Movie Review: Lugosi – The Forgotten King

Lugosi: The Forgotten King (1985, 2018)
Directed by Mark Gilman Jr. & Dave Stuckey

In 1985, with the early days of VHS tapes and video stores, there weren’t too many documentary titles out there, especially on horror movies or their stars, unless you count a few trailers collections. But I can remember coming across one title in particular that was on the shelves, Lugosi: The Forgotten King. Being an young and eager fan to learn as much as I can about the horror genre, especially one of its icons, I immediately rented it. Even though the running time was short, showed the audience a little bit more behind the man and really how much of a talent he was. Now, 35 years later, it is out on DVD in an updated version, through Operator 13 Productions.

Movie Review: Monster! Martians! Mad Scientists! Horror in the Atomic Age!

I love documentaries on the horror / sci-fi genres, especially when you get to hear from the people that were directly involved with them. There are ALWAYS great stories that we usually never get to hear unless you catch one of them at a convention, or maybe an extra on DVD or Blu-ray. So when I first heard of this new 3-disc documentary called Monster! Martians! Mad Scientists! Horror in the Atomic Age!, it had my interests. When I discovered the price was only $15, I did have some doubts because it was so cheap, especially for 3 discs, but I figured at that price, it was worth taking the chance.

I’m glad I did!

The 3 discs are divided into time frame categories. The first one, entitled The Atomic Age, starts in the early ’50s and gives us a look back at that time and the films that were coming out. While this is about the movies, we get to hear and understand what was going on at that time period, with the constant threat of atomic destruction hovering over their heads, and how that effected the movies. The second disc, entitled A World Gone Mad, covers the second half of the ’50s with the big-bug movies, alien invasions, 3-D movies, and more. The last disc, called Fade to Red, covers the early ’60s and how times were changing, due to the Vietnam War, the Civil unrest, and how the films were reflecting that with more realistic gore and terror.

Horror History: Paul Blaisdell

Paul Blaisdell
Born July 21st, 1927, Died July 10th, 1983

Any fans of the monster movies of the ’50s have probably seen the work of Paul Blaisdell. He was the man responsible for creating the monsters and creatures for a lot of those early AIP films, usually done with very little time and even less money. But he always came up with some unique and very memorable designs. He started his career after graduating from the New England School of Art and Design, and started to work for Douglas Aircraft as a technical illustrator. He would also send in his drawings to sci-fi fantasy publications like Spaceways and Otherwords. His work was noticed by a very important figure in the horror / sci-fi genre fandom, that of Forrest J. Ackerman. He became Blaisdell’s agent and introduced him into the world of movie making.

Blaisdell would go on to create some of the most memorable monsters from that era, in films like The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955), The She-Creature (1956), It Conquered the World (1957), Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957), and many more. In the early ’60s, he even started his own magazine called Fantastic Monsters of the Film, with Bob Burns.  Unfortunately, the magazine was short lived.

With all of his creations being still remembered today by dedicated fans, it’s a shame that Blaisdell still does not receive the recognition that he should. So let’s change that. If you’re not familiar with him or his work, look some of his films up and take a look at the fun stuff he was coming up with, just with a few dollars and a lot of creative talent. I think you’ll enjoy what you see.

Movie Review: Beast Wishes

Directed by Frank Dietz and Trish Geiger.
Starring Bob & Kathy Burns, Rick Baker, John Landis, Greg Nicotero, Joe Dante, William Malone, and many more!

Movie Review: Men in Suits

Men in Suits (2012)
Directed by Frank H. Woodward
Starring Doug Jones, Brian Steele, Tom Woodruff Jr., Douglas Tait, Haruo Nakajima, Bob Burns, Misty Rosas, Camden Toy, Bobby Clark, Van Snowden, Alec Gillis, Michelan Sisti, Arturo Gil

After years of going to conventions and hearing the stories from the stuntmen that appear there, as well as reading different biographies, I really learned quite a bit of what goes on behind the curtain on filmmaking and what some of these people go through with really no credit. Damn shame, really. But over the last few years, there is another group of  very talented and hard working people that have been coming to the forefront, trying to get the credit that they also so richly deserve. That group of people are the men (and women) in suits.