Wednesday, October 12, 2016

A Cinematic History of Horror for Hallowe'en On Roku - DAY 12: Werewolves, Hounds & Cat People (1939-1942)





Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...



... to 'Day Twelve' of "A Cinematic History of Horror for Hallowe'en On Roku" in which I shall bring you my next batch of fright flicks from the enormous back-catalogue of macabre movies that have been thrilling cinema-goers for more than a century and can now be streamed to your television sets via the magic of Roku player - so, let's dim those lights... and get on with the frights! :-O


If you read my special hallowe'en blogathon preview - FOUND HERE - which I published at the end of September, then you'll know that I plan to post one Hallowe'en / Horror related article each day, throughout the month of October, and to feature one horror movie per year from cinematic history, starting in 1895 and ending in 2016. This should average out at about four films per day, so you'll have plenty of choice for your macabre movie viewing as we count down the days to Hallowe'en! ;-)


To get things started, in the first week of this blogathon, we went all the way back to the end of the 19th century for some of the earliest horror cinema ever recorded. The movies on day one were from 1895 - 1898 (inclusive) and featured beheadings, vampires, skeletons and nightmarish dreams. For my second article on day two of this series, I shared four films (one for each year) from 1899 - 1902 (inclusive) and those featured ghostly apparitions, aliens and selenites, plus a visit from the devil to a convent. In my next post on day three, I shared four films (again, one for each year) from 1903 - 1906 (inclusive) and those featured impish devils, demons and ghost brides, plus a man who practices entomology being pinned to a cork like an insect. For my fourth article on day four in this series of posts, I shared four more films (one for each year) from 1907 - 1910 (inclusive) which featured evil spectres, haunted houses, plus the first filmed version of the story of Frankenstein's monster. Following that post, on day five, I shared four films (again, one per year) from 1911 - 1914 (inclusive) and those were all based on works of literature by either Dante Alighieri, Robert Louis Stevenson or Edgar Allan Poe. Next up, on day six, four more films were shared (one for each year) from 1915 - 1918 (inclusive) and those included one about a spooky portrait, another about the victim of a kidnapping, plus a Faustian tale told from a female perspective and another about an artificial creature produced by a mad scientist. For my next post, on day seven, I (again) shared four more films (one for each year) from 1919 - 1922 (inclusive) and those featured an epic account of the horrors of war, plus tales of vampires and phantom carriages, as well as a hypnotist who used a somnambulist to commit acts of murder!


To kick-off the second week of my month-long blogathon, on day eight of this series, I shared another four films (again, one per year) from 1923 - 1926 (inclusive) and those included tales of hunchbacks, phantoms, and a pact with the devil plus a pianist whose hands were replaced by those of a murderer (following a train accident) after which he discovered they had a will of their own! For the next post, on day nine, I shared four films (one for each year) from 1927 - 1930 (inclusive) and those included a truly stunning "mood piece" based on the work of Edgar Allen Poe, along with the story of a master criminal who terrorized the occupants of an isolated country mansion, plus the creepiest, spookiest, mystery melodrama ever produced, with an early animated horror short thrown in for good measure. After that, on day ten, I shared four more films (again, one for each year) from 1931 - 1934 (inclusive) and those told various tales of terror, including: two American honeymooners trapped in the home of a Satan-worshipping priest, a colossal gorilla hitting the heights in New York with a movie starlet, a tale of love between a siren, a giant and a dwarf from a circus sideshow, plus the story of the strangest passion the world has ever known! Following on from there, on day eleven, I shared four more films (one per year, as before) from 1935 - 1938 (inclusive) and those featured the story of an escaped convict who used miniaturized humans to wreak vengeance on those that framed him, more tales of the horrors of war, and a Chinese ghost story (of sorts) plus the film which, when first released, was billed as the super shocker of the twentieth century! For today's post, I intend to share another four films (again, one per year) from 1939 - 1942 (inclusive) and those are set to feature Werewolves, Cat People and The Hound of the Baskervilles, plus some light-hearted comic relief of the horror variety courtesy of Bob Hope! As with the films shared previously in this series (bearing in mind the time period during which they were made) some may have visible signs of wear and tear but, despite this, they are all none the less watchable as further examples of early films whose influence can still be seen in more modern horror movies...




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First up today... is a feature-length film from the USA, directed by Sidney Lanfield, and based on the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Hound of the Baskervilles", with which it shared it's title. Released in 1939, it is (perhaps) most notable for being the first casting of Rathbone and Bruce, as Holmes and Watson. Interestingly, this combo proved to be such a hit that Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce were hired to play those characters on radio series "The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" which consisted of new 'Sherlock Holmes' stories written by Anthony Boucher and Denis Green. For this film adaptation, Sir Henry Baskerville (Richard Greene) returns from abroad - on learning of his uncle's death - and opens up the ancestral hall on the desolate moors of Devonshire. Intrigued by stories he has heard, Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) uncovers a plot to have Sir Henry murdered by a terrible trained hound and sends Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) to investigate!






Basil Rathbone, Wendy Barrie and Nigel Bruce in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
PHOTO CREDIT: twitter.com





The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) [Movie Poster] - PHOTO CREDIT: alchetron.com



As with a lot of these early films, we are fortunate to have free copies to watch on Roku devices... and, thanks to the internet, they are available online through several well-known video streaming sources. Surprisingly... 'YouTube' has little to offer, where this title is concerned, so I'm (once again) relying on a link I found on 'Dailymotion' for sharing it with you. Feel free to watch this movie online, or use the details obtained from the link (below) to search for the film within the 'Dailymotion' channel (on your Roku player) and watch it on the big screen. Either way, here it is...



DAILYMOTION LINK: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) [IMDB Rating: 7.6]




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Our next film today is another feature-length film from the USA... but, this time, directed by George Marshall and released in 1940 under the original title of, "The Ghost Breakers", although actually based on an earlier comedy farce - written by Paul Dickey & Charles W. Goddard - which was first performed as a play in 1909, under the (slightly) shorter name of "The Ghost Breaker" (singular). This adaptation tells the story of Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard) who inherits her family's ancestral home, located on a small island off Cuba, and, despite warnings and death threats, decides to take possession of the reputedly haunted castle. Then radio broadcaster Larry Lawrence (Bob Hope) joins her - after fleeing New York with his butler, Alex (Willie Best), believing he's killed a mob gunman. The threesome enter the eerie island abode, and after viewing the ghost of one of Mary's ancestors and fighting off a menacing zombie, they find the key to the castle's treasure. However, just when things seem to have taken a turn for the better, they are interrupted by an all-too-human foe!


THANKS TO: Doug Sederberg for his contribution to the storyline.







Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard and Noble Johnson in The Ghost Breakers (1940)
PHOTO CREDIT: doctormacro.com






The Ghost Breakers (1940) [Movie Poster] - PHOTO CREDIT: ayay.co.uk



Just like "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1939), this horror comedy by George Marshall is also available online, as well as free-to-stream on Roku devices. As before, I was unable to find this film on 'YouTube', so (once more) I'm relying on another link, found on 'Dailymotion', to share it with you. Again, please feel free to watch this movie online, or use the details obtained from the link (shown below) to search for the film within the 'Dailymotion' channel (on your Roku player) and watch it on the big screen. Whichever method you choose, here's the link to stream it...



DAILYMOTION LINK: The Ghost Breakers (1940) [IMDB Rating: 7.3]




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Our third film today is another feature-length film from the USA... but, this time, directed by George Waggner and released in 1941 under the original title of, "The Wolf Man", while based on an original screenplay by Curt Siodmak. This horror fantasy tells the story of Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) an American who, on hearing of the death of his brother, returns to his ancestral home in Wales. While there he visits a nearby gypsy camp with village girl Jenny Williams (Fay Helm), who is attacked by Bela (played by Bela Lugosi) - a gypsy who has turned into a werewolf. Larry kills the werewolf but is bitten during the fight. Bela's mother tells him this will, in turn, cause him to become a werewolf at each full moon. Larry confesses his plight to his unbelieving father, Sir John Talbot (Claude Rains), who then joins the villagers in a hunt for the wolf. Transformed by the full moon, Larry heads for the forest and a fateful meeting with both Sir John and Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers)!


THANKS, AGAIN, TO: Doug Sederberg for his contribution to the storyline.









Lon Chaney, Jr. in The Wolf Man (1941) - PHOTO CREDIT: movpins.com














The Wolf Man (1941) [Movie Poster] - PHOTO CREDIT: monstermoviehouse.com




As with "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1939), and "The Ghost Breakers" (1940) above, this classic horror movie by George Waggner is also available online, as well as free-to-stream on Roku devices. Unfortunately, I was unable to find this film on either 'YouTube' or 'Dailymotion', so this time I'm relying on another link, found on 'Archive.org', to share it with you. Again, please feel free to watch this movie online, or use the details obtained from the link (shown below) to search for the film within the 'Nowhere Archive' private channel - TIP: add it online with ACCESS CODE: NMJS5 (via your Roku account) - and watch it on the big screen. HINT: If you have difficulty locating the film within 'Nowhere Archive', you can always use the DOWNLOAD LINK from the archive.org website & then use something like 'PLEX' or 'Roku Media Player' (or some such channel) to be able to stream the MP4 file to your Roku device. Whichever method you choose, here's the link to find it...






ARCHIVE.ORG LINK: The Wolf Man (1941) [IMDB Rating: 7.4]




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Our last film for today, is also a feature-length film from the USA... only, this time, it is directed by Jacques Tourneur. Released in 1942, "Cat People" is a fantasy horror thriller that tells the story of an American marine engineer called Oliver Reed (Kent Smith) who meets and falls in love with Irene Dubrovna (Simone Simon) - a fashion sketch artist from Serbia - who has only recently arrived in New York and is looking for work. Anyway, they get married but Irena has reservations - based on her homeland fables of witchcraft and evil-doing... that there will be some terrible outcome if the two of them are intimate with each other. After seeing her emotional pain, Oliver arranges for Irena to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Louis Judd (Tom Conway), to understand why she feels the way she does. The psychiatrist soon learns that, because of these folk tales, Irena believes she is descended from evil!








Simone Simon in Cat People (1942) - PHOTO CREDIT: movielala.com





Cat People (1942) [Movie Poster] - PHOTO CREDIT: horrornews.net


Anyway... you probably guessed already but, if not, this film (like the others from this article) is also available online and free-to-stream on Roku. Again, I was unable to find this film on 'YouTube', but... unlike "The Wolf Man" (1940) above, this time I was able to find an alternative 'Dailymotion' link for sharing it with you. As before, please feel free to watch this movie online, or use the details obtained from following the link (below) to search for the film within the 'Dailymotion' channel (on your Roku player) and watch it on the big screen. Either way, here is where to find it...



DAILYMOTION LINK: Cat People (1942) [IMDB Rating: 7.4]




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Anyhow, that's all I've got time for today... but do remember to come back again tomorrow, for more macabre movies from the history of horror cinema, when I serve-up another batch of four films on 'Day Thirteen' of "A Cinematic History of Horror for Hallowe'en On Roku" right here on this blog. Meanwhile... please be sure to visit the Countdown To Hallowe'en website and show your support for this annual online Hallowe'en extravaganza... PLUS don't forget to use the links you find there and check out all the other 'Cryptkeepers' taking part this year. I know they'll appreciate it if you visit their blogs & share your thoughts on the contribution(s) they've made.




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BEFORE I GO: Don't forget that, aside from all the Hallowe'en / Horror-themed ghastliness going on around these parts for the next month, you can always keep up with all the UK Roku action (as it happens) by following the companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels where you will find that up-to-the-minute info on all things Roku-related is posted on a daily basis (well, almost).



Until the next time, then...



That's all folks !!





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