4.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing B/W Horror Treasure!, July 11, 2011
This review is from: The Undying Monster (1942) (DVD)
without all of the fancy CGI, and other modern trappings, the masterful John Brahms manages to direct a creepy atmospheric classic thriller, that wraps the whole story up in a scant 110 minutes.
Using black and white film to create the look and feel of tension requires so much more art than modern digital effects.
What we have here is a good old fashioned who done it, only, with the premise that the "who" truly is a legendary monster, and like many great mysteries, there are red herrings galore to throw you off the path and create false suspicions.
This is tight little film making, with just the right amount of tongue in cheek to never get even slightly campy, yet also , just the right amount of seriousness.
Solid acting all around...this one truly has stood the test of time for those that are lucky to remember it, and can now relive it in DVD.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
No., July 12, 2011
This review is from: The Undying Monster (1942) (DVD)
Atmospheric. Execellent style and staging (borders upon Val Lewton country), but not enough substance to satisfy. Silly script with an even sillier solution to the mystery. If you've seen The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939 -- the one with Basil Rathbone) and The Wolf Man (1941), then you've already seen this done better, although those earlier efforts didn't have as much attention to detail on setting up a misty sense of doom. (The misty doom was later used by director John Brahm with a beter script in The Lodger.) It's sort of like seeing an early template for Hammer horror. 20th C. print on DVD is awesome, and it's nicely packaged with good language/subtitle options. I'd recommend it as a curiosity piece for fans of pre-1950's era horror.
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