The Golem (1920) REVIEW

Another silent expressionist flick! “The Golem or How He Came into the World” was released in 1920, the same year as “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”. It was co-directed and starred by german pioneer film maker Paul Wegener. He portrays a monster-man of clay brought to life by a rabbi to defend the Jews from trouble in medieval Prague.

 This was not the first time Wegener put on the role of the Golem, as this is the third installment in a trilogy featuring the monster. Why would I review the final one first, instead of the other two? Well, sadly the other two are lost. However information about them has been found and also scraps of footage, but nothing more than a few minutes. The first one, titled simply “The Golem” was released in 1915 and it drew its story from the Jewish myth of a rabbi named Judah Loew that brought a man made of clay to life through magic, in order to protect the Jewish ghetto of medieval Prague. The film was centered around an antique shop owner who found the Golem in the present day (present day in the 1910’s) and brought him back to life. The Golem turns evil and goes on a killing spree, also kidnapping the shop owner’s daughter. The second one was titled “The Golem and the Dancing Girl” and was released in 1917. Very little is known about this one except that it was a parody shown in army bases in World War 1 to cheer up german soldiers. And lastly the third one, which is actually a prequel to the 1915 “The Golem”, tells the events that happened centuries earlier with the man of clay. It was titled “The Golem or How He Came into the World” and was released in 1920. At the time of its release these three films encompassed the first horror trilogy in the history of cinema!

 Even since its first image, Rabbi Loew looking at the stars, you feel the mysticism Wegener tried to capture, it being intensified by the expressionist look. Unlike Caligari, this movie does not use its art style to represent the sanity of someone, but instead uses it to envelop itself in a surreal, dreamy mood that fits perfectly the story of dark magic it is about. Although it came in between world wars in Germany and most of its characters are Jews or Jew-related, this film is not anti-Semitic, as Paul Wegener was not politically driven and he simply borrowed inspiration from a Jewish myth.

 “The Golem” as it is famously known by just the first part of the name, has left a tremendous legacy. Every time you’ve seen a big, super strong brute in a horror movie, it came from here, this is the first one. And what does that make you think of? My guess is Frankenstein’s Monster. Universal’s Frankenstein was made in the shoulders of the Golem, and then every big, strong brute since. It’s a legacy of playing God and then having your creation turn against you. Recommended for the same reasons as “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”, anyone interested in horror movie history or german expressionism this is for you. It’s not the best but it sure delivers. 7/10.

The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1920) REVIEW

“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is a german silent horror film from 1920. This movie is famous for its visually striking, twisted/distorted art style characteristic of the german expressionism movement of the 1920’s, also as well for being one of the first true horror movies ever. It is also the first to include a twist ending in its story, something pretty groundbreaking for the time of its release. It was directed by Robert Wiene, and starred Werner Krauss as the mysterious Dr. Caligari and prominent actor Conrad Veidt as Cesare the somnambulist.

The film starts with a man named Francis telling another man about some dreadful events that happened on his hometown. He tells of how things turned eerie when a so called Dr. Caligari arrives to perform in the town fair. His act is fortune telling and is led by himself, who uses a somnambulist named Cesare (who lives in a cabinet, mind you) to tell the future of the people who ask. Francis and a friend, Alan go to the fair and enter Dr. Caligari’s tent. Alan has his fortune read and is told he’ll die the next day. The prophecy comes true as Alan is murdered in his bed. Francis wants to get to the bottom of it all, thinking that Dr. Caligari and Cesare are the ones responsible for the crime. He stops at nothing to discover what is going on as bad stuff keeps happening all around. Then the story takes a slightly different course. What we see gets somewhat confusing as the story unfolds, and you start to doubt the narrator Francis’ story, because stuff stops making sense even for him. And then there’s the reveal, one of the, if not the first plot twist in horror movie history. (Spoiler alert if you don’t know it). It so happens that Francis is a patient in a mental asylum, where Dr. Caligari is really the head director, and all the other characters from his tale are fellow patients.

“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” has a disturbing, hypnotizing atmosphere that makes you feel uneasy but you can’t take your eyes away. Its greatness is in the exaggeratedly distorted physicality of everything it shows. From windows to doors, buildings, lamps, and also people’s movements. Even shadows are painted directly on the floors, walls and flat canvas sets to give higher accentuation to the deluded state of mind of the protagonist. They’re all twisted in some way that represent how the crazy mind of our storyteller perceives the world. It is the maximum representation of the german expressionism movement that spawned many silent horror films in 1920’s Germany.

This movie has a pretty good legacy, said to have inspired the film noir look, and also inspiring countless film makers throughout their careers. Two of them are: Tim Burton who is very clearly inspired by it and tries to assimilate the atmosphere it projects (not just this movie, but german expressionism in general) in his own movies, and the other one is Martin Scorsese who used Caligari’s story as a basis of inspiration on his movie “Shutter Island”.

I strongly recommend “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” for anyone interested in german expressionism or interested in horror movie history. It is visually mesmerizing and it has a good story. The paper house mountain is awesome, and this is one of my favorite movies. 8.5/10.

The Vampire Bat (1933) REVIEW

When the villagers of Kleinschloss start dying of blood loss, the town fathers suspect a resurgence of vampirism. While police inspector Karl remains skeptical, scientist Dr. von Niemann cares for the vampire's victims one by one, and suspicion falls on child-minded Herman Gleib because of his fondness for bats. A blood-thirsty mob hounds Gleib to his death, but the vampire attacks don't stop. Not being Universal this was a daring attempt for Majestic Films, whom rushed this "quickie" into movie theaters. This movie has a great cast: Dwight Frye as the child-minded lover of bats Herman Gleib, Fay Wray from King Kong, Melvyn Douglas as the police inspector and Lionel Atwill as the scientist Dr. von Niemann. Due to the Great Depression (and to their advantage) Majestic Films couldn't build sets in order to make this film, so they asked Universal to borrow them for a few shots the (until then still built) German Village from Frankenstein (1931) and the house interiors from The Old Dark House (1932). I's a nice chiller, and at an hour of runtime it's worth your time. I won't give away the ending, but I assure it will satisfy you.


                       Nice chiller, and astounding performance by Dwight Frye:
                                                                      
                                6/10                   

Journey To The Seventh Planet (1962) REVIEW

Okay so today's review will be of Sid Pink's "Journey to the Seventh Planet" (1962), you may remember Sid Pink from "Reptilicus" (1961). Both films "Reptilicus" and "Journey to the Seventh Planet" were almost entirely filmed in Danish territories, with Danish crew. As for the plot it draws a lot of similarities with The Twilight Zone TV series, it has a rather same way of dealing with the protagonists' deepest fears and biggest desires with a sci-fi layout, making this film feel like an hour long episode of The Twilight Zone which isn't bad at all, because for me The Twilight Zone is the best TV series ever conceived. "Journey to the Seventh Planet" came out with the sci-fi boom of the 60's making it blend with the croud and get to be little known, although it is really creative like in the use of stop-motion animation to change the landscape of Uranus and with the "giant-rat-cyclops monster". I haven't what happens in the film so here it goes: It starts with a narration saying that the UN is the sole governor on Earth and the year is 2001, space exploration has gone far and has now reached the seventh planet, (they don't try to say Uranus a lot because it doesn't sound well if you get what I mean), and a group of five men are sent to investigate large radiation signs coming from there. When they arrive they find out it's not different from Earth at all, but after noticing odd stuff like rootless plants and other things, they figure that the place is built on their memories. Later in the film, almost in the end, we get to know that the omnipotent being that controls Uranus and reads the astronauts' minds is a giant alien brain capable of creating matter from memories or thoughts that dwell in men's mind, like for example creating women from their past to distract them. After a showdown involving a giant spider and the death of one man, the brain is finally destroyed and men leave in a desperate hurry. Well there's nothing else to say, I guarantee that it will leave you satisfied, give it a watch.

                                                              Pretty good flick:
                                                                     7/10

Invisible Invaders (1959) REVIEW

This film is for me like the "well done" version of Plan 9 From Outer Space. It has the same basic plot: aliens resurrect the dead as zombies, to conquer the world. From the start it's a tragic movie, with the beloved scientist Carl Noyman dying because of an atomic experiment failure, making Dr. Adam Penner notice that atomic reaserch and weapons will end up destroying mankind. At night, after Noyman's funeral, Penner recieves a visit of Noyman's corpse, which we are told is being possesed by an invisible alien, whose race has been living on the moon for 20,000 years. Possesed Noyman tells Penner that mankind has 24 hours to surrender, before the aliens attack, using the dead as soldiers, claiming that the dead will destroy the living. 24 hours pass and Dr. Penner's warning was laughed by newspapers and high ranks, invasion start as hordes of zombies seize the world, the zombies are unvulnerable against any method of attack known to man. Penner and other characters are safely taken to a bomb shelter by the U. S. Army, which is located anywhere else than Bronson Cave! There Penner and another scientist are supposed to create a weapon to destroy de invisible aliens, they capture an alien and discover that it is vulnerable to sound. So you all now what happens next, the scientists makes "sound guns" and destroy the aliens. This is a very rare film, or at least little known, there is only one version available on DVD which is on MGM's Midnight Movies on a double feature with "Voyage to the Seventh Planet", a Sci-Fi film that is little more than a Twilight Zone episode, only longer, which is great for Twilight Zone fans. As I said before, for me this is like the good one, the well made "Plan 9 From Outer Space" the aclaimed worst movie ever made, and that is a lie, it's a very entertaining film that should not be taken seriously because it's made by Ed Wood, the worst director of all time, you can't expect much and I've seen a lot worse believe me, a whole lot worse. As for this film it's a good b-movie if you enjoy b-movies, give this a watch it will not leave you dissapointed.

                                            This film is a good b-movie so:
                                 6.5/10

Killers from Space (1954) REVIEW

The film involves aliens from Outer Space planing to invade the Earth while hypnotizing a scientist to obtain data in order to breed an army of giant insects and lizards. Supposedly, the aliens, that come from Astron Delta, have secret lair near Earth's crust, that isn't anything else than Bronson Cave, (a place that had been filmed so many times in the 50's that it became a cliché amongst B-movies). This movie has a really bad reputation, it was directed by W. Lee Wilder (the unsuccessful brother of director Billy Wilder), it even stands as the 16th Worst Movie Ever Made! Actually, this film was made in one of the lower budgets in the history of cinema, which explain the aliens' ping-pong eyeballs and the cardboard alien city. Speaking frankly, this is a really bad movie.... but I just seem to love it! As I explained earlier on my reviews, I love 50's B-movies, and this is the perfect example of B-movie, from the aliens' costumes to the giant insects to the bad acting, it's just cheesy and entertaining stuff, in a B-movie kind of way. This film is really entertaining and I first discovered it from a 50 movie pack from "Mill Creek Entertainment". This film is public domain and you can legally download it anywhere or watch online for free. 

This film is very entertaining, but remember that it's an awful movie so:

4/10

P.S. Here is the Youtube link for this film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u8apuDgYO0

The Old Dark House (1932) REVIEW

                                                                                              Basic Plot:

Three travelers - a married couple, Philip and Margaret Waverton, and their friend Roger Penderel -- have been caught in a torrential storm and, seeking shelter, find themselves as guests in the mansion of a particularly weird family. The house belongs to a man named Horace Femm, who occupies it with his mute butler Morgan, his ostensibly deaf sister Rebecca, and, we soon learn, two others: their mother, Sir Roderick ( it was originally meant to be their father but Universal changed it to a woman on the last minute 'cause they couldn't find an actor that looked so old, even without altering the name) who lives upstairs on the verge of death, and their brother Saul, who is kept locked away due to his arsonist-homicidal tendencies.  Soon after, two additional stranded travelers arrive: Sir William Porterhouse, a man who lives up to his name in every way, and his mate, Gladys Perkins, a woman who is openly involved with Porterhouse purely for the money.  During the night of their stay in the old, dark Femm house, these five visitors, as well as those who live in the house, will all experience the shock of change, ignited by the most repressed of the household.


"The Old Dark House" is actually very creepy, comparing it to "Dracula (1931)" or "The Wolf Man (1941)", that are great movies by themselves, they're not actually creepy as the "Old Dark House". I'll just say it, the movie has a creepy atmosphere that makes you feel like you're in the house as one of the guests . Aside from its creepiness, it has Boris Karloff starring, his role in this movie is great as the dumb mute butler 'cause he already had experience as a mute troglodyte on "Frankenstein (1931)". It also has Gloria Stewart on the movie, you may remember her as the old lady from "Titanic (1997)", that's what you call a long work on cinema. 

The movie is awesome, and thanks to it's creepiness i'll give it a: 

7.5/10