Island of Lost Souls 1932

I have no excuses for not writing for so long.  OK, I have a few.  Here we go:

1. I am a lazy bitch
2. Got a big job promotion (yeah me!). Increased drinking due to job promotion has prevented me from watching any films start to finish.
3. I was reading 50 Shades of Grey.  It was so horrible I lost all faith in humanity and art. 
4. I am so pissed that a horrible writer like the person who wrote 50 Shades of Grey is now a millionaire that I stopped writing.
5. I am so ashamed of my envy over this 50 Shades of Grey thing that I stopped writing.
6. Game of Thrones was on.
7. I am so confused over Prometheus that I was worried if I absorbed anything else my brain would literally explode.

 

What got me out of my funk was not Prometheus, although I will speak to that at a later time, but a little ditty known as Island of Lost Souls.  I wasn't planning on watching this film, but I was SO LAZY that when it came on TCM I got sucked in.  The other choices were getting up or watching "Bitchin Kitchen" which I am convinced is produced by the Devil.  Island of Lost Souls is a Paramount film from 1932.  It features Bela Lugosi in a very small but disturbing role.  This was shortly after the release of Universal's Dracula so it is no wonder they put his name on the poster.  Small aside, 1932 was an awesome year for Lugosi.  Not only did he have a role in this film, but he also starred in Murders in the Rue Morgue and White Zombie.  Here he plays the "Sayer of the Law," a half man/half animal sort of creature created by one Dr. Moreau, played by the amazing Charles Laughton.

Laughton is absolutely bananas in this.  He is so freaky as Dr. Moreau that he made a guest appearance in my stress zombie nightmare the night I watched this.  Not only does Laughton look menacing (he looks a bit like a pig, I'm not gonna lie), every expression, glance, inflection, tells the audience that this is a very, very bad man.  I have never really been a huge fan of Laughton (except as a director: Night of the Hunter is the bee's knees) but I am now. 

OK, if you haven't guessed Island of Lost Souls is an adaptation of H.G.Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau.  Wells apparently disliked the film, with it's emphasis on horror.  Island of Lost Souls is one of the last "Pre-Code" horror films and it has it all: torture (a "House of Pain" is mentioned frequently), animal experiments, the suggestion of bestiality, gore, murder, Charles Laughton.  What more could you want?  Plus, the "Panther Woman", played by the lovely Kathleen Burke, who won a nationwide contest to appear in the film. 

Spooky, atmospheric, over the top: Island of Lost Souls is just a perfect horror film.  It saved me from my rut.  Horror always pulls me out of whatever abyss I find myself in.  That is why I love it so.  Now tell me Bela: What is the Law?

The Body Snatcher 1945

The Body Snatcher from 1945 was directed by Robert Wise (The Haunting, West Side Story), produced and co-written by Val Lewton (The Cat People) and based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson.  It that wasn't pedigree enough, it also starred Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, in what would be their last film together.  The trailer, which I have included below, makes it seem like The Body Snatcher is a two man show, but this isn't really the case.  Lugosi maybe has 10 minutes of screen time, 5 of which are with Karloff. He was still a marquee name in 1945, and I found his performance quite good (no one agrees with me, but I thought he played a fearful, cowardly man quite well, who seems as surprised as the audience at his fate.).

Set in 1831 Edinburgh, the events of The Body Snatcher take place shortly after the real life horrors of Burke and Hare.  It is suggested that the two main characters, the cab man Gray (Karloff) and Dr. Wolfe "Toddy" Macfarlane (Henry Daniell) knew the infamous Dr. Knox, who paid Burke and Hare for bodies.  Gray and Macfarlane have a past which is never fully explained.  Macfarlane hates Gray.  He calls him a "cancer."  Yet, he employs him to procure bodies for his anatomy students.  Gray is obsessed with Macfarlane, taunting him with the nickname "Toddy" and showing up at inopportune times.  It is a very strange relationship.  They are both dependant on one another, and they have this love/hate relationship with each other. 

Into this twisted relationship enters sweet, naive Donald Fettes (Russell Wade), one of Macfarlane's students.  A favorite of Macfarlane, Fettes gets promoted to assistant and learns where the bodies really come from.  Although he pretends to be shocked, he quickly accepts the arrangement.  When a young girl is in desperate need of spinal surgery, Fettes begs Macfarlane of operate.  Macfarlane refuses, claiming he needs a cadaver to practice on first.  Fettes visits Gray and begs him to get a body.  Gray does, and it sure is a fresh one!  In one of the best scenes in this highly atmospheric film, we see Gray calmly make the decision to free a beggar girl from the burden of living.  When Gray delivers the body, Fettes recognizes her and realizes what Gray had done.  Macfarlane talks him out of going to the police, pulling Fettes into their spiral of madness.

I love Karloff's performance in this film.  He is menacing, but only to Toddy, whom he hates.  He is sweet to the little girl and and a gentleman to everyone else (well, with the exception of Lugosi's character.)  He is really driven mad by his obsession with the Doctor.  Again, we never really find out what went on between these two but I bet it was juicy.

In the finale we learn that Gray isn't the only mad man in this scenario.  After all the carnage only Fettes walks away relatively unscathed.  But he has certainly lost his naivety and his desire to join the medical profession.  Enjoy the trailer!

Happy Birthday Bela

As if October wasn't awesome enough, today we celebrate Bela Lugosi's Birthday!  Happy Birthday Bela.  This interview is pretty darn hokey, but it has it's charm. Enjoy.


Yikes! There was so much sexual tension I kept waiting for him to make a move!