The Wolf Man (1941)
Claude Rains and Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr star in this film that has been parodied, rebooted and subjected to the indignity of a horrific sequel. Larry has a psychological collapse in this non terrifying film. This has some indelible images which carries more power than quality. This was not majestic and Larry Talbot faces horrifying times as he returns to his clammy home.
Larry is a creepy weirdo in 1940s Wales. There is no delightful abandon. This was not deeply troubling and it has no emotional heft. This was ridiculous and not truly terrifying. This was spectacularly stupid. This does not mercilessly ratchet up the tension. This was career defining for Chaney Jr. This was pure pulpy madness and it was not pleasingly hokey.
There is no sense of place. This was not tense. This has no fiendish strokes of genius. People are not morally obligated to do decent acting. This was not meaningful. There are no horrific realities. Gypsies lurk and there is no brutal descent into madness. A series of unspeakable atrocities take place in this notoriously dour film. Larry is beyond hope.
There are mythologised tensions. This was comical and obtuse and not oddly powerful. There is a fog of insanity and Eldritch beasts. There is no unimaginable brutality. This was not compelling or creepy or heart rending or bone chilling. Larry won't do enforced reclusivness. People end up dead.
This was shabby and not rapturously received. There are no deeper motivations just moral judgements and growing concern. This was horrible. There is a deliberate plot. Larry is selfish, egotistical and tone deaf. There are diatribes by deeply critical people. This was fundamentally wrong. Truly evil things are done and romantic prospects go awry.
The locals are actively and overtly hostile. This was extremely tedious and aggressively dull and it lacks narrative energy. This was not a macabre psychodrama just an insipid mess full of emotionally vacant types, noise and disorder. There is no intensity just unrelenting absolutism and simmering anger. This is exhausting. Larry is disillusioned. There is bleak reality. Larry is repudiated and people have no objectivity.
This was not deliciously sinister just glacial and lingering. This is no exotic milieu and this was not endearing. A twisted web of deception is weaved. This was diabolical and not mordantly witty or playful. There are the strictures of iconography. There is no profound sense of place and there is bad acting and there are furtive gypsies.
People are not uncannily perceptive. There is no interiority just implications. People are increasingly disaffected. This was unforgivably one note. There is a lack of frightening moments. Damage is wreaked on the community. The plot is gnarled and knotted. Larry is non aligned. The fallout from Larry becoming a werewolf is deadly. People race pell mell screaming. Larry is a cipher.
Larry is leering sleazy man. People whisper in the shadows. This was grim but not compelling. There is a giddy tiresome woman. There are implausibilities. Larry is earnest. There is no traumatic reality or happy resolution. Larry has privilege and an aloof facade. Larry shows off his vest and grows hair. He is not a terrifying spectre.
There are moral dilemmas and no complex social issues. This was not uniquely surreal and this is whimsy. This was not absorbing. This was not ambitious or inventive. This was ultimately disappointing. Larry has a haunted split identity. He is on a dark path. There is wonky plotting and dialogue. This was a mid ranking Scooby-Do ep.
Larry is alleged to be Welsh but has an American accent. This was outre, clunky and laughable. Larry is barely tolerated and denied any respect. Sense is ignored. Larry has a studied grimace. This was unremarkable. This provokes intense and mostly negative reactions. This was value free.
Larry is guileless and this was desperate to impress. Larry is pitiable and irritating and convoluted. There is local gossip and this was not a nostalgia fest. This was bloodless and empty. Larry faces a promordial destiny. Normos sneer. This was not a cultural touchstone. Larry is maligned. His unusual behaviours become noticeable. His problematic behaviour grows. Larry is unrelentingly difficult and without joy.
There are odd dynamics. This was grating and naff and garish. Larry is very conspicuous. There are traumatic times and perpetual regret. Larry is skitish. This was outlandish and an existential crisis unfolds. Larry needs to re-evaluate his lives, choices and futures. People get confrontational and there is darkness. This was not a tense emotional drama and this was not iconic or claustrophobic.
Best Lines:
“Backward people.”
“Up to the attic, it's an observatory now.”
“Go away! Go quickly!”
“By the marsh.”
“You talk like a detective in a novel.”
“Nothing to pray for.”
“Left my Jenny all alone with the gypsies!”
“Frightened? Of what?”
“Very strange there were no murders here before Larry Talbot arrived.”
“Fine father.”
“Innocent little face.”
“Heaven help you.”
“Tracks lead up to this house.”
“Witch's tale.”
“This gibberish.”
“Evil thing that you've conjured up.”
“They'll laugh at you.”
“Roaming the countryside.”
“What are you doing here sir?”
“Why, the same thing you are of course: hunting.”
“Something very tragic about that man.”
~
Frankenstein Meets The WolfMan (1943)
Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr star in this sequel that is not subtle or effective. Larry Talbot is dug up and unpleasant things happen in this hugely frustrating sequel which has the most boring plot. There is no looming threat and this fails and is full of exposition. This was an abject failure and Larry can't die. There is talk of wolfsbane and person gnawing.
Things get pernicious. This was absurd silliness. Larry's father is dead. This is an unwanted American import. This was rudimentary. Larry is brutal and explosive. This bored and has no subtlety. Larry has excitement and distress and this was not brilliantly mad.
People feel unsafe. This was a brief sojourn. This was not unnerving. How does Larry travel around Europe? Larry laments and this was not mercifully defunct. Larry is fervent. Is Bela really dead? This was not luscious. Larry is suprisingly unpopular. This was baffling and grim. Didn't 'Frankenstein' have a happy ending with the mad doc alive? This was not distinguished. Larry has survived much. This has a crushing impact on him.
This was inadequate. This was punitive and lurid. One is perplexed in the extreme. Here are exceptional circumstances. The monster now played by Lugosi shows up. Larry faces mockery and abuse in this very boring, hugely disappointing film. There is a Frankenstein granddaughter? How? How does Larry have money?
This was insufficient with a lazy narrative. There is singing and extremely volatile times. This was non serious. There are menaces and bad acting and this was dull and not credible. The monster makeup is different. This was nonsense. There is barely concealed hostility. This was awful and raucous and Larry is bereft of support. Wrong and unfair things happen and there is misconduct.
There are no moments of horror. The worst of humanity is on display in this horrifying and hateful malarkey. This was cataclysmic and preposterous and it lacks human decency. There is no relentless pressure. This was not meaningful. There is deja vu. This was deeply uninteresting.
This was craven and disaffected types relentlessly harangue. This was distasteful and unimaginative. Yokels are sneaky, nasty, evil, greedy and cruel. There is incitment to violence, evil, cynicism, malice, envy and sheer stupidity. This was excruciating and the toxic effects of Larry's curse go on. There is human malice and beneath a veneer, people are vicious.
People are petty, spiteful and men are quick to anger. A woman named Elsa lurks. This was terrible and unrealistic. This was unpalatable. Elsa is the mad doc's granddaughter? I'm confused. There is total collapse of logic and sinister forces gather. There are no good options and this was chaotic. The damage done is incalculable. A 2nd mad doc is outrageously selfish. There are impossibilities and absurd, morally repugnant, very very upset people.
Best Lines:
“He died 4 years ago.”
“We remember it well hereabouts.”
“There's a curse upon me.”
“You're treating me like a lunatic!”
“Super normal mental powers.”
“Harboured a monster in his house!”
“Destroyed him and all his misdeeds.”
“Head injury case who went violent.”
“With his teeth?”
“What do you want here?”
“I've looked all over Europe for you.”
“Permitted to die.”
“Sign of the beast on him.”
“He will murder you.”
“What do you beggers want?”
“Don't mention that name around this town!”
“Storming the ruins.”
“Get out and stay out!”
“Who could have done this terrible thing?”
“Where's that strange man that was with you?”
“Talbot, you're a murderer.”
“Prove it.”
“You're insane at times.”
“You won't get anywhere by raving.”
~
The Exorcist (1973)
Linda Blair stars in this slow moving classic. There are ugly sheets, nice music and nosies in the attic. Her father is absent and a demon has come to Georgetown. A doctor smokes as Regan (Blair) engages in odd behaviour. There are turbulent times and Max Von Sydow plays a priest and Ellen Burstyn is Regan's mother. William Friedkin directed this. Chris (Burstyn) has servants. Regan pukes into Father Karras' face. Von Sydow is covered in bad old age makeup. The exorcism comes to a dramatic end as Jason Miller goes all out as Karras.
This religious horror was the trope codifier for Hollywood exorcisms. This was based on the 1971 William Peter Blatty novel. 12 year old Regan was possessed. Her mom Chris took a while to notice but she, her secretary Sharon and butler tried to save Regan from the malign entity Pazuzu.
Merrin (Von Sydow) and Karras saw Regan's head twisting and floating as her mind and personality were wiped out by the demon. Chris had to endure absurdly supernatural resistant types. There is no rational explanation for what happened to Regan. There was medical horror and a long staircase tumble. Poor Damien Karras. This had sequels, prequels and a tv show sequel. More sequels are to come.
Best Lines:
“The demon is a liar.”
“Very intense looking.”
“The sow is mine.”
“88 doctors!”
“Nothing you do could make it any worse.”
There are no experts.”
“Psychotics.”
“Wanna drink?”
“Please.”
“You're gonna die up there.”
“THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU!”
~
The Mummy's Hand (1940)
A mummy who vanished into history comes back. Idiots go treasure hunting. There is sexism and racism. This was boring.
~
The Invisible Man (1933)
What a man allows himself to become. A shrieking common barmaid stirs up trouble. Claude Rains stars. The tv show was better than this.
Best Lines:
“Put that horrid thing down and listen.”
“Cares nothing for you.”
“You've broken the wife's best china!”
“He's a raving lunatic!”
“The policeman's trousers were found in a ditch a mile away.”