Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Hendersonville Film Society recently screened the restored 1952 version of Daphne Du Maurier’s My Cousin Rachel. As it coincided with the release of the 2017 version, it gave me the ideal opportunity to make a comparison of the two and expand on what my colleague Michelle Keenan said in her review. I saw the two versionsContinue reading “A TALE OF TWO RACHELS: Comparing The 1952 And 2017 Versions Of MY COUSIN RACHEL (2017)”

While CURUCU is far from being a good movie, it is not as bad as its reputation would suggest. Imdb is full of negative reviews especially those before 2010 but they start to improve after that. It all depends on what you are looking for. Marketed as a horror film by Universal and double billedContinue reading “CURUCU, BEAST OF THE AMAZON (1956): Not As Bad As Its Reputation”

For one reason or another I never managed to see THE MOLE PEOPLE until recently. It’s just about the only sci-fi film from the 1950s that I didn’t see on TV during my childhood. Now that I’ve finally caught up with it, I’m glad I did. It was a lot better than many reviews IContinue reading “THE MOLE PEOPLE: Solid But Forgotten B Movie From Sci-Fi’s Golden Age”

Between 1933 and 1936, Boris Karloff returned to his native England to make three movies. For many years these three films were out of circulation and some were considered lost. They resurfaced around the turn of the century. The first two THE GHOUL and THE MAN WHO CHANGED HIS MIND are available in excellent printsContinue reading “JUGGERNAUT aka THE DEMON DOCTOR (1936)”

From 1931-1946 Boris Karloff was the undisputed “King of Horror” in American movies. However outside of the Universal horrors, his Val Lewton pictures and the Columbia “Mad Doctor” series, Karloff made 3 movies in England between 1933 and 1936. Two of these films are remarkable while the third, JUGGERNAUT, is best forgotten. The first one,Continue reading “THE MAN WHO CHANGED HIS MIND (1936): Boris’ 2nd Brit Horror Film”

Most people, even some of his fans, don’t know that Boris Karloff (1887-1969), the so-called “King of the Monsters”, was born William Henry Pratt. His parents were Anglo-Indian and Karloff had a dark complexion which was covered by make-up in his movies. He left England in 1909 for Canada where he began appearing on stageContinue reading “THE GHOUL (1933): Boris Karloff’s Homecoming Movie Is A Gem About A Gem”

I have been a fan of John Bunny since I first saw A CURE FOR POKERITIS (1912) back in 1998 as part of the SLAPSTICK ENCYCLOPEDIA box set. I had never heard of him which is saying something as I have been a silent film enthusiast since 1962 when I first saw a Harold LloydContinue reading “JOHN BUNNY: Much Needed Documentary On America’s First Comedy Superstar”

The Man Who Invented Christmas purports to tell the story of how Charles Dickens came to write A Christmas Carol. At the time (1843) the celebration of Christmas had been in decline, and it wasn’t even considered a major holiday. At this time in his career, Charles Dickens was 31, internationally famous thanks to Oliver Twist, and sufferingContinue reading “THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS: A Worthy Successor To A CHRISTMAS CAROL”

Of the countless versions of A CHRISTMAS CAROL that are out there from Reginald Owen to Bill Murray to Jim Carrey, this version from 1984 remains my personal favorite although I concede that the 1951 Alastair Sim movie is the best of the lot, I had just come through a rough patch when this versionContinue reading “A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1984): The Foremost Film Version From My Perspective”

Following in the footsteps of Boris Karloff and his resurrected dead man films (THE WALKING DEAD, THEY MAN THE COULD NOT HANG, BEFORE I HANG), Paramount decided to try their hand at the gangster/horror genre with 1941’s THE MONSTER & THE GIRL. This time rather than bringing a corpse back to life, a doctor transplantsContinue reading “THE MONSTER & THE GIRL (1941): Oddball Movie Is Both A Gangster And A Horror Film”