Horror

  • Robert Fuest – The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

    1971-1980CultHorrorRobert FuestUnited Kingdom

    Doctors are being murdered in bizarre manners – bats, bees, a killer frog mask, etc. – which represent the nine Biblical plagues of Egypt. The crimes are orchestrated by an organ-playing, demented madman (from his home base, replete with a clockwork orchestra and help from a beautiful, mute assistant). Detectives are stumped until they find that all the slain doctors once assisted a Dr. Vesalius on an unsuccessful operation involving the wife of organist Dr. Phibes, killed in a car crash upon learning of his wife’s death. He couldn’t be the culprit, could he?Read More »

  • Tod Browning – The Devil-Doll (1936)

    1931-1940ClassicsHorrorTod BrowningUSA

    Paul Lavond was a respected banker in Paris when he was framed for robbery and murder by crooked associates and sent to prison. Years later, he escapes with a friend, a scientist who was working on a method to reduce humans to a height of mere inches (all for the good of humanity, of course). Lavond however is consumed with hatred for the men who betrayed him, and takes the scientist’s methods back to Paris to exact painful revenge.Read More »

  • Lew Landers – The Raven [+commentaries] (1935)

    1931-1940ClassicsHorrorLew LandersUSA

    The Raven 1935 Synopsis:
    A wealthy judge coaxes the brilliant but eccentric neurological surgeon Dr. Vollin (Lugosi), who also has an obsessive penchant for Edgar Allen Poe, out of retirement to save the life of his daughter, a dancer crippled and brain damaged in an auto wreck. Vollin restores her completely, but also envisions her as his “Lenore,” and cooks up a scheme to kidnap the woman and torture and kill her fiance’ and father in his Poe-inspired dungeon. To do his dirty work, Vollin recruits a wanted criminal (Karloff), and turns him into a hideous monster to guarantee his subservience.Read More »

  • William Beaudine – Voodoo Man (1944)

    1941-1950ClassicsHorrorUSAWilliam Beaudine

    Dr. Richard Marlowe uses a combination of voodoo rite and hypnotic suggestion to attempt to revivify his beautiful, but long-dead wife, by transferring the life essences of several hapless young girls he has kidnapped and imprisoned in the dungeon beneath his mansion.Read More »

  • Lambert Hillyer – The Invisible Ray [+commentary] (1936)

    USA1931-1940HorrorLambert HillyerSci-Fi

    Visionary scientist Janos Rukh convinces a group of scientists and supporters to mount an expedition to the African continent to locate and study an ancient meteorite of great significance. He exposes himself to the highly toxic radiation of the meteorite, and while an antidote devised by Dr. Benet saves him from death by radiation poisoning, his naked touch causes instant death to others. Back in London, the benefits of the meteorite’s controlled radiation offer Dr. Benet an opportunity to restore eyesight to the blind. The antidote’s toxicity excites Prof. Rukh into paranoid rages as he seeks revenge against the members of his expedition, who he accuses of stealing his discovery for their own glory.Read More »

  • Harold Young – The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)

    USA1941-1950CrimeHarold YoungHorror

    You cannot keep a good mummy down forever and Kharis is back in this sequel to The Mummy’s Hand, which itself was something of a remake of the classic Boris Karloff thriller of 1935, The Mummy. Although assumed to have been killed by Stephen Banning (Dick Foran) in the previous film, Andoheb (George Zucco) has miraculously survived and is now planning a terrible revenge on both Banning and his entire family in Mapleton, MA. With High Priest Mehemet Bey (Turhan Bey) as his faithful companion, Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) takes up residence in a Mapleton graveyard where the mysterious Mr. Bey somehow has obtained the job of caretaker. At the first full moon, the mummy is fed enough tanna leaves to break into the Banning residence and kill the now elderly Stephen. To find out what exactly happened, the dead man’s son, John (John Hubbard), gets in contact with Babe Hanson (Wallace Ford), one of the members of the original Banning expedition to Egypt. Read More »

  • Leslie Goodwins – The Mummy’s Curse (1944)

    1941-1950CrimeHorrorLeslie GoodwinsUSA

    Draining of a bayou swamp area in Louisiana is halted when superstitious Cajun workmen learn one of their crew has been mysteriously murdered. They whisper fantastic tales about mummies being buried in the area. Pat Walsh (Addison Richards), boss on the project is annoyed at their fear and furthered angered when Dr. James Halsey (Dennis Moore) of the Scripps Museum, and his associate, Dr. Ilzor Zandaab (Peter Coe) arrive to search for the mummies of Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Princess Ananka (Virginia Christine), believed buried in the swamp. Walsh’s niece and secretary, Betty (Kay Harding)shows interest in both the story and Halsey. Bulldozers unknowingly uncover the mummies, and that night Dr. Zandaab secretly meets Ragheb (Martin Kosleck, a workman, who takes the scientist to a hidden monastery. Read More »

  • Reginald Le Borg – The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)

    1941-1950CrimeHorrorReginald Le BorgUSA

    An Egyptian high priest travels to America to reclaim the bodies of ancient Egyptian princess Ananka and her living guardian mummy Kharis. Learning that Ananka’s spirit has been reincarnated into another body, he kidnaps a young woman of Egyptian descent with a mysterious resemblance to the princess. However, the high priest’s greedy desires cause him to loose control of the mummy.Read More »

  • Roger Spottiswoode – Terror Train (1980)

    1971-1980HorrorRoger SpottiswoodeThrillerUSA

    A college fraternity prank goes wrong and a student ends up in the mental asylum. Three years later, it’s graduation time, and the members of the fraternity decide to have a costume party aboard a train trip to celebrate their graduation. Unknowingly to them, a killer has slipped aboard, killing them off one by one, disguised in the costumes of the victims.Read More »

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