The 1930s and 1940s were a Golden Age of “Old Dark House” stories with such offerings as The Cat and the Canary and Horror Island populating theatres, but when you blend that “Old Dark House” setting with one of the works by the greatest Gothic writers of all time, Edgar Allan Poe, you are pretty…
Author: Mike Brooks
Film grad who spends most his time trying to catch up on his "To Watch" pile of movies.
Man-Made Monster (1941) – Review
Directed by George Waggner and starring Lon Chaney Jr, this low-budget Universal Pictures production showcases the enduring fascination with the perils of scientific experimentation and the boundaries of human control, a film that would usher in a new wave of mad science.
The Monster and the Girl (1941) – Review
What would you do if your sister was forced into prostitution and then you were framed for murder? This question is the heart of Paramount’s The Monster and the Girl, which you have to admit is a pretty good premise, but instead of being a simple revenge flick we get a savage gorilla and a…
King of the Zombies (1941) – Review
It’s hard to believe that at one time the zombie genre didn’t exist and that the “zombie” was just one of the lesser-utilized monsters populating the horror genre. Universal’s White Zombie with Bela Lugosi was one of the rare movies that took the subject matter somewhat seriously, which was definitely not the case with King…
Dr. Cyclops (1940) – Review
In today’s climate, a scientist trying to reduce humanity’s impact on the environment would most likely be considered noble character, if not a downright heroic, but in the 1940s Paramount Pictures took what could have been an altruistic premise and shifted it into the “mad scientist” genre. The result was a little classic called Dr….