THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1946) in Golden Age Horror Forum

Forum Jump

THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1946)

Author	Comment
porta		#41	[-]
Mar 21 08 3:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A sinister-eye specialist, you mean?
	Remove this ad
Psu96		#42	[-]
Jul 11 08 9:53 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I recorded this off of TCM a couple of weeks ago after reading this thread and wasn't disappointed. Loads of atmosphere and tension even though the killer's identity wasn't hard to work out. One of the greatest things about this board for me is the ability to tap into the vast movie knowledge of the group and discover hidden horror gems that I wasn't aware of. Spiral Staircase is just another example. Thanks to all who recommended it.
Doc Carruthers		#43	[-]
Jul 11 08 10:22 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I love that 'Spiral Staircase' has finally started to reach a wider audience among horror fans. It took a lot of looking around before I'd finally caught up with it years ago and I've since borrowed it from libraries, or rented it whenever able, until finally it was released officially in '05 (could never get a copy of the Anchor Bay disc)..I was at the store the minute it hit the shelves...Anyway, I pulled an earlier post of mine from an "Art Gallery" type thread I'd previoiusly tried to get going. Thought it would be a nice re-post here. Hope some of you new fans to the film enjoy the images. As this has long been a favorite of mine I thought it would be a good place to start a discussion of it's poster art. I've included a couple of American one-sheets and a magazine ad image, along with the art from an Italian poster which comes from a later re-release and is in that distinct style, namely a lurid giallo feel. Many of the crew that were gathered together for this film were also apart of the Lewton films and it shows quite a bit I think. Nick Musuraca's work is stunning and just one of the reasons I love it so much. The image on the left is really nice, without using the touchstone image of the title staircase, it creates a romantic, lonely image of Dorothy McGuire as her character Helen Chapel. And Thanks to Imageshack! "Your brain is too feeble to concieve what I have accomplished!!" Last Edited By: Doc Carruthers Jul 27 08 12:14 PM. Edited 2 times.
LesDaniels		#44	[-]
Jul 11 08 9:20 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Nice pix, Doc!
Cadaverino		#45	[-]
Jul 27 08 11:36 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Pardon me, but did they put an unsubtle nipple on Dorothy McGuire in that third poster?
Rick		#46	[-]
Jul 28 08 11:36 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Posters are made by fools like me But only God can make her so nipply.
Cameron McCasland		#47	[-]
Jul 29 08 9:24 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	a good friend showed me this on the anchor bay disc, and it made me crazy i couldn't get it at the time. good stuff.
Rick		#48	[-]
Feb 8 10 2:48 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Bumping this thread to point out the terrific piece at Greenbriar Picture Shows. As John suggests, maybe it's time we proudly planted the Horror Film flag on THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE and claimed it for our own. http://greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.com/
CreepingBride		#49	[-]
Jul 29 10 9:28 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rick wrote: �maybe it's time we proudly planted the Horror�Film flag on THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE and claimed it for our own � � A young, traumatized, family-less caregiver; a dying bed-ridden matriarch who knows more than she’s saying; a repressed bourgeois master of the house; his smirking, decadent, and vaguely sinister half-brother; and a labyrinthine mansion, lashed by a rainstorm and boasting dark corners, banging shutters, and a spooky, cluttered basement-wine cellar… This febrile RKO gothic meller is formulaic, but it’s as good a formula as the recipe for Grandma’s tasty chocolate-chip cookies, and wouldn’t you like to tuck into a plate of those right now? �� I watched this the other night during a wicked late-night summer thunderstorm… I can’t remember when I saw it last (probably after school in the fifth grade on the “4:30 Movie”) and I’m amazed that it didn’t make a bigger impression on me back then, especially given the German Expressionist tidbits that Robert Siodmak sprinkles around here & there . It’s certainly not perfect—for example, there are a score of giallo-like narrative holes and inconsistencies that you really shouldn’t ponder. And try this drinking game: every time a character in THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE walks unnoticed into a room in the mansion and sees/hears/does something that she/he wasn’t supposed to, drink a shot of whiskey. But there are a lot of worthwhile things that do work here, from Dorothy McGuire rockin’ her silent-movie chops to Nicholas Musuraca’s cinematography to Elsa Lanchester getting wasted on a bottle of her boss’s brandy. Overall, Rick is right—isn’t it time that we planted the horror movie flag in this one? trailer: Last Edited By: CreepingBride Jul 29 10 9:44 PM. Edited 2 times.
LesDaniels		#50	[-]
Jul 30 10 1:07 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I started this thread years ago by proclaiming "this is a real horror film," but I guess it doesn't count when I say it. Nobody appreciates me! Sob...
	Remove this ad
CreepingBride		#51	[-]
Jul 30 10 2:56 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	No slight intended, LesDaniels... it's just that my memory-chip is shot. Actually, my parting comment was a stupid thing to say... after all, that is precisely what the thread is about and precisely what we are all doing. So what am I whining about, anyway?
Rick		#52	[-]
Jul 30 10 3:43 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Les, if it makes you feel any better, I'll tell everybody who'll listen that I stole the idea from you. Now...who's listening?
LesDaniels		#53	[-]
Jul 30 10 8:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Me! Me! I'm listening!
DrPaulArmstrong		#54	[-]
Aug 2 10 10:11 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Horror. Yes. Absolutely. All the way. And not just because I always agree with Les. But it certainly helps.
LesDaniels		#55	[-]
Aug 2 10 3:08 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Can't wait to see your own old dark house in a thunderstorm, Doc, but I guess I gotta....
DrPaulArmstrong		#56	[-]
Aug 2 10 4:43 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Only a couple of weeks, Les--street date's comin' right up.
todmichel		#57	[-]
Aug 2 10 5:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Quote: "Maybe there was an actor who specialized in "sinister eyes." Maybe Ben Turpin?
Uncle Bingo		#58	[-]
Jun 6 11 7:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It is for films like this that I first sought out the CHFB. The Spiral Staircase looks very intriguing so I just ordered a copy along with the Hammer Series set. I'm looking forward to checking it out! If it is in the same vein as The Haunting and The Innocents in tone and cinematography, than I'm sure I'll be delighted to find a new rare gem.
Monsterpal		#59	[-]
Jun 11 11 4:34 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	No ghosts in this one, Unk, but an excellent Gothic all the way.
CapnDunsel		#60	[-]
Jun 11 11 9:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	todmichel wrote: Quote: "Maybe there was an actor who specialized in "sinister eyes." Maybe Ben Turpin? Or Bette Davis. Everyone thinks she was a spy because she had...Bette Davis eyes.* *Pop song from 1980s song if you dont get the reference
	Remove this ad

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

Add Reply

Yuku free message boards

THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1946)