The 14 Greatest Horror Films Of The 1940s in Golden Age Horror Forum

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The 14 Greatest Horror Films Of The 1940s

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bela lugosi		#21	[-]
Apr 14 12 2:26 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	ISLE OF THE DEAD is really good! I love RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE as well though. Both are very good.
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jamesenstein31		#22	[-]
Apr 14 12 11:45 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	bela lugosi wrote: ISLE OF THE DEAD is really good! I love RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE as well though. Both are very good. If I ever do a list of best scenes from each decade(which actually sounds like fun!) RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE may get a nod, just for that shocking bit of early grue, when Bela melts in the sun! I saw that when I was six, as I had already seen clips in DRACULA-THE GREAT UNDEAD, and loved it! It's not a great film, but a highly enjoyable B and Lugosi plays an even more diabolic vampire than Dracula!
jamesenstein31		#23	[-]
Apr 14 12 11:48 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rick wrote: I dearly love RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE. It was the first real, non-comic horror film I ever saw. But, personally, I think there's no way it compares with ISLE OF THE DEAD. I know lots of folk consider ISLE as lesser Lewton, but not me. I think it's a great horror film and would rank second or third on my Lewton list. Plus, Karloff delivers one of his most complex performances. It's a very good one and a wonderful study in paranoia and how it can warp one's perceptions. I rarely see it discussed. BEDLAM was even better, but frankly, that one would have really stretched it for a horror. Karloff himself called it a "historical picture" and he's right.
dcwillis9		#24	[-]
Apr 14 12 1:45 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've heard that Karloff had a cold or the flu hampering him while making Isle of the Dead, but it doesn't hamper him that much....
jamesenstein31		#25	[-]
Apr 14 12 1:48 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Karloff was a pro. That guy rarely had a shoddy performance.
Rick		#26	[-]
Apr 14 12 1:50 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	ISLE OF THE DEAD's production was odd. If I remember correctly, they started shooting, Karloff's back went flooey and he (I think) had to have surgery. When he recuperated, Lewton put him directly into THE BODY SNATCHER, then went back and finished ISLE OF THE DEAD. I know it seems unlikely and ill-planned, but I'm pretty sure that's what I've read. edit: Actually, it sounded so screwy that I had to check. I pulled Stephen Jacobs' Rondo-winning Boris Karloff: More than a Monster off the shelf, and here's what I found. July 13, 1944 --ISLE OF THE DEAD begins shooting with an unwell Karloff in a wheelchair between shots July 21, 1944-- Karloff enters hospital for an operation and production shuts down...doctor advises Boris can't work for at least a month...Lewton begins script and pre-production work on THE BODY SNATCHER October 25, 1944-- Karloff, Lewton and Co. begin shooting THE BODY SNATCHER November 17, 1944 -- end of shooting on THE BODY SNATCHER December 1, 1944 -- shooting resumes on ISLE OF THE DEAD December 12, 1944 -- end of shooting on ISLE OF THE DEAD Like I said... "Screwy...ain't it??" Last Edited By: Rick Apr 14 12 2:14 PM. Edited 1 times.
jamesenstein31		#27	[-]
Apr 14 12 2:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rick wrote: ISLE OF THE DEAD's production was odd. If I remember correctly, they started shooting, Karloff's back went flooey and he (I think) had to have surgery. When he recuperated, Lewton put him directly into THE BODY SNATCHER, then went back and finished ISLE OF THE DEAD. I know it seems unlikely and ill-planned, but I'm pretty sure that's what I've read. edit: Actually, it sounded so screwy that I had to check. I pulled Stephen Jacobs' Rondo-winning Boris Karloff: More than a Monster off the shelf, and here's what I found. July 13, 1944 --ISLE OF THE DEAD begins shooting with an unwell Karloff in a wheelchair between shots July 21, 1944-- Karloff enters hospital for an operation and production shuts down...doctor advises Boris can't work for at least a month...Lewton begins script and pre-production work on THE BODY SNATCHER October 25, 1944-- Karloff, Lewton and Co. begin shooting THE BODY SNATCHER November 17, 1944 -- end of shooting on THE BODY SNATCHER December 1, 1944 -- shooting resumes on ISLE OF THE DEAD December 12, 1944 -- end of shooting on ISLE OF THE DEAD Like I said... "Screwy...ain't it??" Cool! I never knew that. I've always meant to get that book, as i've heard it's fantastic.
Rick		#28	[-]
Apr 15 12 12:17 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've always meant to get that book, as i've heard it's fantastic. It's a terrific book, easily the best, most thorough Karloff biography we've had to date (and I have about a dozen on my shelf). Well-deserving of its Rondo. And if I can convince a couple of people to buy it, maybe Stephen will forgive me for so casually pilfering his hard-earned research.
strangenstein		#29	[-]
Apr 15 12 9:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	dcwillis9 wrote: I love to hear love for Isle of the Dead! Sending in some more love for Isle of the Dead. Great acting, creepy atmosphere and about the spookiest 5 or 10 minutes near the end that I've ever seen. Hey dc, also wanted to thank you for your earlier list, in which you mentioned the Chan film DEAD MEN TELL. I'm a big Chan fan and that's one of my favorites, too. Strangenstein
pulp novelties		#30	[-]
Apr 16 12 1:31 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'd say ISLE OF THE DEAD is my favorite Lewton. I've always had them all in one format or another, but ISLE is the one I've watched and re-watched the most. I'm a sucker for morbidity I guess, and ISLE is rather ponderous on mortality. I would also rank Ms Saint Aubyn"s resurrection as one of the strongest moments of suspense in the series.
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jamesenstein31		#31	[-]
Apr 16 12 11:07 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yeah, that resurrection scene was one of the great horror moments. Last Edited By: jamesenstein31 Apr 16 12 1:46 PM. Edited 1 times.
Rick		#32	[-]
Apr 16 12 12:01 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The first time I saw ISLE OF THE DEAD was on a Late Show screening in the '60s. There were lots of commercial interruptions that night, but none during the entire length of Mrs. St. Aubyn's awakening, escape, and stroll. Might be it just worked out that way, but I always preferred to think that someone at the TV station had pre-screened the movie and decided, "we can't interrupt that."
jamesenstein31		#33	[-]
Apr 16 12 1:48 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have to note out, that while THE LEOPARD MAN did not make the list, that one had two of the best fright scenes of ANY decade that i've seen. Lewton films all had at least one great moment that we could anthologize, though outside of CAT PEOPLE, they rarely are.
jamesenstein31		#34	[-]
Apr 16 12 1:49 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rick wrote: The first time I saw ISLE OF THE DEAD was on a Late Show screening in the '60s. There were lots of commercial interruptions that night, but none during the entire length of Mrs. St. Aubyn's awakening, escape, and stroll. Might be it just worked out that way, but I always preferred to think that someone at the TV station had pre-screened the movie and decided, "we can't interrupt that." I WISH there were late shows that played stuff like that today!
pulp novelties		#35	[-]
Apr 16 12 4:26 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rick wrote: The first time I saw ISLE OF THE DEAD was on a Late Show screening in the '60s. There were lots of commercial interruptions that night, but none during the entire length of Mrs. St. Aubyn's awakening, escape, and stroll. Might be it just worked out that way, but I always preferred to think that someone at the TV station had pre-screened the movie and decided, "we can't interrupt that." ISLE was one of the first non-monster horror films I'd ever seen as a kid, and it was shown on local PBS affiliate movie-slot called "Marque Theater." The host was this chubby guy named Tom Weston, who was condescending every time he was saddled with introducing a horror film, and this was no exception. The second time was on an early Nostalgia Merchant rental, and my older movie-buff friend decided to laugh at Karloff's hair for the whole thing. It's a wonder I like it as much as I do.
Rick		#36	[-]
Apr 16 12 6:58 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	my older movie-buff friend decided to laugh at Karloff's hair for the whole thing. Reminds me of my first viewings of some of these films. My first Karloffilm was FRANKENSTEIN 1970 and, while I understood that it was Karloff in the lead role, I just couldn't get my head around this old man being the monster, Karloff. My second Boris movie was ISLE OF THE DEAD and I had big problems accepting that the army officer was Karloff. It wasn't so much the hair (though that didn't help) as the body type. He looked so skinny. How could that guy have been the Frankenstein Monster? Just didn't seem possible. I had similar problems with Lugosi. I saw him first very much in Dracula mode, seeing ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN and RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE within weeks of each other when I was just 7. Then 5 years later when I saw him again, it was in DRACULA. Same look. Next, though, came THE BODY SNATCHER. Again, there was just no way to believe that drab, mousy, soft little man could be Bela Lugosi. I was about half split as to whether Lugosi played Joseph or Dr. MacFarlane. Neither seemed a likely suspect at the time. All in all, it made for some confusion in my monster movie watching. I found myself avoiding too much conversation with my friends about the leading actors and what roles they played 'cause I wasn't at all sure I had it right.
jamesenstein31		#37	[-]
Apr 16 12 7:15 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rick wrote: my older movie-buff friend decided to laugh at Karloff's hair for the whole thing. Reminds me of my first viewings of some of these films. My first Karloffilm was FRANKENSTEIN 1970 and, while I understood that it was Karloff in the lead role, I just couldn't get my head around this old man being the monster, Karloff. My second Boris movie was ISLE OF THE DEAD and I had big problems accepting that the army officer was Karloff. It wasn't so much the hair (though that didn't help) as the body type. He looked so skinny. How could that guy have been the Frankenstein Monster? Just didn't seem possible. I had similar problems with Lugosi. I saw him first very much in Dracula mode, seeing ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN and RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE within weeks of each other when I was just 7. Then 5 years later when I saw him again, it was in DRACULA. Same look. Next, though, came THE BODY SNATCHER. Again, there was just no way to believe that drab, mousy, soft little man could be Bela Lugosi. I was about half split as to whether Lugosi played Joseph or Dr. MacFarlane. Neither seemed a likely suspect at the time. All in all, it made for some confusion in my monster movie watching. I found myself avoiding too much conversation with my friends about the leading actors and what roles they played 'cause I wasn't at all sure I had it right. When I started learning about monsters as a kid, I was always amazed to hear how many parts these guys played. Karloff was particularly amazing, considering he was The Monster and The Mummy! I also developed an obsession for Lon Chaney when I was in Junior High and sought out all the books I could find on him. I still own Michael Blake's Films of Lon Chaney and the inaccurate, but charming, Faces, Forms, Films by Robert Anderson. Chaney's makeup always astounded me. Seriously, the stuff that guy did...simply amazing.
pulp novelties		#38	[-]
Apr 16 12 8:02 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I was a mummy fanatic before ever even seeing my first mummy movie, I even snapped the arms off one of my dolls and papier-mached him to look like a wrapped mummy. I was just in love with the whole mummy concept. Then it happened, the Friday night I was to get home from a school retreat, THE MUMMY was going to be broadcast at midnight, and I had permission to stay up. I bored all the other kids on the bus with my excitement over the prospect of finally seeing it, and couldn't wait to get home. I was all set in front of my little B/W TV at 11:45. Then the next thing I knew, I awoke to a test pattern at 3 am., I'd slept through the whole damn thing! The second time it aired I made sure I didn't fall asleep, but felt totally ripped off that Karloff didn't spend the whole film wrapped in bandages and crusty. Later I'd come to respect the choice of Karloff's mummy being more of an evil sorcerer than than a bandaged, dessicated zombie, but it took a couple years.
jamesenstein31		#39	[-]
Apr 16 12 9:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	pulp novelties wrote: I was a mummy fanatic before ever even seeing my first mummy movie, I even snapped the arms off one of my dolls and papier-mached him to look like a wrapped mummy. I was just in love with the whole mummy concept. Then it happened, the Friday night I was to get home from a school retreat, THE MUMMY was going to be broadcast at midnight, and I had permission to stay up. I bored all the other kids on the bus with my excitement over the prospect of finally seeing it, and couldn't wait to get home. I was all set in front of my little B/W TV at 11:45. Then the next thing I knew, I awoke to a test pattern at 3 am., I'd slept through the whole damn thing! The second time it aired I made sure I didn't fall asleep, but felt totally ripped off that Karloff didn't spend the whole film wrapped in bandages and crusty. Later I'd come to respect the choice of Karloff's mummy being more of an evil sorcerer than than a bandaged, dessicated zombie, but it took a couple years. THE MUMMY was the first Universal Monster movie I got on video when I was a kid. This was during that early 90s explosion, and I too, was excited about the mummy! However, my first reaction was somewhat confused as six year old me tried to find out where the mummy was in THE MUMMY! I remember much preferring the Hammer version with it's Terminator-in bandages interpretation, but years later, onwards towards the double digits, I realized that the 1932 version was such a supremely moody and poetic film. It has since become one of my ten favorite horror films and those Karloff eyes still give me the chills. My best friend has also claimed it as one of his personal faves.
strangenstein		#40	[-]
Apr 16 12 9:50 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	pulp novelties wrote: ...I was all set in front of my little B/W TV at 11:45. Then the next thing I knew, I awoke to a test pattern at 3 am., I'd slept through the whole damn thing! Oh, the heartbreak of being a monster kid. Been there many times, pulp novelties.
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The 14 Greatest Horror Films Of The 1940s