It was the era that started the horror film genre in America…the 1930’s. It was the age that brought us groundbreaking films and made household names of people like Karloff and Lugosi. Author Bryan Senn gives fans of classic horror films the ultimate resource to these films. Over 500 pages which cover 46 classic films including “Frankenstein”, “Dracula”, “The Mummy”, “White Zombie”, “King Kong”, “Mark of the Vampire”, “The Black Cat”, and lesser known films like “Murders in the Zoo”, “Devil Doll”, and “The Return of Doctor X”. Senn doesn’t just give a passing glance to these films. Each receives some 8 – 12 pages in the book. He starts with the full film credits, then provides a lengthy plot synopsis before launching into the real meat of each film as Senn provides a critical and knowledgeable analysis of each film’s assets and liabilities and productions notes.
Senn rightfully points out milquetoast actor David Manners being a liability on three classic horror films: “Dracula”, “The Mummy”, and “The Black Cat”, essentially playing the same dull, uninspiring romantic lead in each film. As if Manners’ performance and his own utter disdain for the roles were not bad enough, there is the revelation that he earned four times as much for his role in “Dracula” as Bela Lugosi did. The production notes in Golden Horrors are perhaps the most interesting part of each film’s coverage. Even a classic horror film like myself discovered lots of new bits of information about these films that I didn’t know previously. For example, the Satanist character played by Karloff in the Black Cat was based on real-life Satanist and occultist Aleister Crowley. Senn is right on the money when he says that there has never been a film like “The Black Cat” in terms of it’s mood and its grisly scenes of corpses floating in glass tubes. One can forget in this era of the shock film that “The Black Cat” was released back in 1934.
In “Mark of the Vampire” Bela Lugosi’s Count Morla goes about with a bloody wound to the side of his temple. The original script of this Tod Browning film revealed that Morla had an incestuous relationship with his daughter Luna and then murdered her and committed suicide. This was dropped from the film as it would have never made it past the 30’s censors, but it goes to show just how dark and ahead of its time the film was, despite the cop-out ending. In discussing “Bride of Frankenstein” we learn that 17 minutes were cut from the preview screenings to the theatrical release. Included in the cuts are Karl (Dwight Frye) murdering his wealthy parents and blaming the monster. Another interesting film that Senn looks at is the underrated “Dracula’s Daughter”. This was the last horror film made prior to the two year horror film hiatus/ban in 1936. The film was to have starred Lugosi reprising his role as Dracula but that was dropped. When we see Dracula in his casket, we are seeing a wax dummy of Lugosi. Interestingly, Universal still had paid Lugosi $4000 for the role he never played…far more than he earned when starring in “Dracula” in 1931.
Senn covers many more great films of the 1930’s inclucing “The Ghoul”, “The Old Dark House”, “Mad Love”, and “Werewolf of London”, all aided by over 100 photographs. Nearly as interesting is the appendix of another 71 films that were borderline exclusions into the horror genre. Some of these films were new to me and although many are not available on DVD or VHS, I certainly intend to hunt down those that are. This may be the ultimate resource for fans of Golden Age horrors. You’ll spend hours pouring over Senn’s meticulous research and certainly learn a great deal about the films you’ve loved for so many years. Another fantastic offering from McFarland Books!
– TIm Janson
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
