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ORIGINAL 2003 REVIEW MERRY-GO-ROUND was one of those silent films which was more talked about than actually seen. This was the movie in which producer Irving Thalberg fired director Erich von Stroheim halfway through the shooting. Rupert Julian (PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) replaced him as director and was given sole credit. Thalberg would leave UniversalContinue reading “MERRY-GO-ROUND (1923): Started by Erich von Stroheim But Finished By Rupert Julian”

The career of American born director Joseph Losey ( 109-1984) is a fascinating one. He is the poster boy for the many Hollywood writers and directors who were forced to leave Hollywood because of the 195os blacklisting.  After a promising start with movies such as the allegorical THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR (1948) and a remakeContinue reading “THE SLEEPING TIGER (1954) Launched Joseph Losey’s & Dirk Bogarde’s Careers”

I am very surprised, after reading many of these comments, that most of the people commenting don’t seem to realize that MARGAM CASTLE is an intentional homage and that its “tropes” deliberately reference several well known horror movies of the past. There’s THE HAUNTING (both versions), THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, THE SIXTH SENSE, WITCHFINDERContinue reading “THE HAUNTING OF MARGAM CASTLE (2020): TV Movie Is Homage To Several Horror Films”

Back in 2017 Flicker Alley released a restored version of Irvin Willat’s 1919 BEHIND THE DOOR, an intense but forgotten World War I melodrama that still has the power to engage and shock a modern audience. Now they have released, on their Flicker Fusion series in partnership with The San Francisco Silent Film Festival, aContinue reading “BELOW THE SURFACE (1920): A Powerful Silent Drama Beautifully Restored”

ISN’T LIFE WONDERFUL was D.W. Griffith’s last independent production before he was forced to sell his Mamaroneck studio to help pay off mounting debts from his Revolutionary War epic America and his bad business practices. Though little known today compared to earlier films like BIRTH OF A NATION or INTOLERANCE, this little film, in myContinue reading “D.W. Griffith’s Last Great Film”

THE UGLY DUCKLING is a 1959 crime comedy from Hammer Films that is a parody of DR JEKYLL & MR HYDE. In fact the opening credits state that the idea was stolen from Robert Louis Stevenson. The movie, like its namesake, was unwanted for a very long time but seems to have finally come into its own.Continue reading “THE UGLY DUCKLING (1959): A Delightful Oddity From Hammer Films”

By 1961 the low budget American science fiction film was beginning to realize that its days were numbered. Entrepreneurs led by producer-director Roger Corman had discovered that it was possible to purchase quality Soviet Bloc/Iron Curtain movies (which had excellent production values) for only a few thousand dollars. The films were then brought to America whereContinue reading “PHANTOM PLANET (1961): Low Budget Sci-Fi Offering Has Its Merits”

Very few celluloid ghost stories take the less is more approach. Notable early examples are a 1942 movie called THUNDER ROCK which dealt with an embittered lighthouse keeper who encounters the ghosts of those who drowned near his lighthouse. Then there was Hollywood’s 1944 offering, THE UNINVITED. Next year came the watershed anthology DEAD OF NIGHTContinue reading “THE AWAKENING (2011): A Derivative But Excellent Ghost Story That Should Be Better Known”

In 1929 Carl Laemmle, the founder and head of Universal Pictures, decided to make his son, 21 year old Carl Junior, the head of production at the studio. The fact that Junior had no previous production experience was no big deal. Carl Sr. was famous for his nepotism. When the family was forced to sell Universal in 1936,Continue reading “KING OF JAZZ (1930): Junior Lammle’s Folly Is A Fantastic Time Capsule”

1932 was a remarkable  year in film for Bela Lugosi. After his success in DRACULA the previous year, he made 5 movies for 5 different studios. After starting out with MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE for Universal, he made WHITE ZOMBIE for United Artists, CHANDU THE MAGICIAN for Fox, THE DEATH KISS for KBS Productions, and finallyContinue reading “THE DEATH KISS (1932) Is Not A Horror Film Despite Bela Lugosi”