Friday, July 25, 2008

"I'll show you what horror means!"
DR. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1932)







So we watched Paramount's DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1932) and again I was struck with how much I enjoy this film. In the wake of the success of Universal's DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN the previous year, several other studios jumped on the brand new horror genre, but none with the gusto and downright nastiness of Paramount. The pictures the studio churned out during this period, including JEKYLL, ISLAND OF LOST SOULS and MURDERS IN THE ZOO are full of gut-wrenching, chill-inducing material that packs a wallop even today.

Produced before the studio censorship crackdown of 1934, the Paramount Horrors contain frank sexuality, gore and general grisliness that many find surprising in a 1930s film. JEKYLL pulls few punches in its depiction of Mr. Hyde (Frederic March) and his abusive relationship with Ivy the prostitute (Miriam Hopkins). By the time the picture wraps up, Ivy has been through hell and the viewer along with her. Sure, it's a monster movie with monster make-up, but the film is also a solid depiction of a good man's descent into animalistic narcissism. The story is ripe for metaphoric interpretation. Jekyll's misbegotten forays as Hyde, staying away from home for days at a time while he wallows in excess and cruelty, clearly suggests a drug addict or alcoholic off on a bender.

By the end, Jekyll can no longer keep his "good" and "bad" selves separated. He begins to regress into his Hyde form spontaneously. His actions as Hyde begin to seriously affect his life as Jekyll. The message of the film seems to be that man is necessarily made up of both noble and base instincts. The two sides temper and complement one another. Separating these two selves results in a loss of humanity and sanity. We cannot separate our selves physically, psychically or morally from the consequences of all our actions.

Frederic March took home a well-deserved Best Actor award for this at the Oscars. Nothing like that would happen again until Anthony Hopkins in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 60 years later. The performance is fantastic. He plays the two "selves" so distinctly, it would be easy to believe that there are two separate actors at work here.

DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1932) is a surprisingly adult and literate horror film, often put on the shelf with FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA and the other monster movies of the period. It's comparative raciness, though, resulted in the film only being available in chopped up, crackly video releases for years. A much more complete DVD version is now available and is recommended highly for the next time you're in the mood for something classic.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

I thought I'd start ceremoniously with First Movie Ever made. All 2 seconds of it. This was shot in the Fall of 1888 at the same time Jack The Ripper was prowling the streets of Whitechapel. Basically, the filmmaker took a quick series of still frames while a few family and friends milled around in the backyard. The brief action and indistinct faces make this clip especially compelling. To me, this is like catching a glimpse of ghosts dancing in the garden.  Direct link here.


First Movie Ever Made 1888

Welcome to the Placeholder

Here's the first post of what will hopefully be a regular stop during your daily/weekly/whatever browsing. I haven't even bothered to figure out the workings of this thing yet, but have decided to jump in with both feet. In days, weeks, months to come, you should be able to check in here for a sample of whatever foolishness has gripped my attention lately. I suspect that this will evolve into something a little more defined than "Cool stuff Zog has found", but that is probably how it will start.

I've put this thing together, not only to have a web presence and share cool stuff with others, but to exercise my writing muscles a bit. Thanks for sharing this magical journey of wonderment with me. If you like old horror flicks, weird movies in general, odd music, comics, wrestling, human oddities and all the crap that goes along with all that stuff, then you'll probably want to check in here every once in awhile. You're probably rolling your eyes at this point, saying "Yeah, nobody blogs about that stuff. It's impossible to find on the Internet!" Yeah, I know, but the more of us blogging about this kind of thing, the more interesting gems will be uncovered and the more cult scholarship (for want of a better term) will be advanced.

At least that's my excuse.

Anyway, I hope to have more substantial content, as well as plenty of bells, whistles and gewgaws up soon. I don't want this to be one of those sites that has neat content but lies fallow for months at a time. I'll be back soon

ZOG