-
The Spiral Staircase (1946)
This is an utterly gorgeous and atmospheric Gothic woman-in-peril thriller with unexpected depths. The heroine is mute, and director Robert Siodmak draws connections between her muteness and silent film. Like many woman-in-peril Gothics (e.g., Gaslight and Experiment Perilous, both 1944), the film is set in the 1890s or 1900s, which is also the era ( Read more... ) -
The Monster (1925)
Roland West is one of the earliest American directors to show the influence of those Weimar films of the '20s with a dark, shadowy, gothic, dreamlike style that is frequently referred to as German Expressionism. He's not very well known today, but his old dark house film, The Bat (1926), was credited by Bob Kane as an influence on the Batman. I've ( Read more... )
