I enjoyed that one a lot! I remember being taken aback by how good the effects were for the time, and fascinated by the extras that explained how they had been achieved. I'm a big fan of physical effects, in modern as well as old movies.
We had a Whale marathon this weekend, as our Frankenstein Triple box set arrived (last month we got the Dracula triple, which meant finally getting to see the Spanish 1931 version and Dracula's Daughter, which of course was Anne Rice's big inspiration - very interesting!).
We saw the first two films (which I enjoyed more this time round for having learned more of the background to them in between) and House of Frankenstein which was also on there. Son of... is technically next in the chronology, but Universal seem to have deliberately substituted House of... because it's an inferior movie people would be less likely to buy on its own, whereas people will go to the expense of buying Son of... singly even after buying this set. Oh well, the set was a bargain. I'm going to see Gods and Monsters again
( ... )
The effects were excellent. I had a pretty old VHS tape, so I didn't see any extras, but even without the background information I was impressed.
The Whale marathon sounds like tremendous fun! Watching all the Frankensteins consecutively would be a fascinating experience, I imagine. I haven't seen any of them for far too long. (Ooh, what did you think of the Spanish version? I really like Lupita Tovar.) Gods and Monsters is great. I find it very interesting to compare and contrast with Shadow of the Vampire.
No, I've never seen that! It sounds fascinating. A couple months ago I did read an essay written by his daughter which did give that same impression of him. He also seemed like an overwhelmingly good person, someone it would be pleasant to spend time with. Bela Lugosi, however, in the essay written by his son, came off as slightly crazy (did you know he used to go places on rollerskates?).
I'm ashamed to say that I dozed through the Spanish version after about ten minutes, but that was entirely due to my tiredness rather than any deficiency on the film's part. I'm going to watch the whole thing soon. :)
Rollerskates? I had no idea! That conjures up an interesting image... I may have mentioned this before, but it's worth looking up the footage of his interviews on leaving hospital after detoxing from heroin. He was the first celebrity to go public about his treatment and created a huge stir, as well as no doubt helping other people who felt alone in that situation.
I think that in some ways he was a difficult person and made things harder for himself than they needed to be, like hounding Universal re: the Dracula casting, and thereby making himself less attractive to them. That and learning his roles phonetically rather than learning English early in his US career - that has to have hurt his prospects...
I think Skal mentions it somewhere, but I could be wrong. After I read that, I had to go around telling everyone about it. Yes, I do think you've mentioned that. He's an interesting person, Lugosi, and I agree with you that in some ways he was a very difficult person. Your comment about hounding Universal made me wonder what his life would have been like if he hadn't gotten cast in the Dracula film. I'm sure he would have been disappointed at the time, but it might have led to a more fulfilling career for him in the long run.
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We had a Whale marathon this weekend, as our Frankenstein Triple box set arrived (last month we got the Dracula triple, which meant finally getting to see the Spanish 1931 version and Dracula's Daughter, which of course was Anne Rice's big inspiration - very interesting!).
We saw the first two films (which I enjoyed more this time round for having learned more of the background to them in between) and House of Frankenstein which was also on there. Son of... is technically next in the chronology, but Universal seem to have deliberately substituted House of... because it's an inferior movie people would be less likely to buy on its own, whereas people will go to the expense of buying Son of... singly even after buying this set. Oh well, the set was a bargain. I'm going to see Gods and Monsters again ( ... )
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The Whale marathon sounds like tremendous fun! Watching all the Frankensteins consecutively would be a fascinating experience, I imagine. I haven't seen any of them for far too long. (Ooh, what did you think of the Spanish version? I really like Lupita Tovar.) Gods and Monsters is great. I find it very interesting to compare and contrast with Shadow of the Vampire.
No, I've never seen that! It sounds fascinating. A couple months ago I did read an essay written by his daughter which did give that same impression of him. He also seemed like an overwhelmingly good person, someone it would be pleasant to spend time with. Bela Lugosi, however, in the essay written by his son, came off as slightly crazy (did you know he used to go places on rollerskates?).
Reply
Rollerskates? I had no idea! That conjures up an interesting image... I may have mentioned this before, but it's worth looking up the footage of his interviews on leaving hospital after detoxing from heroin. He was the first celebrity to go public about his treatment and created a huge stir, as well as no doubt helping other people who felt alone in that situation.
I think that in some ways he was a difficult person and made things harder for himself than they needed to be, like hounding Universal re: the Dracula casting, and thereby making himself less attractive to them. That and learning his roles phonetically rather than learning English early in his US career - that has to have hurt his prospects...
Reply
I think Skal mentions it somewhere, but I could be wrong. After I read that, I had to go around telling everyone about it. Yes, I do think you've mentioned that. He's an interesting person, Lugosi, and I agree with you that in some ways he was a very difficult person. Your comment about hounding Universal made me wonder what his life would have been like if he hadn't gotten cast in the Dracula film. I'm sure he would have been disappointed at the time, but it might have led to a more fulfilling career for him in the long run.
Reply
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