Bela Lugosi followed up his classic 1931 portrayal of Count Dracula with the first feature length zombie movie in 1932.  This film was actually inspired by Kenneth Webb's Broadway play, " Zombie ", and was filmed in a span of eleven days. Madeleine and Neil have been invited to be married at Charles Beaumont's plantation in Haiti, despite only having just recently met him.  Neil soon discovers that things aren't what they seem when Madeleine dies shortly after the wedding... only to be raised again as a zombie ... Many of the cast members were silent film stars whose fame started to die out with the advent of talking films.  Joseph Cawthorn, who played Dr. Brunner was mostly known at the time for his comic relief roles prior to " White Zombie ".  Madge Bellamy, the lovely actress that portrays Madeleine used to recall that working with Bela Lugosi was pleasant, and that he  would often kiss her hand in the mornings on set, while others- such as the ...

I started my exploration of the silent horror films of the 1920's (even if TECHNICALLY, " The Hunchback of Notre Dame " isn't a horror film), with the artistic, German expressionist film, " Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror ".  It is therefore, only fitting that I end my journey of that time with another artistic German expressionist film- " The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ". Alan and Francis visit a carnival in the small German town of Holstenwall, where one of the attractions is Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist.  Caligari claims that is sleeping attraction can answer any question asked of it.  When Alan asks when he'll die, his death is predicted for that night... a prediction that comes true.  As Francis and his betrothed investigate Dr. Caligari, things seem to be more sinister than they first appeared... The writers of the screenplay for this movie originally met shortly after World War I, and used their own experiences to come up with the...

Since I've been on a bit of a silent horror film run the past little bit, I figured I might as well sit down and review another classic from the silent film era- " Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ", starring John Barrymore (Drew Barrymore's grandfather). Dr. Jekyll is a fine, upstanding member of society: respectable, intellegent, and giving of his time to the poor in his clinic.  When criticized by his soon to be father-in-law, for his lack of worldly experience, Jekyll is determined to gain experience in the darker side of life.  A potion he creates allows him to revel in humanity's depravity as Mr. Hyde... but soon Hyde begins to take over. Of the many versions of Louis Stevenson's novel, the 1920 silent version is probably one of the most famous ones.  The differences in this version and the novel are attributed to the fact that it was actually based on a stage play adaptation from 1887. I really quite enjoyed this film.  While the pacing isn't all tha...

I've recently been watching some of the classic black and white silent horror films in my collection, and the third one I sat down and watched in my little darkened corner of the world was the 1923 Lon Chaney, Sr film- " The Hunchback of Notre Dame ", based on the novel by Victor Hugo. Within the bell tower of Paris's Notre Dame cathedral a deformed hunchback by the name of Quasimodo lives.  The only solace he has from the miseries of his lonliness are the ringing of the cathedral bells.  After an act of kindness done for him, he falls in love with the lovely gypsy girl, Esmeralda.  Unfortunately, both Jehan (the Archdeacon's brother) and Phoebus (the Captain of the Guards) have both been smitten by her beauty. There are no surviving original prints of this film.  Modern video copies have been made from duplicate 16mm prints that were distributed by Blackhawk Films in the 1960's and 19720's.  The original prints from the 1920's were actually filmed...