Your deadicated hosts watch a Columbia Pictures film directed by Nick Grinde starring Boris Karloff as a mad scientist playing with the forces of life and death. Wait... haven't we seen this one already? It's 1940's THE MAN WITH NINE LIVES! A scientist's chilling experiments with frozen therapy go horribly awry in this sci fi horror starring Boris Karloff, Roger Pryor, and Jo Ann Sayers. We struggle with basic math and the implications of the ends justifying the means in this latest Columbia pic...
Sep 06, 2018•57 min
Do we uncover a hidden gem, or do we need an eye exam? Our hindsight is 20/20 with this episode on 1940's DR CYCLOPS from Paramount Pictures! Starring Albert Dekker, Thomas Coley, Janice Logan, Charles Halton, and Victor Kilian. Hear what our first three-tone technicolour horror film has in common with THE MUMMY, KING KONG, and others! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 24:55; Discussion 31:13; Ranking 50:16
Aug 29, 2018•54 min
Your deadicated hosts cover the history of race films in the segregated US for this episode on SON OF INGAGI (1940)! Will this first all African American cast horror film thrill us, or rehash old tropes? Take a listen to find out! The film stars Laura Bowman, Alfred Grant, Daisy Bufford, Spencer Williams, and other African American actors unfortunately lost to time. Directed by Richard Kahn and written by Spencer Williams, does SON OF INGAGI have anything -- really -- to do with the 1930 exploit...
Aug 22, 2018•49 min
What leads an audience member to scream? Director Arthur Lubin struggles with this question in 1940's BLACK FRIDAY, starring Boris Karloff, Stanley Ridges, and Bela Lugosi (sort of). This gangster/mad scientist horror flick montages its way across your screens for this week's Scream Scene! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 13:24; Discussion 20:05; Ranking 39:07
Aug 15, 2018•43 min
Introducing the one and only Vincent Price to the show is THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940), directed by Joe May and co-starring Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Nan Grey. As the invisibility returns, will too the madness? Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 25:14; Discussion 33:08; Ranking 48:26
Aug 08, 2018•57 min
Your deadicated hosts encounter Humphrey Bogart in his only horror film! It’s 1939’s THE RETURN OF DOCTOR X, directed by Vincent Sherman, and starring Wayne Morris, Rosemary Lane, our man Bogie, and Dennis Morgan. This sci fi horror flick has much in store, including some second-hand embarrassment… Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 24:20; Discussion 32:01; Ranking 47:17
Aug 01, 2018•54 min
What happens when you mix Scotland Yard, Bela Lugosi, and author Edgar Wallace together? Why, the police procedural thriller THE DARK EYES OF LONDON (1939) from director Walter Summers! It received the H rating for 'Horrific' upon release, but is it really? Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 22:39; Discussion 28:30; Ranking 44:45
Jul 25, 2018•1 hr
Victor Halperin returns to Scream Scene with 1939's TORTURE SHIP! This horror film offers a terrifying premise, but listen in to see how stars Lyle Talbot, Irving Pichel, and Jacqueline Wells fare on these choppy waters... Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 15:28; Discussion 24:40; Ranking 34:11
Jul 18, 2018•43 min
Monitor your heart palpitations for Karloff's 1939 THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG, featuring the fantastical notion of on-pump heart surgery! This science fiction old dark house horror flick is directed by Nick Grinde and co-starring Lorna Gray and Robert Wilcox. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 23:30; Discussion 26:35; Ranking 49:12
Jul 11, 2018•53 min
Peer through the window pane for Tod Slaughter and George King's THE FACE AT THE WINDOW (1939), another Victorian horror film? Well, your deadicated hosts duke it out over whether this adaptation of the stage melodrama fits the bill or not. Just what does this vintage thriller have in store? Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 18:37; Discussion 24:39; Ranking 35:02
Jul 04, 2018•44 min
Horror returns after a three-year gap with 1939's SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, directed by Rowland Lee. What changed in America that Universal Studios was willing to raise this dead genre? How far does this apple fall from the Frankenstein tree? And how do Basil Rathbone, Lionel Atwill, and Bela Lugosi stand in comparison to Boris Karloff as the Monster? Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 38:59; Discussion 48:06; Ranking 1:09:07
Jun 27, 2018•1 hr 26 min
It's the last horror flick before the three year break the world took from horror between 1936 to 1939... Boris Karloff stars in THE MAN WHO CHANGED HIS MIND (1936), from director Robert Stevenson. We share what caused film industries around the world to change their mind about horror as we review this film from Gainsborough Pictures. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 14:48; Discussion 20:21; Ranking 32:04
Jun 20, 2018•39 min
Your deadicated hosts cover Eddie Mannix, A Merritt, and more in the last horror film from Tod Browning: THE DEVIL-DOLL (1936)! With giant over-sized props, a dark family drama, and a cross-dressing toymaker, this film is anything but boring. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 16:35; Discussion 27:13; Ranking 41:38
Jun 13, 2018•52 min
The Halperin Brothers return in the 1936 independent American horror film REVOLT OF THE ZOMBIES! Hoping to return to their WHITE ZOMBIE success, the Halperins head to... Cambodia? To look for... zombies?? In the midst of a... love triangle??? Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 29:27; Discussion 37:45; Ranking 46:40
Jun 06, 2018•50 min
Your deadicated hosts dive into the demise of the Laemmle Family and the last gasp of the American horror boom... all this and more in the very complicated background of Lambert Hillyer's 1936 DRACULA'S DAUGHTER! Just what is vampirism being used as a metaphor for? From queerness to mental health to addiction, the lines are blurry but your hosts set themselves to the task of figuring it out. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 49:18; Discussion 56:18; Ranking 1:26:32
May 30, 2018•1 hr 34 min
Born-for-the-role Tod Slaughter stars in this 1936 Quota Quickie adaptation of SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, directed by George King! Featuring a lively discussion of Penny Dreadfuls, British Quota Quickies, and Victorian literary genre conventions. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 27:08; Discussion 35:16; Ranking 55:12
May 23, 2018•1 hr 3 min
The Warner Brothers try their hand at horror yet again with 1936's THE WALKING DEAD starring show favourite Boris Karloff and directed by Michael Curtiz. See just what this film noir-prototype has to offer... Hint: it's not zombies! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 23:55; Discussion 30:29; Ranking 54:14
May 16, 2018•1 hr 6 min
Bonjour! Your deadicated hosts travel to France for 1936’s LE GOLEM, directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Harry Baur and Charles Dorat! What is this film’s relation to Paul Wegener’s earlier classic(s), or even to the horror genre? Listen and find out! Mon Dieu! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 24:30; Ranking 39:31
May 09, 2018•43 min
Your deadicated hosts are back in America for some classic cotton candy horror. Starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, it's 1936's THE INVISIBLE RAY directed by Lambert Hillyer! It's the first in a few genre developments: B-movie scifi and slasher flicks. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 14:08; Discussion 28:51; Ranking 49:22
May 03, 2018•58 min
It's part two of horror in Nazi Germany! Your deadicated hosts cover FÄHRMANN MARIA, a 1936 horror/occult film directed by Franz Wysbar and starring Sybille Schmitz & Peter Voss. What happened to the film industry before, during and after WWII? Why do horror films end in Nazi Germany? And how has German Expressionism morphed from its first incarnation to now? All this and more in this episode! Context setting 00:00; synopsis 33:40; discussion 39:39; ranking 1:09:01
Apr 26, 2018•1 hr 20 min
Your deadicated hosts travel to Nazi Germany for one of two horror films made in the Third Reich... What did the Nazification of the German film industry look like? We get a pretty good idea from this 1935 remake of DER STUDENT VON PRAG starring Anton Walbrook, Theodor Loos, and Dorothea Wieck; directed by Arthur Robison. Context setting 00:00; synopsis 40:14; discussion 52:03; ranking 1:15:35
Apr 18, 2018•1 hr 25 min
Your deadicated hosts take on THE CRIME OF DR CRESPI (1935) out of Republic Pictures! This poverty row picture brings together Dwight Frye (!) and Erich von Stroheim (!!) in this strange adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Premature Burial." Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 24:39; Discussion 31:18; Ranking 38:34
Apr 12, 2018•50 min
Your deadicated hosts swoon through Frank Strayer's 1935 horror CONDEMNED TO LIVE, covering the beginnings of poverty row studio Republic Pictures. Starring Ralph Morgan, Maxine Doyle, Russell Gleason, and Mischa Auer, and featuring a whole lot of meh. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 15:52; Discussion 23:59; Ranking 34:39
Apr 04, 2018•42 min
Boris Karloff and Boris Karloff star in the 1935 Columbia horror THE BLACK ROOM, directed by Roy William Neill! Joining Karloff is Marian Marsh, Robert Allen, Thurston Hall, and Katherine DeMille! This well-structured film shows us how to go beyond painting-by-numbers and experience the thrill of seeing how the pieces come together. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 11:37; Discussion 20:25; Ranking 46:29
Mar 28, 2018•56 min
Peter Lorre steals the show as Dr Gogol in MAD LOVE, directed by Karl Freund! You'll go-go for Gogol in this 1935 adaptation of Maurice Renard's novel Les Mains d'Orlac. Hear how this film compares to others on the list in episode 52 of Scream Scene. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 28:57; Discussion 39:26; Ranking 1:03:40
Mar 21, 2018•1 hr 23 min
Vaguely inspired by Edgar Allan Poe comes 1935's THE RAVEN starring our favourite boys Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff! Directed by working man director Louis Friedlander, this film hits all the horror notes, Bateman! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 23:22; Discussion 35:55; Ranking 51:59
Mar 14, 2018•1 hr 5 min
AWOOO! It's the first Hollywood werewolf picture ever, but your deadicated hosts find that its bark is worse than its bite: it's Universal's 1935 WEREWOLF OF LONDON directed by Stuart Walker and starring Henry Hull, Warner Oland, Valerie Hobson, and Lester Matthews. Context setting 00:00; synopsis 25:07; discussion 39:09; ranking 58:06
Mar 08, 2018•1 hr 13 min
Tod Browning and Bela Lugosi chase past glories in this 1935 horror MARK OF THE VAMPIRE! This remake of Browning's 1927 LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT features a truly Halloween atmosphere with Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Lionel Atwill, and Jean Hersholt. Context setting 00:00; synopsis 33:18; discussion 43:04; ranking 1:07:24
Feb 28, 2018•1 hr 23 min
The monster demands a mate! Your deadicated hosts dive into Whale's 1935 sequel BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN! Featuring the return of Colin Clive, Boris Karloff, and Ernest Thesiger, and introducing Elsa Lanchester into horror! What is the relationship of horror to camp? To goth or queer culture? And, of course, a thorough discussion of how BRIDE relates to its preceding film, FRANKENSTEIN. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 44:21; Discussion 1:04:30; Ranking 1:49:27
Feb 22, 2018•2 hr 8 min
On a very special episode of Scream Scene: your deadicated hosts tackle the Hollywood Motion Picture Production Code, William H Hays, Joseph Breen, and how the 1934 amendment and enforcement affected horror, and all, films until 1968.
Feb 17, 2018•1 hr 4 min
