Behind the Couch

1935 Dir. Stuart Walker While travelling through Tibet in search of a mysterious flower that only blooms in moonlight, renowned botanist Dr. Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull) is attacked by a werewolf. When he returns to London, Glendon begins to undergo a terrifying transformation, the only antidote for which appears to be the plant he is researching... Produced by Universal in the wake of the success of Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy , Werewolf of London was the first mainstream Hollywood werewolf film. It established several precedents which later became significant mainstays of werewolf cinema, such as the idea of lycanthropy as a contagious disease, the influence of the full moon on the werewolf’s transformation, and the spiritual torment suffered by the tragic male protagonist as he desperately attempts to find a cure for his monstrous condition. As the eponymous beast, Hull delivers a performance that invites much sympathy; prior to his encounter with a werewolf, Dr Gl...

I recently conducted an interview with artist Ryan Case for Fangoria . Case's striking paintings of the enduring icons of fright cinema have gained him comparisons with the likes of Basil Gogos, an artist renowned for capturing the underlying melancholy of the classic Universal Monsters. Head over to Fangoria.com to check it out.  The following interview was posted to Fangoria.com in December 2011 INTERVIEW WITH ARTIST RYAN CASE Posted by James Gracey 30 year old self-taught artist Ryan Case was born and raised in Maysville, Kentucky. An avid fan of horror since childhood, Case is rapidly gaining recognition for his fervent paintings of the enduring icons of horror cinema. Drawing favorable comparisons to the likes of Basil Gogos, his work – usually exhibiting an experimental mixture of mediums including acrylic, watercolors, and spray paints - incorporates livid colors, striking compositions and a punkish, graffiti-like aesthetic. FANGO recently caught up with Case to dis...

The Mummy 1932 Dir. Karl Freund Egypt, 1921. A team of British archaeologists led by Sir Joseph Whemple uncover the mummified remains of Imhotep, an ancient high priest. When one young archaeologist reads from a sacred scroll, the Mummy comes to life – and the young man becomes delirious, eventually going insane. 10 years later Sir Joseph returns to Egypt with his son Frank. Unknown to them, the Mummy has revived itself and now exists as Ardath Bay, a mysterious man who helps the expedition uncover the tomb of his ancient love. Ardath Bay/Imhotep wants to be reunited with his love, but in order to that, the woman she has been reincarnated as, Helen Grosvenor, must die… The opening scene of this classic horror tale contains one of the most chilling moments in early horror cinema. After having inadvertently resurrected the Mummy, which we see slowly opening its eyes as the scroll’s contents are recited, Ralph Norton (Bramwell Fletcher), a young archaeologist, sets about studying t...

Dir. Tod Browning After my post yesterday about Bram Stoker and the fact that the whole of Dublin is reading Dracula this month , I found myself craving a peek at Universal’s classic adaptation of Stoker’s novel again. Featuring Bela Lugosi in his most iconic role, and some of the most memorable imagery from the whole Dracula mythos, courtesy of controlled direction from Tod Browning, Dracula is always a darkly bewitching film to indulge in. Opening with the spooky bit from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake , a highly dramatic and romanticised mood is instantly evoked. This adaptation opts to open with Renfield, not Jonathan Harker, travelling to Transylvania on business with the mysterious Count Dracula. Now seeming like rudimentary cliché, he stops off briefly at a local inn and is warned of the dastardly Count and his dubious ways. Quashing the local’s protests to turn back and ignoring their hushed whispers of ‘the Nosferatu’, he continues on his way and meets with a sinister carriage...

1934 Dir. Edgar G. Ulmer Fifteen years after he was made a prisoner-of-war by his general's betrayal, Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi) has tracked down the old friend who betrayed him; crazed architect and Satanic priest Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff). Poelzig's menacing Hungarian abode, built on the mass grave of 10,000 soldiers who died because of his treachery in WW1, is the place where the two wage a dark, psychological battle, with the lives and souls of stranded honey-mooning American couple Joan and Peter Allison (Jacqueline Wells and David Manners) as the wager. The Black Cat is a significant genre entry for many reasons, the most obvious being that it was the first film that featured both Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi together. Despite the title however, The Black Cat does not resemble the titular tale by Edgar Allan Poe. Indeed the only relevance the title bears to the film itself is that Lugosi’s character suffers from Ailurophobia (fear of cats). While a ...