1950s Mexican Horror Part One - The Aztec Mummy Trilogy

THE AZTEC MUMMY
(1957)
Dir - Rafael Portillo
Overall: MEH

Though it is not entirely void of merit, the first in Mexico's Aztec Mummy trilogy is still primarily a sluggish viewing experience.  Filmed in conjunction with the next two installments which were all directed by Rafael Portillo and written by Alfredo Salazar and producer Guillermo Calderon, The Aztec Mummy, (La Momia Azteca, La Momia), somewhat follows the blueprint laid out by Universal's Mummy sequels from the previous decade, be it in a considerably low-rent fashion.  More akin to Universal's initial The Mummy which also used the resurrected lost love gag and only featured Boris Karloff in the full garb for a brief scene, here the title monster does not show up until an hour into the movie.  Once he does, he poses about as big of a threat as a slightly annoyed turtle, though his initial scene is actually pulled off in a creepy manner as he slowly emerges out of the darkness with merely his dragging feet being heard on the soundtrack.  Elsewhere, a silly sub-plot involving a masked criminal and his gang proves utterly pointless and tremendous amounts of screen time feel padded with stuff like a flashback ceremony, the exploration of ruins, and scientists sitting in chairs, all of which goes on for ages upon ages.

 

THE CURSE OF THE AZTEC MUMMY

(1957)

Dir - Rafael Portillo

Overall: WOOF

 

Filling the "gotta have a guy in a mask for some reason" quota by beyond randomly throwing a superhero into the mix, the second entry in the Aztec Mummy series The Curse of the Aztec Mummy, (La Maldición de la Momia Azteca), is substantially even duller than its predecessor.  Director Rafael Portillo still shoots nearly every scene in the least engaging wide shot possible until each character has finished all of their dialog, but there is particularly laughable redundancy to the plotting here.  The same information is relayed over and over again and even at only an hour and four minutes in length, several of those minutes are taken up with a montage of already boring footage from the first film just to catch anyone up who forgot that they saw it within the exact same year.  Speaking of same shit different movie, the mummy of course does not show up until about fifteen minutes until the end, but at least the audience can enjoy one of the dumbest crime gangs in the history of cinema, a chubby superhero who gets easily thwarted three different times while doing absolutely nothing helpful, and an overall comatose-inducing structure that is likely to put anyone into a lights-out coma quicker than anesthesia.

 

THE ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY

(1957)

Dir - Rafael Portillo

Overall: WOOF

For anyone thinking that the proceeding The Curse of the Aztec Mummy was the most pathetic and useless sequel ever made, apparently the filmmakers said "Hold my beer" when vomiting out the final installment in The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy, (La Momia Azteca contra el Robot Humano), which takes the hilariously lazy formula and plows it full-on into a brick wall.  This "movie" is an hour and four minutes long and, (no joke), the first forty-three of those minutes is spent recapping the two previous films as Ramón Gay stands in his living room to catch-up some old friends on what any viewers of the rest of the franchise have already seen, (and in the case of the aforementioned Curse), have already been caught up on once before.  It should be applauded how the personnel behind these laughably embarrassing crud rocks managed to squeeze a trilogy of barely full-length films out of such material, but the results of course are as wretched as B-movies ever get.  Furthering the trajectory of keeping the actual mummy off screen for as long as humanly possible, it shows up with only three-minutes left this time, at which point it and the bulky, waddling, clunkiest robot in the history of cinema, (which itself only shows up a few minutes before the mummy does), awkwardly choke each other for a few seconds.  Then the same cackling parody of a mad scientist yells, falls down, and the heroes hug each other.  The point is, Mystery Science Theater 3000 choosing this as their second ever episode was truly fitting.

1950s Foreign Horror Part Two

THE WAGES OF FEAR

(1953)

Dir - Henri-Georges Clouzot

Overall: GREAT

The first of filmmaker Henri-Georges Clouzot's one-two punch of outstanding French thrillers, The Wages of Fear, (Le Salaire de la peur), deals directly with man's perceived perseverance over nature, fueled by desperation.  Though it is not a thriller in the conventional sense in that characters are not deliberately trying to murder each other, the level of suspense building that Clouzot accomplishes is on a level seldom maintained in cinema.  An adaptation of Georges Arnaud's novel of the same name, it spends the better part of two-hours exclusively focusing on four, down on their luck men and their three-hundred mile trek on treacherous roads, driving trucks filled to the brim with nitroglycerine that can literally explode at a moment's notice.  Considering that such a job pays a considerable sum that would hypothetically allow for each of them to either flee or live prosperously in their completely isolated, corrupt, and poor town, the stakes are preposterously high which makes their ticking clock tempting of fate almost impossibly gripping to behold.  Similarly to his follow-up Les Diaboliques, Clouzot does not utilize any incidental music which forces the audience to squirm on the edge of their seat with no typical movie manipulation for comfort.

 

LAKE OF THE DEAD

(1958)

Dir - Kåre Bergstrøm

Overall: GOOD

 

A rare work of quasi-folk horror in Norwegian cinema for the period, Lake of the Dead, (De dødes tjer, Lake of the Damned), emphasizes mood and spookiness effectively with its simple, isolated setting.  For the first half, everyone on screen merely takes turns innocently talking about scary things before any are actually portrayed, but even with its small crop of characters merrily vacationing in a spacious cabin in the Østerdal forest, director/co-writer Kåre Bergstrøm still manages to hint at a supernatural underlining.  Startling moments are few and far between, yet they are effective due to such an unassuming presentation.  The black and white cinematography by Ragnar Sørensen is lovely as it frames many scenes in darkness and mere candlelight,with even the obvious day for night moments conveying the appropriate eerie calm.  An adaptation of André Bjerke's novel of the same name, (Bjerke also appearing in the film), it does rely heavily on people sitting around while patiently and logically explaining everything that is going on or is presumed to be going on, but the seventy-six minute running time still feels brisk and the ending playfully hints that all is not so psychologically explainable.

THE HEAD

(1959)

Dir - Victor Trivas

Overall: MEH

The last film to be directed by screenwriter Victor Trivas, The Head, (Des Satans nackte Sklavin, Die Nackte und der Satan), is the West German precursor to the infamous, American B-movie The Brain That Wouldn't Die which was released by AIP three years later.  Unfortunately, the two films share more in common than just their basic premise of faux-science being able to miraculously keep a severed head alive via electronic wires and some liquid, since this is likewise some pretty dull stuff.  The concept of a mad scientist doing mad scientist things because movies had been a well-trotted trope for decades at this point and the lab assistant gone bonkers antagonist here is ultimately just crazy for the sake of being crazy and hardly makes for a compelling bad guy.  Dialog wise, it is all rambling tripe and the very few scenes that we get of Michel Simon's talking head defying the laws of physics are just him grumbling in a haze while begging for death.  Elsewhere, men and women exchange expository information while sitting or standing in rooms with painfully long stretches going by where nothing excitable transpires at all.  Trivas was hardly a compelling director and when the movie is not spinning its own wheels, the stock cinematography and, (oddly), poor sound design also fail to help matters.

1940s Foreign Horror Part Two

THE TOWER OF SEVEN HUNCHBACKS

(1944)

Dir - Edgar Neville

Overall: MEH

 

Antisemitic undertones aside, The Tower of Seven Hunchbacks, (La Torre de los Siete Jorobados), is an occasionally humorous, occasionally mysterious Spanish production and an adaptation of Emilio Carrere's novel of the same name.  While the middle act slags, the opening is fetching where Antonio Casal is visited by a ghoulish figure in a top hat and eye-patch who magically tells him which roulette numbers to bet on in a casino.  Also, only Casal can see him.  While not necessarily spooky, the supernatural elements are interesting and provide the movie with a less than serious tone where most people, (including himself at times), consider our protagonist to be mad.  Once the mystery is solved, it is implied that an underground community of hunchbacked individuals, (hence the title), are descendants from Jewish people who fled the 1492 expulsion in Spain so for a film coming just after the tail end of World War II, this plot twist can be seen as somewhat unsympathetic.  Otherwise though and despite some impressive miniature work, it is only moderately entertaining without leaning hard enough into its comedic aspects to justify the half-baked plot.

 

LA FIANCÉE DES TÉNÈBRES

(1945)

Dir - Serge de Poligny

Overall: GOOD

This adaptation of Gaston Bonheur's 1943 short story "La mort ne reçoit que sur rendez-vous" by director Serge de Poligny is exquisitely photographed by cinematographer Roger Hubert, which goes a long way in maintaining an ethereal mood when no direct supernatural activity is likely present.  Timid in its surreal nature to the point of sparely even being noticeable, La fiancée des ténèbres, (The Dark Bride, The Bride of Darkness), concerns a troubled young lady who believes herself cursed after witnessing two of her lovers perish before her eyes and is further haunted by taunts of "witch" from the locals.  Considering that said townspeople may or may not have condemned her sight unseen as various other clues are given throughout the film as to Jany Holt's doomed protagonist suffering traumatic delusions, it all plays out as a psychological mystery and one that never offers up any definitive answers.  Striving for a happy existence in the arms of Pierre Richard-Willm, (an already married and successful composer, brimful of optimism), Holt is pulled to the nihilistic side by her well-meaning yet troubled guardian who becomes convinced that the secret to the Holy Grail via an ancient, death-loving Christian sect lies beneath their abode.  The movie is lovely in its touching heartache as it presents two different worlds through the impressionable, emotional state of its characters and it is also a unique offering into the fantastique genre, (be it slightly so), made near the end of the German occupation of France.

 

YOTSUYA KAIDAN PART ONE/YOTSUYA KAIDAN PART TWO

(1949)

Dir - Keisuke Kinoshita

Overall: GOOD

The 1949 adaptation of the "Yotsuya Kaidan" folk tale takes an ambitious approach, breaking the film up into two parts and eliminating the overt supernatural elements altogether.  Known under a slew of titles including Ghost of Yotsuya, Shinshaku Yotsuya kaidan: kôhen, The New Version of the Ghost of Yotsuya, The Phantom of Yotsuya, The Yotsuya Ghost Story I & II, the combined length steers shy of the three hour mark, yet director Keisuke Kinoshita maintains an agreeable pace throughout.  For those familiar with the frequently filmed source material, the plot follows the same trajectory as most interpretations, laying out the downfall of lemon Tamiya who succumbs to ambition by murdering his feeble wife in order to remarry into a more prestigious family.  Typically a vengeful spirit story, here Tamiya's downfall is exclusively the result of a complete mental breakdown where he is overwrought with guilt as he is haunted more by his regrettable deeds than the actual ghosts of his victims.  The performances are typically melodramatic for the period, yet they also give a sense of urgency to the tragic events which heighten the tone in lieu of creepy horror motifs.  While not the best cinematic undertaking of the story, (that title still belongs to Nobuo Nakagawa's The Ghost of Yotsuya which was released ten years later), this is nevertheless a unique and prestigious one.

1940s Foreign Horror Part One

UNA LUZ EN LA VENTANA

(1942)

Dir - Manuel Romero

Overall: MEH

Likely the first proper genre film from Argentina at least not of the independent variety, Una luz en la ventana, (A Light in the Window), is essentially a Spanish language, old dark house/mad scientist hybrid with all of its accommodating cliches in tow.  There is a pretty leading lady, a useless, dashing hero, an obnoxious comic relief character, and they all end up at a creepy old house in the middle of a rain storm after their car breaks down.  Once the set up is established, the plot gets underway of a deformed guy who needs pituitary gland hormones from living "victims" to cure his monstrous physical appearance.  It all sounds formulaic enough to appease the retro horror fan, but it is remarkably low on action and creepy set pieces while being problematically high on talking.  One or two eerie visuals appear early on that are taken right out of James Whale's The Old Dark House, but this is still predominantly a slog to sit through.  Further historical significance comes in the fact that it marks the film debut of Narciso Ibáñez Menta, a Spanish actor who would go on to have a lengthy career in various sinister roles, mostly on television.

LA MAIN DU DIABLE

(1943)

Dir - Maurice Tourner

Overall: GOOD

 

One of the last movies to be directed by prolific French filmmaker Maurice Tourneur, La Main du diable, (The Devil's Hand, Carnival of Sinners), is an adaptation of Gérard de Nerval's 1927 novel of the same name which concerns a down on his luck, starving artist who comes across a macabre, supernatural talisman.  Somewhat in line with the monkey's paw fable in the sense of being careful what you wish for, it has a "deal with the Devil" angle that offers up a few variations to the well-utilized concept to make it stand out.  The mysterious "little man" Lord of Darkness stand-in is played by the quite unassuming Pierre Palua who manages to exhibit a sinister sense of will power despite his meager frame and continual politeness.  Several of the rules concerning the aforementioned good luck charm and the means to be rid of it are specific to this story, culminating in a startling, creepy scene in the final act where all of the previous owners are adorned with masks while sitting at a long banquet table.  Lastly, it is expertly shot by cinematographer Armand Thirard and certainly in line with many of the movies that were directly inspired by German Expressionism.

THE INVISIBLE MAN APPEARS

(1949)

Dir - Nobuo Adachi

Overall: MEH

Released exclusively in Japan for nearly eighty years, Daiei Film's The Invisible Man Appears, (Tōmei Ningen Arawaru), has a historical importance as the country's first adaptation - be it an extremely loose one - of H.G. Wells source material which had already spawned a five deep franchise for Universal back in Hollywood.  An early installment in the special effects laden, tokusatsu genre of film as it predates Godzilla by five years, said visuals are primitive even for the time period and have not aged as well as would be preferable with things like characters literally holding up their own shirt colors when the invisible guy is supposed to be doing it.  Writer/director Nobuo Adachi's script maintains the idea of an invisibly serum granting gradual, violent insanity to those who consume it, but otherwise this is a completely exclusive beast from Wells' novel.  The story basically hinges on a loose love triangle and a guy that really wants a diamond necklace, plus the plotting is more convoluted than is probably necessary.  A halfway decent affair that is clearly influenced by American crime movies, it at least serves its purpose as a curiosity.

1940s American Horror Part Eight

THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE

(1944)

Dir - Ford Beebe

Overall: MEH

 

The last entry in Universal's Invisible Man series before the title character bumped heads with Abbott and Costello seven years later was The Invisible Man's Revenge, one that returns the franchise to horror after the previous two comedy and action installments.  As the title would suggest, the story is straightforward with a revenge-seeking, mental institution inmate on the run who crosses paths with John Carradine's mad scientist that just so happens to have an invisibility formula at his disposal.  Some of the details are unnecessarily convoluted, but the major issues is that Jon Hall's title character is unlikable from the get go as opposed to someone who was initially good-natured yet only succumbed to madness due to the invisibility serum.  His name also happens to be Griffin for some reason even though he is not the one who comes up with said serum in the first place.  Having a less sympathetic main character was an interesting choice perhaps as was the macabre tweak that now blood is necessary in order for the transformation to work, but the back-and-forth nature of the plot is not very engaging and it is just an adequate if forgettable B-movie in the end.

HOUSE OF DRACULA

(1945)

Dir - Erle C. Kenton

Overall: MEH

 

Universal's monster-mashes reached their final draw with House of Dracula, a movie as good or as lousy as the highly similar entries that proceeded it.  A project titled Wolf Man vs. Dracula was initially developed for director Ford Beebe even before the previous year's House of Frankenstein was underway, yet the resulting movie here is more of a retread of the latter than anything particularly revolutionary.  Lon Chaney Jr.'s Larry Talbot does finally get his lycanthropian curse removed, but the fact that he spent his last two appearances doing the exact same thing, (trying to get a scientist to cure him), makes his happy ending more of a "too little too late" scenario.  On that note, there is quite a bit of "too little" as far as every monster here is concerned, with John Carradine's Count Dracula getting nonchalantly done away with halfway through his own movie and Glen Strange's Frankenstein Monster literally only regaining consciousness for the last three minutes of screen time.  Lionel Atwill played a different role in every Frankenstein movie from Universal and his appearance here is just as cut and paste as any of them.  Certainly better than Universal's snore-inducing Mummy sequels at least, this is still probably the weakest of the bunch for everybody else that was once again invited to the party.

THE RED HOUSE

(1947)

Dir - Delmer Daves

Overall: MEH

The unassuming thriller The Red House has some ominous atmosphere early on, eventually settling into an adequate if rudimentary, domestic mystery.  Director Delmer Daves co-wrote this adaptation of George Agnew Chamberlain's novel of the same name with screenwriter Albert Maltz and it is probably about twenty minutes too long with some expendable secondary characters mucking up the pacing.  Rory Calhoun plays one of these characters though to be fair, he and the picturesque Julie London provide the movie with much of its sensuality.  Edward G. Robinson is effective as a desperate, obsessive father figure whose dark past influences some of his less than admirable behavior.  The score by Miklós Rózsa is frequently distracting and it largely melodramizes a scene in the first act where the outrageously howling wind would have provided a much more chilling accompaniment all on its own.  While the performances are good and cinematographer Bert Glennon helps give the film its noir-like look, the ending is pretty unengaging and does not live up to the cryptic build-up.

1940s American Horror Part Seven

HORROR ISLAND

(1941)

Dir - George Waggner

Overall: MEH

 

The old dark house/treasure hunt thriller Horror Island is a rightfully obscure, B-level entry in Universal's Golden Era horror cannon.   A lighthearted adaptation of Alex Gottlieb's short story "Terror of the South Seas", it is not as explicitly comedic as say Paramount's The Cat and the Canary remake from two years earlier, but it is in a similar vein and about half as spooky which is not saying much.  It takes too long to get the ragtag bunch characters to the faux haunted island of the title in the first place and once they are there, a convoluted series of events takes place with minimal shocks and zero supernatural tomfoolery.  The cast is made up of long forgotten bit players and the closest thing the movie has to a "monster" is some guy in a cape called The Phantom who shows up once or twice and then dies unceremoniously.  Director George Waggner made this, Man Made Monster, (which was released on a double bill with it), and The Wolf Man all in the same year and each one of them was significantly better than the last.

I MARRIED A WITCH
(1942)
Dir - René Clair
Overall: GOOD
 
Though it had some production problems and a few individuals dropped out, Paramount's screwball comedy I Married a Witch still ended up as a solid and goofy starring vehicle for both Fredric March and Veronica Lake.  An adaptation of Thorne Smith's novel The Passionate Witch, both Preston Sturges and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo left the project before its completion and March and Lake apparently got on poorly together, but they still manage to muster an ideal sense of chemistry as a disgraced politician and a two-hundred and ninety year-old, resurrected practitioner of the occult arts, respectively.  Lake is delightful as she endlessly annoys March until he falls under her spell, with Cecil Kellaway helping the buffoonery along as her also-witch father that has a more sinister yet equally playful agenda.  As his second Hollywood production, French director René Clair balances ridiculous set pieces like a wedding singer who keeps bellowing away as the ceremony derails and newborn babies crying out the name of March's character.  The tone is consistently silly which is as it should be and this would help pave the way for stuff like the Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie sitcoms two decades later.

HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN

(1944)

Dir - Erle C. Kenton

Overall: MEH

After the acceptable amount of success garnished from Universal's first monster mash-up Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, the following year's House of Frankenstein seemed the inevitable next step.  Originally conceived as a project named Chamber of Horrors which was to feature more actors and more fiends, the concept was eventually streamlined to "only" have Lon Chaney Jr. returning as Larry Talbot/the Wolf Man, Western actor Glen Strange taking over as the Frankenstein monster, John Carradine stepping in as Count Dracula, Boris Karloff as a mad scientist, and J. Carrol Naish as his hunchbacked assistant.  Genre regulars Lionel Atwill and George Zucco join in as well, though they suffer the same fate as everyone else on screen in that the bloated series of subplots only allows for the usual crop of cliches to get recycled.  Carradine is particularly wasted and easily makes the least intimidating Dracula thus far in screen history, though Karloff is a classy as the revenge-seeking villain.  A derivative, overstuffed, and silly film by its very nature, it is nevertheless essential viewing for fans of both the personnel and characters involved.

1940s American Horror Part Six - Universal Mummy Sequels

THE MUMMY'S HAND

(1940)

Dir - Christy Cabanne

Overall: MEH

 

The Mummy's Hand breaks Universal's streak of solid sequels to their initial monster movie properties, coming off as a hare-brained, exasperatingly dull follow-up.   The production itself is hardly A-rent.  Footage from The Mummy is used and played off as if it is relevant to the completely different story and characters, none of the actors are noteworthy names either then or now, (Lon Chaney Jr. would not take over the role of the resurrected Kharis until the next installment), and the musical score is recycled from Son of Frankenstein.  Wallace Ford's wisecracking comic relief is more lame than funny, the romance between Dick Foran and Peggy Moran is forced and predictable, George Zucco is hardly the cinema's most menacing villain, and the title mummy does not appear until more than halfway through the film.  Throw in a completely anti-climactic ending and director Christy Cabanne unable to concoct even the flimsiest amount of mystical, Egyptian-inspired atmosphere, and it is simply a dud from front to back.

THE MUMMY'S TOMB

(1942)

Dir - Harold Young

Overall: MEH

 

Universal's lazy, bare minimum sequel agenda continues with the third Mummy entry The Mummy's Tomb.  Though the film is only an hour long, it spends the first ten minutes as a montage of footage from the previous The Mummy's Hand, therefor leaving only fifty minutes to tell virtually the same uninteresting story yet all over again.  Strapping on the bandages for his first of three appearances as Kharis, Lon Chaney Jr. takes over for cowboy actor Tom Tyler, yet the role still allows for little to do besides silently and slowly stumble around with a single arm outstretched.  The fact that Chaney is completely disguised under a mask anyway makes his involvement even more pointless since somebody could have been grabbed off of the street and done an identical job in such a part.  On the plus side, the lousy comic relief of the last installment is done away with, but between the regurgitated plot, dramatic music undermining any and all attempts at eerie atmosphere, and a cast that is as forgettable as they come, it all just makes a person long for the days when the studio actually tried, (at least a little bit) to provide some proper goosebumps to their monster movies.

THE MUMMY'S GHOST

(1944)

Dir - Reginald Le Borg

Overall: MEH

 

While Universal finally resisted the urge to reuse past footage from their earlier installments, the next sequel The Mummy's Ghost still cannot come up with anything unique to say story wise.  Once again George Zucco's High Priest, (who was presumed to have been killed off twice already), initiates another lieutenant, this time John Carradine who is about as Egyptian as Boris Karloff is, except far less exotic looking.  Zucco summons him in the Temple of Arkam to sick Lon Chaney Jr.'s Kharis on more people that have disregarded the ancient gods and blah, blah, blah.  Also once again there is another beautiful female who is believed to be the reincarnation of an Egyptian Priestess because we may as well throw that already used trope in as well.  The cut and paste script offers up only the most minute details that differentiate it from past Mummy movies.  Chaney gets a little more screen time comparatively, but he is still just a lumbering, emotionless brute who chokes people with one hand, slowly walks around to blaring music, and carries the hypnotized, pretty girl off.  The ending at least is strange and something that has not been seen before, but it is also enormously anti-climatic and stupid.

 

THE MUMMY'S CURSE

(1944)

Dir - Leslie Goodwins

Overall: MEH

Set in the multi-cultural swamps of...New England?..., The Mummy's Curse wraps up Universal's Mummy franchise with a predictable whimper.  Only a hour in length and once again delegating precious minutes to recycled footage from previous movies in the series, (including the flashback sequence from the original The Mummy for the third time), Lon Chaney Jr. is still slowly stomping around after being awoken by more idiots who have learned absolutely nothing from the last several times that such a thing went terribly wrong.  Not that continuity matters any more than the desire to come up with something unique to justify another B-level sequel in the first place.  To be fair, there are a couple of visually striking moments such as Virginia Christine rising up out of the mucky swamp, plus the script focuses on Kharis trying to be reunited with his lost love instead of just following orders to murder people who desecrated her grave, (the latter angle of which was used in all three of the preceding movies).  Still, the performances are particularly dull and little to no excitement is garnished from the repetitive plotting.  At least Abbot and Costello would star in a halfway decent installment eleven years later.