ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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”Vampires and zombies and werewolves! Oh my! Vampires and zombies and werewolves! Oh my!”

Well, we’re off to see the Wizards who created the great horror movies of the 30s and 40s, with talented actors like Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas, Dwight Frye, Edmund Gwenn, Boris Karloff, and Henry Hull.

Heck fire, even the posters were terrific!


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The Walking Dead (1936)



Racketeers bump off an honest judge and frame Boris Karloff for the murder. Scientist Edmund Gwenn (the portly little entomologist in "Them!") obtains permission to attempt the revival of the dead man. In a flashy scene, resplendent with equipment, Gwenn's procedure succeeds.

But Karloff appears to be in a trance, and he goes after the gangsters responsible for his execution, terrifying them with his unexpected return from the grave. Each one dies in some violent manner.

The climax is a showdown between the surviving racketeers and Karloff on a stormy night in a cemetery.

Directed by Michael Curtiz, the prolific film maker behind such classics as "The Adventures of Robin Hood", "The Sea Hawk", "Captain Blood", and dozens of others.
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Werewolf of London (1935)

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Slick and enjoyable sci-fi treatment of the werewolf legend, notable for predating the more successful Universal gothic horror versions that dominated the 1940's.

Scientist Henry Hull ("Master of the World") is attacked by a werewolf in a remote region of Tibet while searching for a rare flower. Back in London he learns that the encounter infected him with a disease which causes lycanthropy. The only way to control his reversions to the werewolf state is with a drug synthesized from the rare Tibetan flower.

Fellow scientist Warner Oland (of Charlie Chan fame) competes with Hull for possession of the flower because he, too, is a werewolf -- in fact, he's the werewolf that attacked Hull in Tibet!

The plot is much less suspenseful than it should be, and the climax is weak, but in general the film is enteresting. Hull's werewolf makeup is nicely understated, conveying a maximum look of evil with a minimum of facial hair.

Also starring Valerie Hobson ("The Bride of Frankenstein") and Spring Byington. Directed by Stuart Walker.
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The Vampire Bat (1933)

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If a good cast could guarantee a movie's success, this one would be a winner.

Lionel Atwill is the mad doctor, Fay Wray is the charming heroine, Melvyn Douglas is the suave hero, and Dwight Frye is just as demented as he was in "Dracula" and "Frankenstein". Lionel Belmore ("Frankenstein") is even present to strut around as the local authority figure.

The plot also attempts to conform to the classic mold.

Scientist Atwill has concocted a batch of formless organic material in a vat, and he needs blood to keep it alive. Various local folks make unwilling contributions, and the village thinks a vampire is on the loose. Crazy Dwight Frye is the chief suspect, but when several murders occur after Frye is killed, nobody knows who to suspect.

It hardly seems fair to criticize this Majestic studios film as an "imitation Universal" horror movie, because it predates so many of the ones it seems to imitate. But neither Frank Strayer's direction nor Edward Lowe's script manages to create a very enjoyable movie, despite the winning cast. It's only 71 minutes long, and some existing prints run even shorter!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)