Phil's Horror Watch, Day 21: Phil watches FREAKS (1932)-October 21, 2011

Welcome to Day Twenty-One of my horror movie marathon! So for tonight's film, I decided to back to the Pre-Code Hollywood. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, the term refers to the era in  Hollywood between the late 1920's until 1934 when postmaster General William Hays created a set of censorship guidelines for the studios to follow. These guidelines became know as the Motion Picture Production Code (or better known as the Hays Code). However these guidelines were not truly enforced until July 1, 1934. The films that were made before the code was enforced are known as Pre-Code films. Tonight's film fall into this category, and as the result, director Todd Browning's FREAKS has become the most famous Pre-Code film to have ever been made in Hollywood.

Theatrical Movie Poster (1932)

The film is the stuff of legends. Based on the Tod Robbins' 1923 short story SPURS, the film's about a beautiful and self serving circus trapeze artist named Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) who agrees to marry Hans (Harry Earles), the leader of the circus' sideshow freaks. However the honeymoon is short lived, as when it becomes known to the freaks that Cleopatra only married Hans to get her hands on his wealthy inheritance, they ban together to punish her for her deceitful lies. The ending of the film shocked audiences back in 1932, and its shock value still holds up to this very day.

With the film, director Browning created autobiographical piece of art. Browning once worked for a circus as a sideshow freak, so the film was sacred to him. As the result, he created a film that was so outrageous and so misunderstood, the studio MGM didn't want to release the film. The studio went so far as to cut the picture down from its original 90-minute running time to just over an hour. Also the studio approached Browning with idea of a "happier ending" for the film. A new prologue and epilogue was filmed for the movie. The film was finally released to theaters on February 20, 1932.And despite all the extensive cuts, audiences still rejected the film.

Controversy surrounded the film even before the film was even released. During one of the many disastrous test screenings, one woman threatened to sue MGM after claiming that watching the film caused her to have a miscarriage. Following the release of the film, Browning had difficulty find work in the business. As a result, his film had destroyed his directing career. However, by the late 1960's, the growing counterculture discovered the film and embraced it, appearing at midnight screenings across America. In 1994, the Library of Congress added the film to its list of preservation in the Nation Film Registry.

FREAKS is a landmark film, a true and honest piece of work that projected the director's vision and his plea of understanding and acceptance. Now, 79 years after the film's original release, it seems like society has finally accepted Browning's artistic masterpiece.

FREAKS is currently available on DVD. To purchase a copy for yourself, visit your local retailer or checkout the Amazon website at www.amazon.com

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!

Phil's Horror Watch, Day 6: Phil watches DRACULA (1931)-October 6, 2011

Welcome back to day six of my horror movie marathon! Tonight's film is ranked as one of the most important horror films of all time. When the film was released in 1931, it caused a sensation at the boxoffice, and thus launched the Universal Horror film series. Directed by the legendary Todd Browning and starring the great Bela Lugosi, DRACULA is the quintessential vampire movie, a movie that is still talked about to this very day.

Theatrical Movie Poster (1931)

This film cemented the look, the mannerism, and the voice of the vampire. Lugosi is the personification of Dracula, and to this day whenever someone dresses up like a vampire, or says a line from the film, it is in Lugosi's voice. But believe it or not, Lugosi wasn't going to be cast as the famed creature of the night.

Silent film actor Lon Chaney, star of THE HUTCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT had made a series of films with famed cult director Todd Browning for Universal Pictures. Browning's next project for studio was DRACULA and he was going to cast his friend for the lead role. However, on August 26, 1930, Chaney died from a throat hemorrhage.

Lugosi created the role of Dracula on the Broadway stage and became a sensation. However, Universal originally didn't want Lugosi to portray the Count, but the studio gave him a test screening and eventually he was cast in the lead. The film was released on Valentine's Day in 1931.The rest, as they say, is cinematic history.

If you have never seen this film, then you must go watch it now. This film launched the Universal Horror Movie cycle, to which a plethora of classic horror films were made, including FRANKENSTEIN, THE MUMMY, THE WEREWOLF, and THE CREATURE OF THE BLACK LAGOON. Also with the recent vampire trend that is currently taking place, none of it would exist if not for the success of DRACULA. And thanks to Lugosi and Browning, Universal became the House of Horror.

DRACULA is currently available on DVD and can be purchased at the Amazon website. Visit their website at http://www.amazon.com

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!