(1943)
Dir - Sam Newfield
Overall: MEH
The whodunit The Black Raven from Poverty Row studio PRC, (Producers Releasing Corporation), may be of interest to genre fans for featuring two of Universal's go-to horror bad guys George Zucco and Glenn Strange, the former as the proprietor of the remote inn of the title which is on the border of US and Canada, the latter as his dim-witted employee. Oh, Zucco also goes by the name "The Black Raven" in the criminal underworld where he has a side-hustle of being able smuggle people out of the country. Conveniently for the plot, a number of shady characters arrive at his establishment during a dark and stormy night when the bridge goes out, leading to a murder, another murder, and culprits plural being discovered in a lackluster finale. Director Sam Newfield has abysmal pacing sense under such cheap conditions, but he does manage to decorate the proceedings as if it is in the horror camp, utilizing menacing shadows, violent thunder storms, and eerie interiors. Fred Myton's script is cliche-heavy and relies on lazy contrivances to move thing along, but the sixty-one minute running time at least does not overstay its welcome.
(1945)
Dir - Walter Colmes
Overall: MEH
A condemned witch possessing the ancestor of her accuser and a woman being gaslit by men are the two steadfast motifs that join forces in The Woman Who Came Back, one of Republic Pictures' B-level horror movies from an era with its fare share of them. It plays the psychological game throughout where Nancy Kelly becomes increasingly convinced that she is succumbing to diabolical influence from centuries past, and even though people keep telling her that she is imagining things, (Since what else do you tell upset females in genre movies?), eventually the locals are also convinced once Kelly is openly accused during a church service. Though the opening scene is promising and points directly towards the supernatural, things eventually shift the other way where logical answers are given to things that were more unsettling when otherworldly elements were squarely at play. Director Walter Colmes and cinematographer Henry Sharp also do not have much of a keen eye when it comes to spooky visuals or atmosphere and in any event, it is a tame watch since the most sinister things that happen is a little girl getting sick and some goldfish being poisoned, so the film hardly delivers any white-knuckled tension.
(1949)
Dir - Merian C. Cooper/Ernest B. Schoedsack
Overall: GOOD
While it is not an official sequel, Mighty Joe Young was made by the same creative team behind 1933's seminal King Kong, with producer, (and here co-director), Merian C. Cooper, screenwriter Ruth Rose, actor Robert Armstrong, special effects man Willis O'Brien, and director Ernest B. Schoedsack all returning to unleash more giant gorilla mayhem. Rose's script has enough differentiating details as to not be a carbon copy of its predecessor, but there is no denying that all parties involved were attempting to make lightning strike twice with the same formula of "oversized primate from the jungle gets brought to the States and put on display for the masses who upset him and make him run amok". As was the case with Kong, the star of the show is the stop-motion animation, with a young Ray Harryhausen receiving his first mainstream credit under O'Brien's tutelage. The title ape is the most sympathetic character, fully-realized by the practical effects team who make him yet another misunderstood beast that only engages in his violent nature when being provoked by those who exploit and gawk at him. Terry Moore does fine work as the now grown little girl who took a baby Joe under her wing and raised him with loving care, and their sweet report with each other serves the film's overall light tone. This might not make it much of a high-octane adventure movie and certainly nothing that was breaking any new ground, but it is visually exceptional and its heart is in the right place.
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