(1946)
Dir - Humberto Gómez Landero
Overall: WOOF
The only horror-adjacent work from writer/director Humberto Gómez Landero and his second collaboration with comedic actor Germán "Tin Tan" Valdés, Hay muertos que no hacen ruido, (The Noiseless Dead, There Are Dead That Rise), is a convoluted murder mystery set in a spacious mansion where creepy wax figures are scattered about in a large chamber room. There are no other horror elements anywhere else to be found as it instead plays out with Valdés' aspiring singer trying to clear himself of murder suspicion while dressed as a cop, which all happens after he is coerced into following a guy who may or may not be a ghost into the house in the first place. Unlike in future efforts, Valdés is more yawn-inducing than obnoxious and the same can be said about the entire film which feels all of its exasperating hour and forty-two minute running time. Because of this, a couple of musical interludes, and Valdés simply not having the comedic chops to hold the whole thing together, it is insufferably boring, going through drawn-out scenes that spin their wheels with no laughs or chills to accompany them.
(1945)
Dir - Valentin Vaala
Overall: MEH
Only the vaguest of supernatural elements are sprinkled through Valentin Vaala's Linnaistein vihreä kamari, (The Green Chamber of Linnais); a well-decorated melodrama that revolves around period-set class struggles and minor squabbles. The green chamber of the title is haunted, (or so everyone says), and Vaala and cinematographer Eino Heino do their best to shoot it in a Gothically foreboding manner, but the story is too jovial and void of stakes for any actual dread to set in. Some of the characters are more well-rounded than others, with a jolly fellow who courts a few women while speaking in mild profanities and harping over Swiss cheese, plus an elder man who has a strict adherence to ancestry, honor, and traditions. There is a permeating theme that the old ways of marrying off daughters to noble families in order to keep high society within their comfort zone is falling by the wayside to welcome individual freedom and following the ways of one's heart. Considering that nothing too concerning transpires and everyone behaves themselves and gets alone, (save for a conman who parades around as a noble Count before getting caught), the tone is persistently light and even comedic at times. Far from something that can be considered an early work in Finish horror, but it gets its toes wet at least in the fantastique genre.
(1946)
Dir - Jean Cocteau
Overall: GOOD
The landmark adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's often-filmed fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, (La Belle et la Bête), from avant-garde poet Jean Cocteau is considered the most majestic of them and for good reason. Collaborating with cinematographer Henri Alekan, designer Christian Berard, and technical advisor Rene Clement, Cocteau opens with a proclamation that breaks the forth wall, asking the viewer to tap into their childlike sense of wonder in order to meet the proceeding film on the correct terms. Arriving in 1946 when the World War II had finally ended and the whole world let alone Cocteau's native France was reeling from a trauma that would trickle down through generations, it is a fitting invitation into a familiar fable that is brought to shimmering life. The Beast's domain is full of living statues and grandiose, unnatural decor and the movie's best moments are spent wandering its mystical halls, bedrooms, garden grounds, and dining areas. There is a whimsical tone that is maintained by Georges Auric's overbearing score, but this is met by some of the tragic circumstances of the story's specifics, namely Belle's less than ideal home life and rotten siblings, plus the Beast's sorrowful existence that is trapped in awe-inspiring magic at the cost of his own monstrous disfigurement and perpetual isolation. Even the bittersweet ending is treated as something to marvel at as Josette Day and Jean Marais in his non-bestial form both float up through the sky to embark on what we certainly hope is a happy ever after future.
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