Author Archives: chipkaufmann

The year is 1973. English Gothic Cinema is on the run. DRACULA A.D. 1972 has brought Christopher Lee into the 20th century. Period flavor films like THE GHOUL still have motor cars and other modern trappings. Tigon Productions, one time rival to Hammer who made WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968) and THE BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW (1970)Continue reading “THE CREEPING FLESH: One Of The Last Of The Old School English Gothics”

Say the name Amicus to horror fans and immediately one word comes to mind…anthology. Anthologies or portmanteau or multi-story films were Amicus’ stock-in-trade. It helped to distinguish them from Hammer Films and from AIP (American International Pictures) who were the primary purveyors of quality low budget horror films during the 1960s and 70s. Movies withContinue reading “AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS (1973): Amicus’ Greatest Single Story Film”

THE BEAST MUST DIE, despite its rather generic horror film title, is really a rather clever 1970s reworking of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME. Big game hunter Tom Newcliffe has hunted every type of game there is. For the ultimate sport (and an untried thrill), he invites a number of people to his large English countryContinue reading “THE BEAST MUST DIE Is Better Than The Title Would Leave You To Believe”

There are many people who consider G.W. Pabst to be the finest director of German silent cinema. I am not one of them. I find his movies to be poorly paced and lacking in visual interest. They are kept afloat by their adult subject matter and by the performances of his female stars (Greta GarboContinue reading “SECRETS OF A SOUL (1926): Psychoanalytic Time Capsule Is Still Of Interest”

Finally there is a version of THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI that shows it in such a way that it is now possible to understand the impact that the film must have had on audiences in 1920. Of course in order to fully achieve that effect it is necessary to try and view CALIGARI asContinue reading “CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1919): You WILL WATCH This New Presentation”

I have waited since 1968 to see this movie which I first encountered in Carlos Claren’s seminal book AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE HORROR FILM which traces horror movies from 1895 through 1967. It has been worth the wait. In fact I was so taken with the film that I immediately watched it again andContinue reading “THE HANDS OF ORLAC (1924): Better Than CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI”

That phrase, so closely associated with Monty Python, makes for an apt description of this legendary 1922 German silent film which has been unavailable in America for many years. Made the same year as F.W. Murnau’s NOSFERATU and featuring many of the same performers, WARNING SHADOWS is like a combination of it and THE CABINETContinue reading “WARNING SHADOWS (1922): And Now For Something Completely Different”

This release marks the end of the recent silent Cecil B. DeMille double features for the time being and in many ways is the best of the lot thanks to the study in contrasts it provide. It features two films made back to back by DeMille in 1918. One is a moody psychological drama withContinue reading “OLD WIVES FOR NEW / THE WHISPERING CHORUS: A Study In Contrasts”

DON’T CHANGE YOUR HUSBAND/THE GOLDEN CHANCE is the first of at least three double bill DVDs featuring early films by Cecil B. DeMille to be released by David Shepard of Film Preservation Associates and what an inspired choice it is. It provides a rare opportunity to see one of the major filmmakers of Old HollywoodContinue reading “DON’T CHANGE YOUR HUSBAND / THE GOLDEN CHANCE: Dynamic DeMille Double Bill”

Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 film of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is one of the best known films to the generation of baby boomers born after World War II. It made an icon out of Charlton Heston and the parting of the Red Sea remains one of the most spectacular and remembered of Hollywood special effects. ItContinue reading “THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1923): DeMille’s First Version”