Bela Lugosi

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Great to have this thread return from the grave, Nordy.

[Nordicdusk]

Bela would very soon return to screens in The Ritz Brothers The Gorilla. These old style horror comedies can be very hit and miss sometimes the humor can be very of the time and sometimes it can still work but we shall see soon which of the time it is. I'm just hoping Bela isn't the butt of the joke.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Great to have this thread return from the grave, Nordy.

Only 37 films to go might get them done before i die myself

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

Only 37 films to go might get them done before i die myself

How many have you actually got access to?

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

How many have you actually got access to?

I have most of the more well known films if i don't have them i have to wait until i order them if available so youtube comes in handy for the rarer ones like the tv mini series.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

I have most of the more well known films if i don't have them i have to wait until i order them if available so youtube comes in handy for the rarer ones like the tv mini series.

Nice! Look forward to reading them as and when.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Nice! Look forward to reading them as and when.

Im watching The Gorilla as we speak so should have that up tomorrow.

[Nordicdusk]

The-gorilla-1939-poster.jpg

A wealthy man receives a letter from a killer known as the Gorilla warning him that he will be his next victim. In a panic Walter Stevens hires three detectives to try catch The Gorilla before he reaches him first. In the meantime an actual escaped Gorilla shows up in Walter Stevens mansion just to complicate the investigation.

Oh god this was a hard watch as i feared the comedy was so lame its like the Ritz brothers are trying their best to be both the Marx brothers and The Three Stooges but a very very bad version of both. The maid was one of the worst characters just shrieking her head of from start to finish every scene she is in you almost have to turn down the volume to get through it. The acting in general was terrible with everyone acting really stupid apart from Bela and Stevens character.

Its not even just the fact the comedy doesn't work for me but the film just drags it felt like it wasn't going in any sort of direction just people acting foolish to pad out the film which is obviously not a good thing with the film running at just over an hour. There is very little emphasis on horror at all and more focus on the comedy element of the film which was disappointing they really didn't keep the balance that was needed and to make things worse the end has more twists in the last minute than the Nürburgring.


The problem with Bela's character in this film is something that plagued his whole career and that was using him as the distraction from the actual villain of he film by having him acting all scary using different lighting on his face when ever he is in shot even managing to make him look evil while handing a coat to the lady of the house whats worse is its so obvious what they are doing when its already been done so many times before with Bela. I will commend him for putting in a strong serious performance while everyone around him is acting like clowns.

[Nordicdusk]

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Scotland yard are alerted when a suspiciously large amount of mens bodies start showing up in the Thames. At first all the deaths appear to be accidental death but every single victim has one common connection they all have life insurance with insurance broker Dr Orloff. Dr Orloff is also the in-house doctor for a local home for the blind where a disfigured man is also a resident and a sort of servant to Dr Orloff who is involved in the insurance scams is master is spear heading.

I really like the story and how it was playing out at the beginning but soon it started to get a little boring and slow. The introduction of the detective from America didn't help with him being the comedic element of the film that the film never needed which made this character completely pointless. It really takes until the hour mark before the film really gets going and unfortunately the film is only 1 hour 15 long. There is no twist or guess work needed we know pretty much from the start who the villain is. The final 15 minutes is entertaining and its a real shame we didn't get more of those part earlier in the film but its a common thing from most films of this time that they just try cram so much into the final few minutes and everything is wrapped up all of a sudden.

My real problem with this film is that it takes the whole hour before Lugosi comes into his own before that we only get a few scenes which are all in his office and are pretty non eventful really getting only a few very brief glimpses of his true character but really its just the camera zooming on his face while his voice turns sinister and then he is back to normal again. I always feel that Bela has a natural ability to be creepy and sinister so there is never a need to force it in a lot of these films and mini series he did it always feels like his evil characters felt too manufactured and so it removes the real feeling of the character and thats what makes it so cheesy or gimmicky way too often in his film. Dracula and The Raven are perfect example of Lugosi at his best and if he got to play all his roles as naturally scary as those early films these later films would of been much better regarding his roles at least.

Sadly not the best film and Lugosi not used to his full potential as usual.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

My God! You didn't like Dark Eyes of London? I thought it was a really good with a beautifully subtle performance from Bela, miles away from his usual hamminess.

You are the first person i've seen not do so. The film is a lost gem and Network's Blu-ray looks really good and the extras and package are superb.

Still i suppose we can't like everything. But i'm still surprised all the same.