Tonight's movie was "The Black Room" (1935), a classic from the early years of horror, starring Boris Karloff in a dual role as twin brothers of a noble family in 18th century Germany. One brother grows up to inherit the Barony of his father. The other brother, kinder and gentler than his twin, leaves the country to live away from the turmoil caused by his brother's reign. The Baron is not a nice guy. Several local women have gone missing and the locals begin to suspect him. This growing unrest coincides with the return of his brother, the "good guy" of the two. He has returned to the family home from self-imposed exile at The Baron's request after ten years away.
But The Baron - his "bad guy" brother - has an ulterior motive for calling his twin back home. He knows the townspeople are onto him about the missing ladies, and he has a plan : to switch identities with his good brother, who is liked by all.
Monster legend Boris Karloff made a lot of movies. Some are classic, like "Frankenstein", and others are just so-so (you can Google those ones yourself, I haven't the patience). While I won't put "The Black Room" up on the highest rung, I'd still place it near the top of the ladder of Boris' films. The plot is like an ever tightening coil, tightening up around the evil brother as his deceptions start to become clear to others. Karloff is terrific in both roles as the brothers. The good brother has a paralysed arm that plays a part in the unfolding of the plot. He also has a very big and loyal dog who figures in as well.
The movie was made in 1935 (though at Columbia, not Universal), which to me was at the height of the production of Gothic Horror Films. Go back and watch "Frankenstein" all the way through. Or "Dracula". Really. Do it one day; they are short films, it won't take much of your time. And if you do, pay attention and really notice how deliberate every scene is laid out, and how the lighting patterns build the tension, and how gloriously detailed the sets are. You want a Mad Scientist's Laboratory? You've got it, to the max. You are looking at The Real Thing. In 1931, mind you.
You want Dracula's Castle? There it is, and it was set up, in a sound stage, to such perfection of lighting and artistic design that no one could ever replicate it or improve upon it today, and it was made over 80 years ago.
That's how good these early Horror Movies were. The artistry of directors like James Whale set a high bar, and while not all of the studio horror output in those years achieved the same result, you can tell by watching lesser known films like "The Black Room" that the effort was still there - the elaborate sets, the period costuming, the attention to plot detail and the hiring of high caliber supporting players to surround Boris Karloff, who was a fine actor with the Star Power to pull off the Leading Monster Roles of the era.
Movies like "The Black Room" are movies that you wish you were in, just so you could see them from the inside.
Imagine being on the crew that worked "Frankenstein", for instance. Nobody today would know those guys' names, and I don't know them either, but in The Next World they know themselves, and they are going, "Holy Smokes, I worked on "Frankenstein". Or "Dracula", or "The Mummy", or a lesser known film like "The Black Room". All those films are from the era of Classic Horror, and they just don't - and can't - make 'em like that anymore.
So watch you some Classic Horror from the 1930s and see for yourself.
No other news to report. Elizabeth, I saw some posts from others on FB, friends of yours, that looked like shots you may have taken at Sonic Boom. One was classic, of the guy crowd surfing - on an air mattress - toward the beer tent. That was the guy in the photo with you from yesterday.
That shot of him on the air mattress is 100% classic. Never seen that before. :)
See you in the morning. Post some shots yourself, if you can. :):)
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