Articles
Online
Film criticism in Horror-Wood e-zine
| January 2006 |
Liz, Dick and Old Nick
Doctor
Faustus (1967) |
| August 2005 |
Rise of the "Monster Boomers", Part 2
More
Shock Theater memories |
| July 2005 |
Rise of the "Monster Boomers", Part
1
Shock Theater
memories |
| March 2005 |
Hey, Caligari! Where's Your Cabinet?
Cabinet
of Caligari (1962) |
| January 2005 |
The Gunfighter Was a Vampire
Curse of the
Undead (1959) |
| October 2004 |
This Vampire Makes House Calls
The Vampire
(1957) |
| June 2004 |
A Byronic Vampire in Darkest Africa
The
Vampire's Ghost (1945) |
| May
2004 |
The Forgotten Fifties Dracula
Return of
Dracula (1958) |
| September 2003 |
Jekyll: The Next Generation
Son
... (1951) and Daughter of Dr. Jekyll
(1957) |
| July 2003 |
"Tartu" You, Jellyfish Man!
Two Duds from
William Grefe |
| June 2003 |
The Video Graves of Nosferatu
F. W.
Murnau's Nosferatu (1922) |
| April 2003 |
Holmes and the Hound, Part Two
The Hound of
the Baskervilles (1959) |
| March 2003 |
Holmes and the Hound, Part One
The Hound of
the Baskervilles (1939) |
| January 2003 |
The Day the Mummies Moved
The missing link in
Kharis continuity. |
| November 2002 |
Holmes Meets the Ripper, Part Two
Murder By Decree
(1979) |
| October 2002 |
Holmes Meets the Ripper, Part One
A Study In Terror
(1965) |
| May 2002. |
The "Lost Worlds" of Filmdom, Part Two
Arthur
Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1960) |
|
April
2002 |
The "Lost Worlds" of Filmdom, Part One
Arthur
Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1925) |
|
February
2002 |
Don't Kick That Bucket, Man
Roger Corman’s
A Bucket Of Blood |
|
January
2002 |
The People That Fans Forgot
Edgar Rice
Burroughs’ The People That Time Forgot |
|
December
2001 |
Rotten to the "Earth's Core"
Edgar Rice
Burroughs’ At the Earth's Core |
|
November
2001 |
The Land You Can't Forget
Edgar Rice
Burroughs’ The Land That Time Forgot |
|
.June 2001. |
She Ain't Pretty, She's My Daughter
Guilty Pleasure: Frankenstein’s
Daughter |
|
Book Reviews |
Murderers' Row by Otto Penzler
In Scarlet
Street #49, November 2003 |
Miscellaneous Articles
Articles In
Print
Back Issues available at Scarlet
Street
|
Scarlet Street
#54
Of Rhubarbs and
Oranges
 The history of Orangey, a.k.a. Rhubarb,
Hollywood's most prolific cat.
He once owned the Brooklyn Dodgers, played in a classic
sitcom, defied interplanetary aliens (unless they were
Jerry Lewis), almost ate the Incredible Shrinking Man,
played dumbshow with Jackie Gleason, provided a conscience
for Audrey Hepburn, chased Tony Randall's pet lion, and
stole the show from Basil Rathbone, Peter Lorre, Vincent
Price and Boris Karloff, all in just nine lives!
|
|
Back Issues available at Van
Helsing's Journal
|
Van Helsing's Journal
#6
The Vampyre: His Video Kith and
Kin
 Graf Orlok, was cordial, in a stiff, formal
manner. He had looked over the deeds that Hutter had brought
with businesslike aplomb, and had set for his guest a
sumptuous dinner table. Hutter must have warmed to the idea
that everything was going to work itself out.
That is, right up until he clumsily cut his finger with a
bread knife, and Orlok snapped for the wound at the sight of
his blood.
. |
|
Van Helsing's Journal
#5
Amicus vs Burroughs: Me Tarzan . . .
NOT!
 Burroughs' two dozen Tarzan books offered ample
jungle adventure, frequently in lost civilizations, although
they settle into formula about halfway through the series.
But what of his other, (better) work?
. . .
Back in
the mid Seventies, Amicus Films (a short-lived rival to
Hammer's British empire) produced The Land That Time Forgot,
the first non-Tarzan Burroughs feature since the silent
days.
|
Back Issues available at Cult
Movies | |
 |
Cult
Movies #37
"I Can't See Him in This
Role"
Continuity in
the Invisible Man Films
One of Universal Studios' great golden-age horror
characters was the Invisible Man. Check that, they were the
Invisible Men. No, the Invisible Persons. And pets.
Actually, the invisibility serum itself was the thread for a
series of films. And, keeping to my now-established style,
I'll be discussing these films in terms of both their
internal consistency and their real-world plausibility.
|
 |
Cult
Movies #36
The Ongoing Continuity
Debate
Where was Bela Lugosi when Universal gave his Dracula
role to Lon Chaney, Jr. and later John Carradine? Playing in
Dracula Meets the Wolf Man, more or less. Columbia, a
rival studio, was imitating the Universal formula, but at
just enough of a distance to avoid a sequel called The
Lawyer's Curse.
In Return of the Vampire (1944), Lugosi plays
Dracula for all intents and purposes . . . . |
 |
Cult
Movies #35
Fly Specs
The Fly, a 1958 Cinemascope and Technicolor
production of Twentieth Century-Fox, was the defining movie
moment for kids my age and attitude, that is, those born
smack in the middle of the century, and those who extolled
imagination. “Word of mouth” was that it was very
scary, and that would have been enough. But further,
the premise was so captivating . . |
 |
Cult
Movies #34
Mummies for Dummies: Continued
Continuity in the Universal Universe
Universal’s Mummy seemed to occupy his own parcel of the
Universal Universe. Indeed, when the scent of Tana was
in the night air, wherever he was, that was ancient
Egypt. Even when it was Massachusetts or Louisiana. .
. .
The Mummy is a complete story -- as well as a
superlative one -- and deserved to remain as such. When
Universal got around to revisiting the Mummy theme, it left
Imhotep un-undead. . |
 |
Cult Movies
#31
Continuity in the Universal
Universe
No, this isn’t a Stephen Hawking piece. I just
selected that title, although appropriate, to confuse
you. . . .
I choose here to look at the Universal (Studios)
Universe, with the eyes of a Baker Street Irregular and the
spirit of a snotty kid reading the comics. Fair
enough? The only requirement is that we pretend that
even the most preposterous supernatural things are indeed
possible, but that we respect the rules once established. .
. . |
Links
John
Mankowski's Page
Sarah
Mankowski's Page
| |
