October Horrorshow: The Vampire Bat

The Vampire Bat movie posterThe movie business can be an unforgiving hustle. A case in point is The Vampire Bat, the 1933 release from Majestic Pictures. According to the internet, so it must be true, stars Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill had finished filming Mystery of the Wax Museum for Warner Bros., and that film had entered post-production. Majestic seized on this, signing Wray and Atwill to be in another horror flick with quick turnaround, getting a jump on Warner Bros. in both the industry trades and in theatrical release. It worked. The Vampire Bat was a winner for Majestic. It helps that it’s also a decent little horror flick.

An example of gothic horror American style, The Vampire Bat tells the story of a village in Eastern Europe that is being plagued by murders. All the victims are killed in the night, with what looks to be a minimum of struggle, and all the dead are drained of blood. Of course, there are also the telltale marks of the vampire on all the victims’ necks. The village elders are convinced that a vampire stalks the streets, but police inspector Karl Brettschneider (Melvyn Douglas) is not. Continue readingOctober Horrorshow: The Vampire Bat”

October Horrorshow: The Changeling

The Changeling movie posterJohn Russell (George C. Scott) just had the worst day of his life. While on a winter vacation in upstate New York, he watched his wife and child get run down in the street by an out of control dump truck. A few months go by, and John, a composer of classical music, decides it is time to begin his life again, and takes a job teaching at his alma mater. The new job is across the country in Seattle, and John needs to find a new place to live. At the suggestion of a friend, John locates a house through the local historical society. It’s quite the place. Victorian, high ceilings — it even has a music room. Any house or apartment with a music room resides firmly in the 1%.

The house had been unoccupied ever since it was willed to the historical society, and for good reason. The place is haunted. In fact, John would never have been able to secure a lease were it not for Claire (Trish Van Devere), the member of the society that showed John the house. She’s relatively new to her job, and thus didn’t know about the issues with the house. Also, she’s smitten with the gruff old composer with the surprisingly soft smile and history of personal tragedy. Continue readingOctober Horrorshow: The Changeling”