Back To Index Val Lewton Horror Collection
 Barnes & Noble In the early and middle 1940s, producer Val Lewton turned out the most stylish, literate horror movies made up to that point in time. He did so while hamstrung by the low budgets and occasionally ridiculous titles foisted on him by RKOs marketing division. But its a tribute to his stewardship -- and the creativity of the production unit he assembled -- that these films still enjoy the respect of fright-film connoisseurs and continue to influence new practitioners in the genre. Working at a time when Universals classic-monster slugfests dominated the field, Lewton and his directors concentrated on mood, atmosphere, and psychological terror. They operated on the assumption that what you dont see is often more unnerving that what you do see. And they were right. How else to explain the success of Cat People (1942), with its beautiful girls supposedly turning into murderous panthers, or I Walked with a Zombie (1943), a cleverly adapted (and thinly disguised) version of Jane Eyre? Lewton and his team excelled at making the commonplace menacing, as when a cozy New York neighborhood became home to a devil-worshiping cult in 1943s The Seventh Victim or a dusty New Mexico town became a killing field in The Leopard Man (made in the same year). But his scriptwriters employed more typical horror-genre locations as well, setting Isle of the Dead (1945) on a sinister Greek island and Bedlam (1946) in an 18th-century insane asylum. Lewton teamed horror icons Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in a neatly scripted adaptation of Robert Louis Stevensons The Body Snatcher (1945) and even filtered the terrors of Curse of the Cat People (1944) through the imagination of a scared child. There isnt a single weak film in this box, although some are clearly better than others. Frankly, wed think it worth buying just for Cat People, Zombie, and Ghost Ship (another 1943 release), but having Lewtons entire output in one collection will be nirvana for shudder-show devotees. Not to be missed Ed Hulse Interested in the song lyrics? - Check out themostlyrics.com! Looking For A DVD? - Check out dvd-a-rama.com! |
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