Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors in Golden Age Horror Forum

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Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors

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Joe Karlosi	Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	Lead	[-]
Jan 17 05 6:28 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm going to be doing one of these for the 1930s and a separate thread to cover the 1940s. Which single 1930s Horror film do you feel is OVERRATED and which would you consider UNDERRATED? Please try to tell us WHY! Overrated: VAMPYR (1932) - While I definitely consider it visually striking, I tend to find it pretty dull and hard to get into. (Runners-Up: FREAKS, and THE MUMMY) Underrated: THE RAVEN (1935) - I never thought I'd have to defend this one, but in recent years it seems it's been open season on THE RAVEN throughout fandom! I think it's briskly paced, features one of Lugosi's juiciest parts, is full of macabre mayhem, and is just a grand good time. It may suffer in the shadow of THE BLACK CAT, but it confounds me that genre fans don't have more fun with it. Last Edited By: Joe Karlosi Apr 1 10 6:14 AM. Edited 2 times.
Joe Karlosi	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#1	[-]
Jul 24 05 5:50 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Another interesting thread vanished (aaarrrggghhhhh!) Please re-post your thoughts here, everyone. Last Edited By: Joe Karlosi Nov 3 09 3:39 PM. Edited 2 times.
Ron Prescott	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#2	[-]
Jul 24 05 8:44 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Most overrated-THE BLACK CAT Most underrated-MURDERS IN THE ZOO
JT Soister	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#3	[-]
Jul 24 05 2:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Over - Vampyr. (I'm with you, Joe!) Under - WereWolf of London
son of metaldams	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#4	[-]
Jul 24 05 4:37 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	OVERRATED: Got to agree about VAMPYR (1932). Some very striking scenes visually, especially the coffin eye view camera shot, but VAMPYR has never gelled as a whole for me the few times I've watched it. Though not horror, I prefer Dreyer's THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC much more. UNDERRATED: SUPERNATURAL (1933). If not an all-time great, certainly a minor classic that has a great atmosphere, interesting camera work, and some spooky performances. THE DEVIL-DOLL (1936): Lionel Barrymore is wonderful in this Lon Chaney like portrayal. The scenes with the shrunken people committing murders are awesome, I am almost moved to tears every time I see the touching ending. SVENGALI (1931): A film that needs to be included in more horror discussions. My favorite Barrymore, John, strikes in this one. Scum!
Michael Elliott	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#5	[-]
Jul 25 05 1:33 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	OVERRATED: Any Tod Browning film. UNDERRATED: The Raven
SFfilmfan	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#6	[-]
Jul 25 05 3:09 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Most Overrated: Dwain Esper's MANIAC. Yeah, it's famed for being bad, but it simply isn't that good of a bad movie. Most Underrated: The Invisible Ray (great Karloff and Lugosi film doesn't get mentioned nearly as much as it deserves).
Imhoteps Ashes	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#7	[-]
Jul 27 05 4:05 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Overrated: FREAKS. Talky, stagy, drab and dull - more so than DRACULA, with Browning lacking Karl Freund. Age has rendered the scenes of deformity quaint little curiosity pieces, and the acting of the freaks seriously damages the picture's (limited) credibility. There are only two standout sequences - the monstrous wedding banquet, and the all-too-short (severely edited) vengenance of the freaks as they crawl after Cleopatra in the storm. A certain bilious cloud hangs over the film, as Browning subjects you to distortion and forced horror. Underrated: MARK OF THE VAMPIRE & THE RAVEN. The former is oft-maligned, but if you approach on first viewing with a certain air of disappointment (as this viewer did) there's still much to enjoy. James Wong Howe's moody compositions have rarely been equalled (particularly a breathtaking shot of Lugosi gliding through the French windows); Lugosi and Borland are among the most picturesque and menacing "vampires" of thirties cinema, if not all time; the supporting cast is a joy, especially the two Lionels, clearly enjoying their parts, and Michael Visaroff's return as an innkeeper; the classic one-liners that close the film, and remarkable set dressings. Charles D. Hall, eat your heart out!MGM were keen to make up after the FREAKS fiasco. The latter, being sandwiched between THE BLACK CAT and THE INVISIBLE RAY (also underappreciated) has been sadly overlooked, notable to reviewers mainly for Lugosi's bombastic performance. Yet, Karloff also supplies a memorable characterisation, making full use of his breathy, petulant voice; Irene Ware is beautiful, but remains down-to-earth and realistic; the sets and musical score - both mainly recycled from THE BLACK CAT and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN - are used sensibly and atmospherically, adding to the picture's "nostalgia value"; the Jack Pierce makeup is suitably nightmarish, and would have adorned the Claude Rains PHANTOM OF THE OPERA quite gruesomely and well, and Lugosi delivers a classic performance - sleek and sadistic but (thanks to a substandard Lester Matthews) the most sympathetic character in the film. We feel drawn to the mad Bela more than anybody else! "I'll show you what horror means!" - Fredric March, DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE (1932)
DrPaulArmstrong	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#8	[-]
Jul 31 05 11:30 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Underrated: (well, as of this thread) VAMPYR. I find it transporting. Underrated: TERROR ABOARD. Little known, really deserves an audience. Overrated: DRACULA
BrianDesmond	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#9	[-]
Jul 31 05 1:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	TERROR ABOARD. I stupidly, clumsily, foolishly listed this in 1930s films. talk about white wine impact. anyhow, I should have added Charlie Ruggles is not as annoying in this as he is in MURDERS IN THE ZOO. My print is from THE FANG so it is only fair. SPOILER: WOULD HAVE liked to have seen the Halliday character suffer a little longer! one mean nasty guy. sharks too good for him.
Joe Karlosi	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#10	[-]
Jul 31 05 8:16 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* Overrated: DRACULA Do you really still think so? I always find it interesting whenever someone mentions this film as being OVERRATED, as I kind of think the pendulum has long swung against it for the past 20 years or so now! :) I may even call it UNDERRATED! It's weird, but this seems to be one film that can go either way today... ------------------------------------ "It's MORE ... than a hobby!"
Poelzig	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#11	[-]
Jul 31 05 10:14 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Over rated, Without a doubt Dreyer's Vampyr,his Passion of Joan of Arc is a better horror film. Under rated, Doctor X,though I doubt if that's true here,but almost everywhere else no one even knows about it.
Prince Saliano	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#12	[-]
Jul 31 05 10:29 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	THE OLD DARK HOUSE is over-rated. THE RAVEN and MARK OF THE VAMPIRE are under-rated.
Imhoteps Ashes	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#13	[-]
Aug 1 05 4:23 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* THE RAVEN and MARK OF THE VAMPIRE are under-rated. We are kindred spirits, then! "I'll show you what horror means!" - Fredric March, DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE (1932)
Rhuvaughn Pynnonen	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#14	[-]
Aug 1 05 3:52 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<<It's weird, but this seems to be one film that can go either way today...>> Oddly enough, I think DRACULA is both over-rated AND under-rated. It's certainly not the classic many people say it is, and the scorn I've read heaped upon it is equally unwarranted. It's got a lot going for it, especially the first thirty minutes or so, then Tod Browning runs on fumes for the remainder of the running time. It's sort of the cinematic equivalent of Franz Kafka's THE METAMORPHOSIS. It starts out with a bang, and goes downhill all the way.
Chesterbelloc	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#15	[-]
Aug 1 05 7:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Overrated: Perhaps not quite a horror film, but I've always felt that ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES has an inflated reputation. It certainly has its moments, but the story is a tangled mess. I prefer several of the Universal Holmes films to this one. Underrated: On the same note, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES is pretty underrated. It's often dismissed as "stagy" or slow, but it has the best plot of all of the Rathbone Holmes films, and the supporting cast is top drawer. Also underrated: THE GHOUL. Even Karloff himself hated it, but the recent MGM DVD revealed a first rate thirties chiller, with a great cast and superb atmosphere.
Imhoteps Ashes	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#16	[-]
Aug 2 05 4:28 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Like MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, THE GHOUL is buried in atmosphere. The DVD print is quite spectacular. And definitely underrated. Cedric Hardwicke, Boris Karloff, Ernest Thesiger, Ancient Egyptian curses... What's not to love? The same studio's JUGGERNAUT, on the other hand, is really quite poor, possibly Karloff's worst 30's film. "I'll show you what horror means!" - Fredric March, DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE (1932)
Joe Karlosi	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#17	[-]
Aug 2 05 5:09 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* And definitely underrated. Cedric Hardwicke, Boris Karloff, Ernest Thesiger, Ancient Egyptian curses... What's not to love? For openers, that the film starts off well and then everything comes to a grinding halt until it resumes again late in the picture! ------------------------------------ "It's MORE ... than a hobby!"
Poelzig	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#18	[-]
Aug 2 05 5:29 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I dunno Joe,I quite like THE GHOUL,though I do see your point.Thesiger's snooping about really makes this one a joy.
DrPaulArmstrong	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#19	[-]
Aug 2 05 5:42 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<<Oddly enough, I think DRACULA is both over-rated AND under-rated. It's certainly not the classic many people say it is, and the scorn I've read heaped upon it is equally unwarranted. It's got a lot going for it, especially the first thirty minutes or so, then Tod Browning runs on fumes for the remainder of the running time.>> I would agree with this. Kinda depends who you talk to. I should qualify that it's definitely NOT overrated, for instance, on these boards. More in the "world at large".
Arch Stanton	Re: Your Most OVERRATED and UNDERRATED 1930s Horrors	#20	[-]
Aug 6 05 5:05 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'll definitely go with DRACULA as overrated. As a matter of fact, I think it's really a bad film. And I think it was a bad film even when it first came out. Just look at FRANKENSTEIN and you can see how ponderous and uninvolving it was at the time. Its saving grace was the first twenty minutes and the generally bizarre subject matter. Everything else was terrible...yes, even Lugosi. Talk about a wishy-washy performance. One minute he's really creepy, the next he's hilarious. I can't tell you how many times I've winced at people making fun of horror films by using the Lugosi version of Dracula. "I vant to drink your blood!" It makes me sick, and it pretty much ruined the idea of Dracula for decades to come. Sorry, but the sooner Browning's DRACULA is forgotten, the better. (Unfortunately, Lugosi's rendition will never die, thanks to bad film critics and marketing people -- which are just about the same thing.) However, Lugosi was perfectly fine as Dracula in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN.

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