tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post7722578731498227134..comments2024-01-25T05:48:13.938-06:00Comments on Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies: Halloween Monster Memories: The Other Faces of Bela LugosiThe Vicar of VHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06832137990485130735noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post-82825734427745856112009-10-14T22:44:37.855-05:002009-10-14T22:44:37.855-05:00Hey! I just found a VHS copy of I Walked with a Zo...Hey! I just found a VHS copy of I Walked with a Zombie in the public library system! Got it on hold already!JamiSingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12756726189949304645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post-83744468072957390122009-10-14T20:13:41.606-05:002009-10-14T20:13:41.606-05:00I remember back in the 80's when Bela had beco...I remember back in the 80's when Bela had become something of a punchline- and called a one note actor.<br /><br />I like that his work has been re-evaluated I really enjoyed his work in THE BLACK CAT and MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE and lets face it Ygor stole every scene he was in.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09492062472206579391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post-75416425066159855302009-10-13T19:21:03.291-05:002009-10-13T19:21:03.291-05:00@Inspector Winship & Gene Philips--I've se...@Inspector Winship & Gene Philips--I've seen Human Monster, but have tragically never sat down with the Phantom Creeps serial. But there were few actors who could exude menace like Lugosi, that much is sure. And that PC conclusion sounds like a real MAD movie barn burner!<br /><br />@Jami--Definitely check out "I Walked with a Zombie." You can get it on a Val Lewton double-feature disc with "The Body Snatcher," which is also featured on this post--a better double feature you will seldom see.<br /><br />@David Lee--Congratulations, you've won the Vicar's No-Prize for "Most Egregious Oversight of the Post"! ;) Of course you're absolutely correct--Bela is the OL (original lycanthrope) in THE WOLF MAN. I should have amended my statement to say, "Never played a werewolf in full wolf-out makeup," which is of course what I meant. Still, well caught!The Vicar of VHShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06832137990485130735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post-39721637804806980912009-10-13T16:50:07.165-05:002009-10-13T16:50:07.165-05:00Actually, Lugosi did play a werewolf. He was the c...Actually, Lugosi did play a werewolf. He was the cursed gypsy who put the lycanthropic bite on Larry Talbot in the Wolf Man.David Lee Ingersollhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06960750033882386122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post-91066906819089772702009-10-13T11:12:06.396-05:002009-10-13T11:12:06.396-05:00Vicar - No, sadly I never heard of that one until ...Vicar - No, sadly I never heard of that one until now. I'll have to put it on my "I WANNA SEE IT!" list along with all the Blacula movies. <br /><br />I've never been a big zombie fan. Always been into vampires myself. Not those whiny ones like in Twilight. (Though I do enjoy the <a href="http://www.angryalien.com/" rel="nofollow">60 second version with bunnies</a> by Angry Alien Productions.) I can name you multiple ways to become, repel, or kill a vampire besides the traditional Hollywood ones. (Did you know that if you find cow poop in a thorn bush you can use it to scare off vampires?) But I've always meant to see The Serpent And The Rainbow.<br /><br />Maybe you should make a list of "Horror and Horror-like movies you should see before zombies eat your brain."JamiSingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12756726189949304645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post-53459107930870044892009-10-13T10:18:01.038-05:002009-10-13T10:18:01.038-05:00Another of Bela's mad scientists: crazy Dr. Zo...Another of Bela's mad scientists: crazy Dr. Zorka from THE PHANTOM CREEPS. The serial has a fun ending where Bela is laughing madly as he simultaneously flies a biplane and tosses out explosive charges that blow up lotsa shit, including the Hindenberg dirigible!Gene Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11495562795211277146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post-86719164180896221012009-10-13T09:03:22.787-05:002009-10-13T09:03:22.787-05:00A fine post on a tragically under-utilized actor. ...A fine post on a tragically under-utilized actor. My favorite Lugosi roll was his Dr. Feodor Orloff in "The Human Monster/Dark Eyes of London." A movie that suffered from the supporting cast but Lugosi absolutely owned this flick. Cold. blooded. evil.Inspector Winshiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00579458321905980432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post-67563282293095728102009-10-13T08:26:18.111-05:002009-10-13T08:26:18.111-05:00@Jenn: what's so amazing about Landau in ED WO...@Jenn: what's so amazing about Landau in ED WOOD is that he looks *nothing* like Lugosi, and yet just through his performance, he convinces you. Glad he got the Oscar he deserved for that.<br /><br />@Samuel Wilson: you're right about the weird inflection--I never put it on a timeline before. :) As for Lugosi as Willie Loman--boy, what a missed opportunity! :)<br /><br />@Jami: I'm right there with you on the re-release > remake thing. I saw King Kong (1931) on the big screen a couple years back, and it was a revelation. It'd be cheaper on the studios just to put these things back out there! And you know they'd sell tickets. <br /><br />As to voodoo-zombie flicks, I'm sure you've seen the Lewton-produced "I Walked with a Zombie," yes? That's got to be one of my fave movies, zombies or not. Plus it's based on <i>Jane Eyre!</i> Talk about scooping the whole "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" phenomenon. ;)The Vicar of VHShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06832137990485130735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post-5517273873692141442009-10-12T16:15:59.238-05:002009-10-12T16:15:59.238-05:00White Zombie is about the only zombie movie (unles...White Zombie is about the only zombie movie (unless you count the Evil Dead movies, though I don't think of Deadites as zombies) that I like. It is by far the best as well as the truest to the actual zombie mythos. <br /><br />I only pray they don't make the mistake of trying to remake it. Instead, every year around Halloween, every theatre should dedicate one screen to it so everyone can enjoy true zombie master evilness as only Lugosi can play.JamiSingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12756726189949304645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post-83410980123964610472009-10-12T15:52:24.852-05:002009-10-12T15:52:24.852-05:00Thanks for a wonderful educational feature. I'...Thanks for a wonderful educational feature. I've always wondered about the Dracula movie because Bela's delivery is never as stilted in any other film from the period. Either he still remembered the lines as he'd originally learned them or his way of speaking (e.g. "tomorrow...EEEEFF-ning")deliberately expressed the vampire's sheer weirdness. By <i>Rue Morgue</i> and <i>White Zombie</i> he seems much more comfortable with English dialogue, or he may simply have adopted a more natural delivery.<br /><br />Your last selection seems entirely justified. Poor Bela died for <i>somebody's</i> sins, in a way.<br /><br />BTW, my verification word is "loman." Imagine Bela in <i>that</i> part!...Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032450846239938332.post-91484702674604487302009-10-12T15:48:38.613-05:002009-10-12T15:48:38.613-05:00Excellent post. I also love Martin Landau's po...Excellent post. I also love Martin Landau's portrayal of Lugosi in Burton's ED WOOD; it's sad, it's poignant, heartbreaking, and indicative. I especially love when they're shooting the octopus scene for BRIDE OF THE MONSTER and Lugosi/Landau is all alcohol-riddled and morphine-starved and it's the middle of the night, and he says, 'let's shoot this fucker!' Shows what a trooper Lugosi must've been.<br /><br />My cat, Bela Lugosi Francis-Fuller Divine, is proud to share part of his name with such an icon. <br /><br />:)Jennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13299640716799276127noreply@blogger.com