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Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man

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Synopsis of Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Abbott an Costello Meet the Invisible Man

Fresh graduates from detective school, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, get their first case – recapturing the escaped killer, Tommy Nelson. Nelson, however, the typical “convicted of a crime that he didn’t commit” – and has a scientist friend give him a dose of the Invisible Man formula, giving him a race against time to find the real killer — before the formula drives him mad. But Abbott and Costello are there to help …

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The Curse of Frankenstein

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Synopsis of  Curse of Frankenstein

THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, Peter Cushing, 1957

In The Curse of Frankenstein, Baron Victor von Frankenstein is facing execution for the murders that he has committed.   He tells the story of how he came to this point, telling his story in flashback. The story of how he learned to reanimate the dead. In an act of hubris, he decides to go beyond that He constructs a composite man from a variety of parts looted from corpses.   Along the way, his amoral decisions cause death and misery.  He has alienated his best friend and fiance … Who come by to say farewell.

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Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee

Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors

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Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) starring Peter Cushing, Neil McCallum,  Christopher Lee, Roy Castle, Max Adrian, Donald Sutherland

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee

Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors was Amicus’ first attempt at an anthology of 5 horror stories, with a very good framing device. The entire film takes place on a train, where 5 gentlemen  — total strangers —  sit together and wait to reach their destination. To pass the time, these passengers each have their futures foretold by a 6th individual; a quiet, mild man named Doctor Sandor Shreck (Peter Cushing) — Shreck being the German word for “terror”. He relies on a deck of Tarot cards to tell the future. The Doctor instructs each reluctant participant to tap the deck three times; after, the first four images dealt tell the listener his fate. While an extra fifth card explains how it can be avoided.  The five stories foretold are:

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The Monster and the Girl (1941) starring George Zucco, Ellen Drew, Phillip Terry, Robert Paige, Paul Lukas

The Monster and the Girl

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The Monster and the Girl (1941) starring George Zucco, Ellen Drew, Phillip Terry, Robert Paige, Paul Lukas

The Monster and the Girl (1941) starring George Zucco, Ellen Drew, Phillip Terry, Robert Paige, Paul Lukas

The Monster and the Girl is a very good “B” movie, well acted, with a cast that the audience cares about. It begins as a courtroom drama, only to pivot to a horror movie. It begins by telling the story of a small town girl named Susan Webster (Ellen Drew) who yearns for the sights and sounds of the big city.  Over the objections of her protective brother, Scot (Phillip Terry). What Susan finds in New York isn’t what she bargained for, as she is romanced by smooth talking Larry Reid (Robert Paige) who’s intentions are not as sincere as they first seem. Going through a sham marriage to Larry, she is forced into a prostitution ring run by gangster W. S. Bruhl (Paul Lukas).

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Werewolf of London (1935), starring Henry Hull, Warner Oland, Valerie Hobson

Werewolf of London

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Werewolf of London (1935), starring Henry Hull, Warner Oland,  Valerie Hobson

In Universal Picture’s first werewolf film, the 1935 Werewolf of London, there are several themes woven together. One is simply that of a scientist seeking to expand knowledge — Dr. Wilfrid Glendon (Henry Hull), who’s traveling in Tibet, looking for a legendary flower. In his quest, he enters a “forbidden valley” where he’s attacked by a wolf-like creature; but he manages to return alive with the flower regardless.

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The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) starring Vincent Price, Barbara Steele

The Pit and the Pendulum

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The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) starring Vincent Price, Barbara Steele

It has been said that Vincent Price often played the role of the tragic monster. And that’s never truer than in  The Pit and the Pendulum. Vincent Price plays Don Nicholas Medina, a man whose wife has unexpectedly passed away.  And whose brother-in-law has come seeking to find out the truth of his sister’s  death.

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The doctor and the judge

The Raven (1935)

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The Raven (1935), starring Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff

Synopsis of The Raven

The doctor and the judge

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

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The Mummy's Hand movie poster

The Mummy’s Hand

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The Mummy’s Hand  (1940) starring Dick Foran, Wallace Ford, Peggy Moran

If there’s one deadly sin committed by  The Mummy’s Hand, it’s that it’s too slow–and I’m not talking about the shambling movement of Kharis the living mummy.   The titular mummy doesn’t make his first appearance until an hour into the movie, which has spent far too long in setting the scene.   For instance, handsome, young archaeologist Steve Banning (Dick Foran) is stuck in Egypt. Without the funds to pursue his archeological dig.   And his friend Babe Jensen (Wallace Ford) is along as comic relief.

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Bedlam movie poster - Boris Karloff, Anna Lee

Bedlam

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Bedlam (1946)

written by: The Masked Reviewer

After a friend of the portly aristocrat Lord Mortimer (Billy House) dies in an attempted escape from Bedlam. In order to appease the angered aristocrat, Master George Sims (Boris Karloff)  throws a party for Lord Mortimer and his friends at the asylum with the inmates as entertainment.

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Dracula's Daughter, starring Gloria Holden

Dracula’s Daughter

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Dracula’s Daughter  (1936) starring Gloria Holden, Otto Kruger, Edward Van Sloan, Marguerite Churchill

I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised by  Dracula’s Daughter–the first sequel to the classic 1931  Dracula starring Bela Lugosi.   Unlike so many of the later Universal Dracula movies,  Dracula’s Daughter does not attempt to revive Dracula.  Rather it looks at the aftermath of his destruction, through the eyes of his daughter, Contessa Marya Zeleska. She is a very reluctant vampire, played wonderfully by Gloria Holden.

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