Here’s a brief overview of horror cinema from the 1940s as part of our series during this year’s 31 Days of Horror!!
Day 6: Werewolf of London (1935)
Welcome to Day 6 of 31 Days of Horror, where we’ll be discussing Universal’s first werewolf movie, Werewolf of London from 1935. I have to admit: Outside of that Warren Zevon song, I had never heard of Werewolf of London and had absolutely no idea there was any other werewolf film in Universal’s classic monster movies, outside of The Wolf Man series. That franchise (especially the first one) is so iconic, and casts such a long shadow over every other werewolf movie ever made, that is it almost unfathomable to even consider that Werewolf of London came first (and by half a decade at that!). It’s a shame, really, because …
Day 5: The Black Cat (1934)
Day 5 of our 31 Days of Horror brings a double whammy in the form of the two great masters of horror cinema: Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. 1934’s The Black Cat is very loosely adapted from Edgar Allan Poe’s story of the same name, and it is the first of seven Lugosi/Karloff pairings. When I say it leaves no holds barred, I mean it leaves no holds barred. Necrophilia, pedophilia, Satanic rituals, ailurophobia (a deathly fear of cats!), torture, flaying…they all come into play as the film unfolds in a nightmarish and truly disturbing fashion. But first: a summary! The movie begins with two American newlyweds, the Alisons, boarding the Orient Express for a …