THE YEAR: 1933
The horror genre continued to be a powerful force in Hollywood in 1933. If there is one thing we as horror fans know, it’s that people enjoy the thrill of a good scare, especially in the contained environment of their favorite movie theater. So break out your popcorn, settle in, and scream with Fay Wray at the awesome sight of King Kong; “see” The Invisible Man; try to solve the Mystery of the Wax Museum; survive a Night of Terror; and witness the Supernatural.
KING KONG
(D) Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack
(W) James Creelman and Ruth Rose
(S) Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot
Fay Wray was everywhere in 1933 – from The Vampire Bat to Mystery of the Wax Museum to this, the grandest of all giant ape films, King Kong – and for good reason; wait until you hear her scream! The lovely Wray plays Ann Darrow, a struggling young actress who is recruited by film director Carl Denham (Armstrong). Denham, though not necessarily a bad guy, has delusions of grandeur, and he thinks that he has found the perfect location to film his next masterpiece: the exotic Skull Island. What could possibly go wrong? It turns out that the natives on Skull Island feel the occasional need to offer a sacrifice to Kong – a giant gorilla that terrorizes the island’s inhabitants. You have one guess as to who the sacrifice will be. The fantastic special effects by Harry Redmond Sr. and Jr. and the incredible stop-motion animation by Willis O’Brien are enough to highly recommend this film, and the cherry on top is that the story is complex, terrifying, and, ultimately, touching.
THE INVISIBLE MAN
(D) James Whale
(W) R.C. Sherriff
(S) Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, and William Harrigan
Based on the novel by H.G. Wells, The Invisible Man is another outstanding horror film from director James Whale. Claude Rains stars asJack Griffin, an amiable and soft-spoken scientist who works in a laboratory owned by Dr. Cranley (Henry Travers). In a Dr. Jekyll-esque moment, Griffin uses himself as a guinea pig for a fictitious – and dangerous – drug called monocaine. Cranley’s daughter, Flora (Stuart) becomes concerned after she fails to hear from Griffin and he neglects to return to the laboratory. It turns out that monocaine has turned Griffin not only invisible but it’s made him mentally unhinged as well. A harrowing chase for Griffin ensues that involves Flora, Dr. Arthur Kemp (Harrigan), and the local police. Rains is perfectly cast as Griffin – he spends most of the film with his face wrapped in bandages or corporeally invisible, relying on his commanding and nuanced voice to convey his complex emotions. Come for Rains’ performance, and stay for the excellent special effects by John P. Fulton.
MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM
(D) Michael Curtiz
(W) Don Mullaly and Carl Erikson
(S) Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, and Glenda Farrell
Mystery of the Wax Museum is an early film from a director you may have heard of: Michael Curtiz of Casablanca fame. The film features excellent performances from Lionel Atwill as Ivan Igor, who considers his wax creations his “children”; Fay Wray as Charlotte Duncan, who slowly uncovers Ivan’s psychotic impulses; and Glenda Farrell as Florence Dempsey, Charlotte’s roommate and a feisty news reporter. After being badly burned in his London wax museum, Ivan opens up a new museum in New York – just in time for people to start dropping dead. One of the best moments of the film occurs when Charlotte confronts Ivan at his wax museum and tears off his false visage, revealing his hideously deformed face. Mystery of the Wax Museum is a follow up of sorts to the previous year’s Doctor X, which – though it didn’t make my 1932 list – is certainly worth a watch, too.
NIGHT OF TERROR
(D) Ben Stoloff
(W) William Jacobs and Beatrice Van
(S) Bela Lugosi, Wallace Ford, and Sally Blane
Night of Terror is easily the oddest (and cheesiest) film on this list, and – surprise, surprise – it stars Bela Lugosi. Actually, while Lugosi is in the film, his role as Degar, a Hindu (!?) butler for the wealthy Rinehart family, is a minor one. The plot of the film goes something like this: Arthur Hornsby (George Meeker) is a scientist who claims to have invented a serum that can sustain life in a subject deprived of oxygen. To prove his point, Arthur will be buried alive while the entire Rinehart family watches. However, before this macabre event happens, Richard Rinehart (Tully Marshall), Arthur’s uncle, is murdered by a Maniac (Edwin Maxwell). Upon Richard’s death, the other members of the family, including the servants, are set to inherit his vast wealth, so, naturally, they die off one by one. Is the Maniac to blame, or is there a more sinister villain in the family’s midst? You’ll have to watch this fun little film to find out!
SUPERNATURAL
(D) Victor Halperin
(W) Brian Marlow and Harvey Thew
(S) Carole Lombard, Alan Dinehart, and Vivienne Osborne
Many modern day horror films owe a debt of gratitude to Supernatural, an interesting and early film about soul transference. A black-widow killer named Ruth Rogen (Osborne) is sentenced to death for her crimes, but she still has her most recent husband left to kill. What is a woman to do? Enter Roma Courtenay (Lombard), a young woman who has become wealthy due to her brother’s recent death. Seeing an opportunity to swindle some of her money, Paul Bavian (Alan Dinehart) dupes Roma by claiming that he can hold a séance to summon her brother’s spirit so that they can find out how he died. After she leaves Bavian’s rigged séance, a bewildered Roma is possessed by the malevolent spirit of Ruth. For the remainder of the film, Roma’s boyfriend, Grant Wilson (Randolph Scott), tries desperately to free her from Ruth’s terrible grasp. This film can be a tough one to find, but it’s well worth seeking out.
