My Son Picks 'Em: Son of Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein,Creature/Black Lagoon
My son got to pick my Saturday evening horror for October and chose Son of Dracula (1943), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) & Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Out of ****
Son of Dracula does seem to talk a lot about Dracula but Chaney ultimately is here to be an asshole and repulse everyone at Louisiana's Dark Oats plantation. Kay is the dark-haired morbid with a fear of death, with even a voodoo queen her fiance called an old swamp cat on the premises, victimized as Kay's aging patriarch by Dracula. I like the one addition with Dracula forming into and out of mist. Kay not giving fiance Frank a choice regarding joining her as the undead and allowing her father's death proves she's no saint. Dr Brewster is Frank's most assured ally while a Budapest scientist with knowledge of Dracula comes to his aid. The sheriff is often hilariously irritated by Frank's melodrama, needing practical answers to what's going on. ***
Creature from the Black Lagoon was a surprise my son selected. It isn't what I personally select as October essential viewing as it is more science fiction creature feature than what I often see as Universal supernatural monster movie. But when watching it this just felt right at home to me. I can say this will be treated to Octobers in the future. The higlight for me will always be the underwater swim camerawork and footage of the creature following Adams' stunt double swimming, Browning in the incredible suit and Stanley as the real woman portraying Adams keeping her head out of sight. That design suit is an astonishing triumph. My daughter watched this with us and we all got a kick out of just how stubborn and undaunted the gillman was...he just kept coming, refusing to give up his quest for Adams. Carlson and Adams are quite an attractive pair. Bissel, of I Was a Teenage Werewolf, as colleague to the expedition, the charming Paiva as the local boat captain, Denning as Mr Moneybags and Carlson's rival, and Moreno as the mentor archeologist round out the cast. Those gillman hands, with their claws and bony, webbed fingers, and the lantern thrown into it by Adams are so neat. The gillman's head rising out of water to spy is a gnarly visual. ****
Bride of Frankenstein was such a fun experience tonight because of just uproariously laughing at Una O'Connor as the shrieking, noisy kook who can't help herself and clearly Whale offered no restraints. My son was cracking up at her, looking over at me with such delight in her outrageous performance. But this viewing really awed me once again with Whale's emphasis on how he lit Victor and Pretorius during the thunderstorm bringing to life the Bride. And just the gleeful poked fun at Catholic priests is distinctive, although Biblical symbolism is fascinating to me, such as the blind hermit and the Monster's "crucifixion". My son, who is autistic, just loved this whole film, so getting to enjoy something I truly adore with him is priceless. ****
Son of Dracula does seem to talk a lot about Dracula but Chaney ultimately is here to be an asshole and repulse everyone at Louisiana's Dark Oats plantation. Kay is the dark-haired morbid with a fear of death, with even a voodoo queen her fiance called an old swamp cat on the premises, victimized as Kay's aging patriarch by Dracula. I like the one addition with Dracula forming into and out of mist. Kay not giving fiance Frank a choice regarding joining her as the undead and allowing her father's death proves she's no saint. Dr Brewster is Frank's most assured ally while a Budapest scientist with knowledge of Dracula comes to his aid. The sheriff is often hilariously irritated by Frank's melodrama, needing practical answers to what's going on. ***
Creature from the Black Lagoon was a surprise my son selected. It isn't what I personally select as October essential viewing as it is more science fiction creature feature than what I often see as Universal supernatural monster movie. But when watching it this just felt right at home to me. I can say this will be treated to Octobers in the future. The higlight for me will always be the underwater swim camerawork and footage of the creature following Adams' stunt double swimming, Browning in the incredible suit and Stanley as the real woman portraying Adams keeping her head out of sight. That design suit is an astonishing triumph. My daughter watched this with us and we all got a kick out of just how stubborn and undaunted the gillman was...he just kept coming, refusing to give up his quest for Adams. Carlson and Adams are quite an attractive pair. Bissel, of I Was a Teenage Werewolf, as colleague to the expedition, the charming Paiva as the local boat captain, Denning as Mr Moneybags and Carlson's rival, and Moreno as the mentor archeologist round out the cast. Those gillman hands, with their claws and bony, webbed fingers, and the lantern thrown into it by Adams are so neat. The gillman's head rising out of water to spy is a gnarly visual. ****
Bride of Frankenstein was such a fun experience tonight because of just uproariously laughing at Una O'Connor as the shrieking, noisy kook who can't help herself and clearly Whale offered no restraints. My son was cracking up at her, looking over at me with such delight in her outrageous performance. But this viewing really awed me once again with Whale's emphasis on how he lit Victor and Pretorius during the thunderstorm bringing to life the Bride. And just the gleeful poked fun at Catholic priests is distinctive, although Biblical symbolism is fascinating to me, such as the blind hermit and the Monster's "crucifixion". My son, who is autistic, just loved this whole film, so getting to enjoy something I truly adore with him is priceless. ****
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