the words and worlds of John Robinson
The United States entered World War II in December of 1941. Not only did your average Americans show their support for the war effort, but the Hollywood machines did, too. If you would like to see an example of a film being “a product of its time”, I submit Invisible Agent as Exhibit A. Where …
When Halloween was released back in 1978, its success made a sequel inevitable. The success of Halloween II, which was almost guaranteed, practically demanded there be a second sequel. So, there was released Halloween III: Season of the Witch. It did not have Michael Myers stalking and killing suburbanites and their teens. Instead, it was …
Sequels are nothing new. Hollywood has been cranking them out nearly since the birth of motion pictures (I’m sure a good number of theatrical plays had sequels, too, before the flickers came along). Some sequels (and prequels) don’t add anything new, a lot of them are more of the same of what was popular in …
I have only read one H.G. Wells novel in all my years, and that was The War of the Worlds. The Invisible Man and The Island of Dr. Moreau have been in my To Be Read pile for quite some time, but I haven’t gotten around to them yet (there’s just so many great books …
I love Abbott and Costello. When I was a kid, their movies played late on Saturday nights on a local syndicated channel. It was always a double feature, from midnight to four, and my brother and I rarely missed them-- we'd be sleepy during church the next morning, but we were young and survived. We …
A series of murders befalls a London public park after dark which sends the city on high alert. Scotland Yard is most interested, determined to find the culprit as the victims are mauled in a rather beastly, grisly fashion. Soon, there’s talk of werewolves, but the seasoned Inspector Pierce doesn’t believe in such sensationalist talk. …
Even a man who is pure in heart,And says his prayers by nightMay become a Wolf when the Wolfsbane bloomsAnd the autumn Moon is bright. Everything we know about popular werewolf traditions, tropes and lore was pretty much created, singlehandedly, by writer Curt Siodmak for 1941’s The Wolf Man. He was to lycanthropes what George …
“Ah-hooo, werewolves of LondonAh-hooo”- Warren Zevon For a long time I thought 1941’s The Wolf Man was the only werewolf movie (other than the rally films) Universal had produced back in the Classic Monster period. I was an early-twenty-something year old young man when I learned that Universal took a stab at a werewolf movie …
Phantom of the Opera is one more of the Universal Classics I’ve never seen. I’ve seen plenty of versions of the Gaston Leroux’s novel; some are better than others. I’ve never read the book, so I can’t tell you how faithful any of them are, but I can tell you I like most of them…not …
The last we saw Gill-man (in Revenge of the Creature), he was heading into the ocean on his way to freedom, otherwise known as the Florida Everglades. Such a monster cannot be left to roam free, though. It must be captured in the name of public safety. Science kinda needs him, too. Doctor William Barton …
Curio Macabre 