Thursday, October 13, 2016

A Cinematic History of Horror for Hallowe'en On Roku - DAY 13: Ghosts, Zombies & Severed Hands (1943-1946)





Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...



... to 'Day Thirteen' of "A Cinematic History of Horror for Hallowe'en On Roku" in which I shall bring you my next batch of fright flicks from the enormous back-catalogue of macabre movies that have been thrilling cinema-goers for more than a century and can now be streamed to your television sets via the magic of Roku player - so, let's dim those lights... and enjoy some more frights! :-O


If you read my special hallowe'en blogathon preview - FOUND HERE - which I published at the end of September, then you'll know that I plan to post one Hallowe'en / Horror related article each day, throughout the month of October, and to feature one horror movie per year from cinematic history, starting in 1895 and ending in 2016. This should average out at about four films per day, so you'll have plenty of choice for your macabre movie viewing as we count down the days to Hallowe'en! ;-)


To get things started, in the first week of this blogathon, we went all the way back to the end of the 19th century for some of the earliest horror cinema ever recorded. The movies on day one were from 1895 - 1898 (inclusive) and featured beheadings, vampires, skeletons and nightmarish dreams. For my second article on day two of this series, I shared four films (one for each year) from 1899 - 1902 (inclusive) and those featured ghostly apparitions, aliens and selenites, plus a visit from the devil to a convent. In my next post on day three, I shared four films (again, one for each year) from 1903 - 1906 (inclusive) and those featured impish devils, demons and ghost brides, plus a man who practices entomology being pinned to a cork like an insect. For my fourth article on day four in this series of posts, I shared four more films (one for each year) from 1907 - 1910 (inclusive) which featured evil spectres, haunted houses, plus the first filmed version of the story of Frankenstein's monster. Following that post, on day five, I shared four films (again, one per year) from 1911 - 1914 (inclusive) and those were all based on works of literature by either Dante Alighieri, Robert Louis Stevenson or Edgar Allan Poe. Next up, on day six, four more films were shared (one for each year) from 1915 - 1918 (inclusive) and those included one about a spooky portrait, another about the victim of a kidnapping, plus a Faustian tale told from a female perspective and another about an artificial creature produced by a mad scientist. For my next post, on day seven, I (again) shared four more films (one for each year) from 1919 - 1922 (inclusive) and those featured an epic account of the horrors of war, plus tales of vampires and phantom carriages, as well as a hypnotist who used a somnambulist to commit acts of murder!


To kick-off the second week of my month-long blogathon, on day eight of this series, I shared another four films (again, one per year) from 1923 - 1926 (inclusive) and those included tales of hunchbacks, phantoms, and a pact with the devil plus a pianist whose hands were replaced by those of a murderer (following a train accident) after which he discovered they had a will of their own! For the next post, on day nine, I shared four films (one for each year) from 1927 - 1930 (inclusive) and those included a truly stunning "mood piece" based on the work of Edgar Allen Poe, along with the story of a master criminal who terrorized the occupants of an isolated country mansion, plus the creepiest, spookiest, mystery melodrama ever produced, with an early animated horror short thrown in for good measure. After that, on day ten, I shared four more films (again, one for each year) from 1931 - 1934 (inclusive) and those told various tales of terror, including: two American honeymooners trapped in the home of a Satan-worshipping priest, a colossal gorilla hitting the heights in New York with a movie starlet, a tale of love between a siren, a giant and a dwarf from a circus sideshow, plus the story of the strangest passion the world has ever known! Following on from there, on day eleven, I shared four more films (one per year, as before) from 1935 - 1938 (inclusive) and those featured the story of an escaped convict who used miniaturized humans to wreak vengeance on those that framed him, more tales of the horrors of war, and a Chinese ghost story (of sorts) plus the film which, when first released, was billed as the super shocker of the twentieth century! Yesterday, on day twelve, I shared another four films (one per year) from 1939 - 1942 (inclusive) featuring strange creatures such as Werewolves, Cat People and The Hound of the Baskervilles, as well as some light-hearted comic relief (of the horror variety) courtesy of Bob Hope! For today's post, the four films I'm about to share are from 1943 - 1946 (inclusive) and there will be one film for each year - as there has been with each of my previous posts in the series. This latest batch of macabre movies includes ghosts, zombies, and severed hands, plus what is widely believed to be the forerunner of all the horror anthology films that would follow it - and I'm proud to say that it's a British film, from Ealing Studios! As with the other movies shared previously in this series (bearing in mind the time period during which they were made) some do have visible signs of wear and tear, but they are all none the less watchable as further examples of early films whose influence can still be seen in far more modern horror movies...




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First up today... is a feature-length film from the USA, directed by Jacques Tourneur, which recounts the story of a Canadian nurse, who was hired to care for the wife of a sugar plantation owner on a Caribbean island but, once she get's there, she learns more than she should about the family secrets, voodoo, and zombie fever! Released in 1943, "I Walked with a Zombie" is a fantasy horror that is based on an original story by Inez Wallace, which was inspired by the work of Charlotte Brontë. When the nurse, Betsy Connell (Frances Dee) comes to the West Indies to care for Jessica Holland (Christine Gordon) it seems that Jessica is suffering a kind of mental paralysis resulting from a fever. Nevertheless... Betsy is determined to cure Jessica even if she needs to use a voodoo ceremony in order to give the plantation manager, Paul Holland (Tom Conway), what she thinks he wants!






Frances Dee in I Walked with a Zombie (1943) - PHOTO CREDIT: imdb.com






I Walked with a Zombie (1943) [Movie Poster] - PHOTO CREDIT: imdb.com



Unusually, this movie was tough to find online and, at one point, I almost gave up looking for it... then, would you believe it, I came across it on BBC iPlayer - of all places! Anyway, due to licensing restrictions on streaming THIS MOVIE IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR ELEVEN DAYS starting with the date of this post... SO, YOU'LL HAVE TO BE QUICK if you wish to stream it on your Roku! ;-)






Please feel free to watch this movie online, or use the details obtained from the link (below) to search for the film within the 'BBC iPlayer' channel (on your Roku player) and watch it on the big screen. Either way, here is where you'll find it online...



BBC iPLAYER LINK:- I Walked with a Zombie (1943) [IMDB Rating: 7.2]




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Our next film today is another feature-length film from the USA... but, this time, directed by Lewis Allen and released in 1944 under the original title of, "The Uninvited", it was based on the novel by Dorothy Macardle called "Uneasy Freehold" which was published in 1941. This movie tells the story of composer, Roderick Fitzgerald (Ray Milland), and his sister, Pamela Fitzgerald (Ruth Hussey), who move into an old seaside house they find on the English coast, which had been abandoned for many years. Their original enchantment diminishes as they hear stories about the previous owners of the house and meet their daughter (now a young woman) who now lives with her grandfather - as a neighbour. When they hear unexplained sounds during the night, it becomes obvious that the house is haunted. The reasons for the haunting and how they relate to the daughter, with whom the brother is falling in love, prove to be a rather complex mystery. Compelled to solve it... they investigate further but, as they do so, the supernatural activity at the house increases to a frightening level!


WITH THANKS TO: Russell West for his contribution to this storyline.







Ray Milland, Gail Russell and Ruth Hussey in The Uninvited (1944)
PHOTO CREDIT: pinterest.com







The Uninvited (1944) [Movie Poster] - PHOTO CREDIT: fffmoviepostermuseum.com




Just like "I Walked with a Zombie", this movie proved tough to track down online and, after trying all the usual sources (YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, etc.), I almost gave up looking for it... when, again, something cropped-up out of the blue and I eventually came across it on the 'OVGuide' website and, luckily for us, is also readily available via the "Film & TV" genre (i.e. category) of the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store - just use the built-in Roku "Search" feature to find and install it, or else go into the channel store on your device and scroll through until you see this channel icon:-







Please feel free to watch this movie online, or use the details obtained from the link (below) to look for the film within the 'OVGuide' channel (on your Roku player) and then watch it on the big screen. Just be aware that there are hundreds of movies within the 'Horror' category of the 'OVGuide' channel on Roku, never mind the other genres available, so (be advised) you may have to scroll a long way until you find it. If that sounds like too much hassle for you, then here is where you'll find it online...



OVGUIDE.COM LINK:- The Uninvited (1944) [IMDB Rating: 7.4]




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Our third film today is a first for this series of posts... in that it's a horror anthology, featuring multiple short stories, directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It is a British film, released in 1945, with the title of "Dead of Night" by Ealing Studios and was their sole attempt at making a "horror" film. Even so, it was responsible for so many subsequent anthology or omnibus type films made in the horror genre, because it was the first to piece several unconnected stories together... within a narrative that keeps them loosely bonded as a whole. When you consider it was the basis for Tales From The Crypt, Vault of Horror, Tales That Witness Madness, The House That Dripped Blood, Torture Garden, The Monster Club, Creepshow, Tales From the Darkside: the Movie, etc. - and those are just a few of the films that owe part of their existence to this British film!


Anyway, I won't go into the plot and/or storyline(s) too much here... because, with so many tales all interwoven within the narrative, it could get confusing - not to mention taking far too long to write! What I will say is that, of all the stories told, it is "The Haunted Mirror" and "Ventriloquist's Dummy" which (for me) stand out from the others... as they each crank the horror up a notch by comparison to the others but, overall, the juxtaposition of comedy and horror works well throughout - for the greater good of this fantasy, horror, comedy film omnibus as a whole. Another strength is how the framing story involving architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) is embedded into the narrative and not just a device to link the supernatural tales being told by the guests at the country house to keep him there... but, while the architect may be dreading the end of the dream that he knows is coming, these bizarre tales also make for an extremely eerie viewing experience for the rest of us - terrifying stuff!






"The Ventriloquist's Dummy" in Dead of Night (1945) [Movie Still]






Dead of Night (1945) [Movie Poster] - PHOTO CREDIT: reddit.com



As with "The Uninvited", this movie proved tough to track down online and, after (again) trying all the usual sources (YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, etc.), I almost gave up looking... when, as with the previous movie, I came across it on the 'OVGuide' website and, as I mentioned before, this streaming resource is also readily available via the "Film & TV" genre (i.e. category) of the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store - so, like I said, either use the built-in Roku "Search" feature to find and install it, or go into the channel store on your device and scroll through until you see this channel icon:-







Again, feel free to watch this online, or else use the details obtained from the link (below) to look for the film within the 'OVGuide' channel (on your Roku player) and then watch it on the big screen. Either way, here is a link to where you'll find this movie online...



OVGUIDE.COM LINK:- Dead of Night (1945) [IMDB Rating: 7.7]




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Our last film for today, is another feature-length film from the USA... only, this time, it is directed by 
Robert Florey. Released in 1946, "The Beast with Five Fingers" is a horror mystery recalling the aftermath in a local village when the owner of a Renaissance Italian mansion: a tyrannical, one-handed, wheelchair-bound pianist, with a strong belief in the occult, is murdered. Rumours abound still further, when several more bodies are found, that evil has taken over the estate of the recently deceased pianist - and the alleged killer? Why, the pianist's severed hand, of course!








Peter Lorre and Andrea King in The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
PHOTO CREDIT: imdb.com







The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) [Movie Poster] - PHOTO CREDIT: imdb.com



Anyway... you probably guessed already but, if not, this film (like the others from this article) is also available online and free-to-stream on Roku. Again, I was unable to find this film on 'YouTube', but... unlike the others shown above, this time I was able to find an alternative 'Dailymotion' link - meaning I didn't have to spend ages searching for any more additional sources to be able to share it with you. As before, please feel free to watch this movie online, or use the details obtained from following the link (below) to search for the film within the 'Dailymotion' channel (on your Roku player) and watch it on the big screen. Either way, here is where to find it...



DAILYMOTION LINK: The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) [IMDB Rating: 6.6]




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Anyhow, that's all I've got time for today... but do remember to come back again tomorrow, for more macabre movies from the history of horror cinema, when I serve-up another batch of four films on 'Day Fourteen' of "A Cinematic History of Horror for Hallowe'en On Roku" right here on this blog. Meanwhile... please be sure to visit the Countdown To Hallowe'en website and show your support for this annual online Hallowe'en extravaganza... PLUS don't forget to use the links you find there and check out all the other 'Cryptkeepers' taking part this year. I know they'll appreciate it if you visit their blogs & share your thoughts on the contribution(s) they've made.




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BEFORE I GO: Don't forget that, aside from all the Hallowe'en / Horror-themed ghastliness going on around these parts for the next month, you can always keep up with all the UK Roku action (as it happens) by following the companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels where you will find that up-to-the-minute info on all things Roku-related is posted on a daily basis (well, almost).



Until the next time, then...



That's all folks !!





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