(UNIVERSAL HORROR, USA 1998) - This
documentary on classic horror is found on the Blu-Ray version of FRANKENSTEIN, about which I wrote some posts ago. It consists of interviews with actors, crew, experts and
those who have been inspired in various ways by the movies, clips of
them(from different decades, silent and spoken alike, and you can see
the evolution of film-making), behind-the-scenes footage and stills as
well as narration(Branagh seldom lets us down, and this is no
exception). The amount of journalism alone is impressive here, and the
presentation is so smooth and compelling that you end up not able to
take your eyes off it. They cover a
massive amount in the well-paced 95 minutes that fly right by. The
technical aspects, different language versions(some of them superior to
the American originals!), Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, make-up, the
connection to WWI(the popularity of the thrilling flicks was partially
on account of grotesquely hurt and disfigured people(victims of the war)
living on, because of medical advances), the accusation of these
pictures causing real life crimes, European styles and look, Gothic,
Bauhaus, expressionism, art, etc. They even give away how some of the FX
were done(including an early version of blue-screen!), and you really
understand why these were beloved. Editing is crisp, and this never
dwells excessively on anything. There is a lot of disturbing content,
gory and violence in this.
