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The Deadly Mantis (1952) starring Craig Stevens, Alix Talton, William Hopper

The Deadly Mantis [William Hopper]

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The Deadly Mantis  (1952) starring Craig Stevens, Alix Talton, William Hopper

Synopsis of  The Deadly Mantis

When a giant, prehistoric praying mantis is released from its’ icy grave, it revives. Then, it looks for food. But the only food in the Arctic are the various military people and researchers posted there. It leaves no living survivors to tell the tail.   When a paleontologist looks at the evidence, he realizes what’s going on … And has trouble convincing anyone else, until the Deadly Mantis goes where there’s more food–New York.

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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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Vincent Price as Robar, captain of the Albatross, The Master of the World

Vincent Price biography

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Vincent Price biography (1911-1993)

Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. (May 27, 1911 — October 25, 1993) was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic performances in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.

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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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The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) starring Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn

The Revenge of Frankenstein

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The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) starring Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn, Eunice Gayson

Guillotine scene from The Revenge of Frankenstein

In Hammer Studios’ Frankenstein films, the focus of the films was not on the monster, but rather on Dr. Frankenstein — an excellent choice. The Revenge of Frankenstein continues where The Curse of Frankenstein left off. The amoral, murderous Dr. Frankenstein (played excellently by Peter Cushing) is about to be executed by guillotine, for his crimes. He is accompanied by a priest and taken to his execution, where the camera focuses on the guillotine — except for a knowing smile between the executioner and a prison worker …

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She, starring Ursula Andres, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee

She

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She (1965) starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Ursula Andres

Set in Palestine in 1918 “She“, relates the story of three wartime buddies — Major Horace Holly (Peter Cushing), Leo Vincy (John Richardson) and Job (Bernard Cribbons), who at the end of the war find themselves in the Middle East with no real desire to return home to England. Encountering a beautiful and mysterious woman called Ustane (Rosenda Monteros), one evening in a nightclub Leo is lured away and then knocked out. When he comes to, he discovers himself in a strange house where he encounters another beautiful woman, who calls herself Ayesha (Ursula Andress) — She who must be obeyed.

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The Black Room, starring Boris Karloff

The Black Room (1935)

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Synopsis of  The Black Room (1935)

Boris Karloff is superb in a dual role as twin brothers (one evil, one good), born to the ruling family in the early 1800’s in Czechoslovakia. The bad twin inherits the castle and becomes infamous for his sadistic behavior and murders the good twin, assuming his identity so that he might continue his heinous acts.

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