1940’s – The Fighting and Frightening Forties

“Don’t you know there’s a war going on?”

This was an often quoted phrase. War changes everything.

With World War II in full swing, horror movies went on Dr. Frankenstein’s backburner. There wasn’t money for major productions and the public was more preoccupied with the real life horrors of war than supernatural monsters on the screen.

Universal Pictures trudged on, but they gave us few if any new monsters (I hear the Wolfman snarling at me; chill wolfie, I didn’t say absolutely no new monsters) Instead, the public received much B – Grade sequels to the monster movies of the 30s with several mashups (“The Monster Mash, he did the monster mash!”) to join in the fray (This monster meets that monster, etc.) Some of these are good, others are fair, and few of them are just stinkeroo. I include in this list a few that I like.

While mythical bipedal creatures were slogging familiar territories, some horror films focused more on the psychological aspects of horror, films that were critically acclaimed. This list includes a couple of these as well. 

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The Wolfman 1941

See Wolfie, I didn’t forget ya! You are one of the exceptions to my “no new Universal monsters” declaration for the 1940s.  The United States hadn’t entered the war yet, so, this falls in the 1930s theme. 

Truth be told, the Wolfman is not my favorite Universal monster.  When the moon is full, a man transforms into a man-wolf. Maybe I’m more into monsters that earn their title by cheating death then by simply changing into a beast?  If this is so, then why is The Incredible Hulk one of my favorite superheroes but not Ghost Rider? Maybe these are questions for some overpaid psychiatrist, or perhaps it’s for whoever it is that claims to be Dear Ol’ Abby these days.   It could be my Dad’s bias has permanently scarred my opinion. See, he described the Wolfman as “The movie with Lon Chaney Jr. walking around on his tippy toes.”

Son of the silent horror icon Lon Chaney Sr, Lon Chaney Jr cemented his career as a horror actor for Universal Films with The Wolfman. Though not his first film (not even his first horror film), his role as Larry Talbot, a man who changes into a wolf man, defined his image. He would go on to play all of the Fab Four Universal Monsters (Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein, The Mummy) in the sequels.

Though Wolfie is not my favorite Universal Monster, I do like this film. It is superior to the 1935 film, The Werewolf of London, the first feature-length werewolf movie. ( I didn’t even mention it on my list! Shame on me). What stands out the most is a poem from the film, a prophecy of doom disguised as a childlike rhyme: 

“Even a man who is pure in heart And says his prayers by Night May become a wolf When the wolfbane blooms And the autumn moon is bright.”

The title in the trailer below is a bit misleading. It states this is a “Bela Lugosi” film. Lon is the star, but Bela does sneak in. He plays the original werewolf, a Gypsy who attacks Larry Talbot, thereby spreading the curse to poor, old Larry. 

Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man  1943

How about that, we just left the Wolf Man and he’s back already!  This is the second appearance of Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot. Always the sad sack (as my dad described Larry, or even Lon himself), Larry mopes about his inability to stay dead. See, it troubles him that he turns into a wolf man and kills people.  After stumbling across the frozen monster of Frankenstein, he hopes to deposit all his life force into the monster via electronic life-energy transfer. In Frankenstein’s old laboratory, with the help of Dr. Frankenstein’s granddaughter, they attempt this feat, only to end up duking it out; beast vs. beast.

This is the first of several Universal Pictures monster mash up movies. At best, reviews are lukewarm. But I kind of like it. I like the final duel and the music scene that happens at a traveling carnival. 

Oh, guess what? Bela Lugosi plays the Frankenstein monster in this film. That’s right. So it’s another kind of mash-up if you will  – “Dracula is Frankenstein”   

Enjoy a fun music scene and a fun monster fight scene (While the links last)

Cat People 1943

Produced by RKO Radio Pictures, Cat People was a very well-received film and deservedly so.  Among the onslaught of films featuring the same ol’ monsters retreading familiar scenes (the same sets were often used), this film was fresh with its chilling mood and suspense-filled cinematography. 

Simone Simon stars as Irena Dubrovna, a Serbian woman living in the United States. Among the things she brought with her to the new country is a curse – she transforms into a panther when she is aroused. She is a descendant of an ancient race of cat people. This predicament makes it a bit difficult to have a love life. Hell, it makes it difficult to live any kind  of normal life.

Irene falls in love, marries, but their marriage is platonic. Her husband, desirous to have a relationship that is “non platonic” (You know, the kind where husband and wife are not reading Plato to each other all the time), falls in love with another woman. Ohh, this mistress is in danger. Irene knows what’s happening. She stalks her in the night, down dark sidewalks, creeping behind hedges. 

The use of shadows in this film is amazing. There is a scene at an indoor pool. The mistress swims alone but she is followed. The reflections of the waves as they dance among the shadows on the wall, accompanied by the noise of an animal  – all this is much more scary than the sight of a one-armed mummy prancing through the woods (As the mummy does in many of its sequels, which were omitted from this list). What you don’t see is all the more frightening.

When I was ten or eleven, my Dad took me to a remake of this film. Little did we know it would be a movie about a man and woman jumping in and out of bed.  Sex everywhere with panther-chewing gore.

I saw this film for the first time in preparation for this list. Great, great film!    

Here’s a trailer

The House of Frankenstein  1944

Guess what? Universal Pictures is grouping its monsters all together again, but this time they don’t all meet each other. Dracula comes and goes in the first half of the movie. He is played not by Bela Lugosi but by John Carradine.  The second half of the movie features The Wolfman And the  Frankenstein monster. Boris Karloff joins the cast again, but not as the monster. He plays a criminal doctor who has escaped from prison and plays a key role in the monster reunion. Instead the monster is portrayed by Glenn Strange. Lon Chaney Jr. is back as Larry Talbot/The Wolfman. Whew! Some things remain the same.

Reviews are mixed but I like this movie… a little bit.

The Picture of Dorian Gray  1945

Another high-quality movie from the forties. MGM presents a film based on Oscar Wilde’s novel.  I watched this movie for the first time in preparation for this list.  I have heard of it over the years, but I guess I thought it was some kind of romance film. Certainly there is romance, but it’s labelled as a horror drama.

Dorian Gray has everything; good looks, wealth, youth. Ahh, but youth doesn’t last. Unless someone paints a portrait to absorb all the age (and evil) so the body can live on unscathed. This is what happens to Dorian. He lives his life selfishly and coldly. He’s cruel to his lovers, causing them sadness and sometimes death. Little by little, the portrait of Gray  turns wrinkled and deformed while he retains his youth throughout the years.

An absorbing story with interesting side characters.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein  1948

This is my favorite Universal Films monster mash-ups!  Obviously, the good ol’ Frankenstein monster is here (played again by Glenn Strange), along with Lon Chaney Jr once again reprising his role as Larry Talbot/The Wolfman.  Drac is back, and Bela Lugosi is back to donning the cape.  Point of trivia, this is the second and last time Lugosi plays the famous vampire.  He’s played other vampires, but Dracula only twice.  Throw in two goofballs (Abbott and Costello) and horror has never been more hilarious!

The plot is a bit circuitous at times, but it is an enjoyable movie well liked by many. Obviously, one needs to appreciate the comedic shenanigans of Abbott and Costello to admire this film. Believe it or not, there are those out there that do not! (If “you” are reading this, yes, I’m talking to you! You know who you are.)

Abbott and Costello would go on to meet other famed monsters, but this movie represents their first brushes with these frightening foes.

       

The Uninvited 1944

Perhaps this film is not so obscure. It did well at the box office back in 1944. Even by today’s standards, it ranks in the 90 percent range on Rottentomatoes.com . But compared to the horror films of the 40s that feature the famous monsters I’ve been writing about, not many people today might know of this one.

Originally distributed by Paramount Pictures, we have a story about ghosts and a haunted house. I was told this was the first film to treat the matter of creating a visual ghost seriously. Most films before this featured took a more comical approach to on-screen ghosts. I’m not sure if this is true. Heck, The Phantom Carriage featured some impressive looking ghosts. At least for the times.

Still, the visuals are frightening. The wispy light that represents the ghost works well enough for me. There’s also the wilting flowers, the fading candlelight, the fluttering drapes. All of this provides a convincingly eerie environment.  

Then there’s the phantom sobbing. A woman’s voice coming from nowhere. I showed this film to a 5-year-old and he cowered, disturbed by the haunting crying. Needless to say, I turned it off.

I wasn’t impressed with the overall plot. This is not the fault of the film, but the story itself, which is based on a book. I saw a college play of this story, and I had similar problems. This is a mystery. The problem is, the unravelling of the mystery is told rather than shown. Much of the dialogue is a group of people piecing together the backstory and thereby solving the mystery as to why the house is haunted.

Still, this is a good film to check out.