FFWD Weekly
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| VIDEO VULTURE In celebration of Halloween, I'm using this space to recommend three classic horror films starring Lon Chaney Jr. Chaney's acting ability is often dissed by critics and he seemed to spend most of his time in the shadow of Universal's other "Famous Monsters," Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff (not to mention Chaney's famous dad). Nevertheless, when called upon to draw sympathy for a character gradually turning into a monster against his will, he did just fine. · Man Made Monster (1941): This was Chaney's first horror film and it's a treat. Like the title suggests, the real villain isn't Lon's out-of-control "electric man," but rather the evil scientist (Lionel Atwill) who made him that way. The film wisely allows time for us to get to know and like Chaney's character at the beginning; he's a cheerful, talkative, charismatic guy with an affinity for animals. As these good qualities evaporate, we feel dismay. Once Atwill's experiments have reduced Chaney to an electricity-dependent automaton, his friends speak of him in the past tense; they recognize that the friend they knew is gone and should be mourned, even though he still appears alive. Pumped full of electricity, Chaney's head glows like a motel sign. It looks pretty funny and so does the big rubber suit he wears to keep insulated. · The Wolf Man (1941): You can't talk about Chaney's career and not mention The Wolf Man. It was his second horror film and it typecast him for life. Most of our current werewolf lore comes from this film and its original screenplay (by Curt Siodmak). It's directed by George Waggner (who also did Man Made Monster) and once again the focus is on the fear of becoming a monster, rather than of meeting one. Larry Talbot (Chaney) flirts with Gwen (Evelyn Ankers, who looks a bit like Anne Heche) and buys a silver-tipped walking stick from her. (The cane is engraved with a pentagram and a wolf's head, giving Gwen the opportunity to conveniently explain the werewolf myth to Larry and the audience.) Later, Larry has an unpleasant surprise when he rescues Gwen's friend Jenny from a wolf attack. Having beaten the wolf to death with the cane, the carcass changes into a human corpse. Nobody believes his story, but Gypsies keep warning him of a lycanthropic curse. Once Larry is certain that he is the monster that's been terrorizing the town, he tearfully urges his unbelieving father to carry the silver cane, knowing that he's sealing his own fate. As a minor character observes about Talbot, "There's something tragic about that man." · Spider Baby (1968): Now this is a fun movie; a bizarre horror-comedy that's funny, sexy, surprising, disturbing and fascinating. You've never seen anything like it. Chaney plays Bruno, a loyal chauffeur who's been entrusted with the care of the Merrye family, an inbred clan who are mentally degenerating back into childhood and beyond. They've been living in seclusion, but Bruno realizes that he has to get the Merryes to smarten up and act "normal" because company's coming; a telegram tells of some distant cousins coming to discuss inheritance of the Merrye estate. The first thing Bruno has to do is hide the messenger's corpse.... The whole situation is rife with tension and comic potential. Imagine a sitcom in which the wacky family has to keep the nosy neighbors from finding out about the cannibals in the basement. There's a terrific cast, a weird theme song and tons of surprises. Plus, Carol Ohmart swirls around in front of a mirror in sexy lingerie. See it. See it now. |