Ryan Watches 50 Movies

This week's movie is White Zombie from 1932. Guess who stars in this film? That's right, it's Bela Lugosi! Again ! (see also Black Dragons , Invisible Ghost , and One Body Too Many .) This makes disc 2 of the 50-movie horror pack a total Lugosi-palooza, and I have to assume that it was done that way on purpose. I had actually seen this one before, some years ago, with my college buddy Sara, who may or may not be reading this blog. I really didn't remember much from it, with the notable exception of Bela Lugosi's sinister eyes. His eyes get a lot of camera time, and he probably prepared for it, spending hours staring into the mirror until he had thoroughly freaked himself out. Synopsis Neil and Madeline are on their way to get married at the estate of their acquaintance Mr. Beaumont. En route they encounter a group of slow-moving, hollowed-eyed folks, and the driver of their carriage explains that these are ZOMBIES. The young couple is skeptical, but the driver high...

When you hear the phrase " classic horror ," who's the first actor that comes to your mind? Please tell me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing it's not Jack Haley , best known as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz . So I was surprised to see that he has the lead role in this week's movie, One Body Too Many from 1944. As it turns out, this film isn't really a horror movie at all. It's more of a comic mystery, like something you would expect to see in community theater or dinner theater. But the people who made the 50 Movie Pack threw it in because a) it includes a big, dark house and a dead body and a thunderstorm, and b) they didn't have enough films to produce a 50 Movie Pack: Comic Mysteries Like Something You Would Expect to See in Community Theater or Dinner Theater . Oh, and Bela Lugosi's in this one too, as you can see from the poster there. That's three films in a row to feature his special brand of spookiness, which is fine with me,...

Please note that the correct title of this film is Invisible Ghost , not The Invisible Ghost . Times were tough in 1941, and articles were hard to come by. Like last week's Black Dragons , Invisible Ghost stars horror veteran Bela Lugosi, which means that Disc 2, Side B of this 50-movie collection is a Lugosi double feature ! Also, they're both very short... the combined running time of both movies is only 130 minutes, or 28 minutes less than There Will Be Blood . Anyway, let's get to talking about the movie... I for one can't wait to see the titular ghost! I hope it's scary... but not too scary! Synopsis Mr. Kessler (Lugosi!) is a nice ol' guy who lives in a big ol' house. As the film opens, his butler Evans is serving dinner for Kessler and... and an empty chair . "You're looking beautiful this evening," Kessler tells the chair, and to be fair, the chair does look ravishing. Kessler's daughter Virginia arrives at the house, followed by ...

Black Dragons is a 1942 film starring Bela Lugosi. " Black Dragons ?" Bela Lugosi? Wow! This movie must be about a bunch of ancient warlocks who transform themselves into giant, flame-spewing, man-eating dragons and terrorize people for no discernible reason! And they all have European accents! Then it's up to a strapping hero to take them all down... any way he can.This is gonna be a good one, right? Let's see if I've assumed correctly. Synopsis The United States is teetering precariously on the brink of entering World War II; a newspaper headlines whose sides are cut off by the television frame screams " ACE TR ," which is always a sure sign of impending strife. In the Washington, D.C. home of Dr. Saunders, a bunch of military-industrial types are palling around and discussing the war. An uninvited guest arrives: It's Mr. Colomb (Lugosi!), who claims to be a patient of Dr. Saunders' with an urgent need to see him. After they speak privately ...