. as Universal’s “go-to monster-man” of the 1940s, and it tends to put him in a less-than-stellar light. He lacked the pure talent of his father, Lon Sr. or Karloff and he … Continue reading →

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From Del Rio and Elsewhere

Posted on September 11, 2014 by amangr

Watching Harry Horner’s “The Man from Del Rio” last night started me thinking about a sub-genre of the Western, the Town-Tamer film. Now the tough S.O.B. who rides in to clean out a lawless town probably goes back to William … Continue reading →

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Faux-Hammer, But They Had Karloff

Posted on September 6, 2014 by amangr

CAUTION: CONTAINS “SPOILERS” The Croydon-Day production “Corridors of Blood”–its more evocative British title was “The Doctor of Seven Dials” (the name of a once-notorious London slum district)–was yet another horror film set in the Victorian era. It even poached Hammer … Continue reading →

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