This is the 200th anniversary of young Mary Shelley’s novel of hubris and creation, FRANKENSTEIN, and being that Frankenstein’s Monster is one of my favorite literary characters and that Boris Karloff is one of my favorite actors, well, this is what you get on Halloween night from this monster.
In 1931 FRANKENSTEIN was put onto the big screen by Universal Pictures—an instant hit with critics and the audience, director James Whale’s film made Boris Karloff a star virtually overnight.
Adapted from the play by Peggy Webling (and based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, FRANKENSTEIN; or, THE MODERN PROMETHEUS) the film tells the story of a scientist who attempts to create his own man from an amalgamation of corpses dug up from the graveyard and what happens when the experiment goes horribly wrong.
What spawned from Universal’s FRANKENSTEIN films and, thus, Shelley’s story is a pop culture phenomenon. The monster can be found everywhere, in many forms and fashions. Sometimes as less than, but most times as more than human in thought and action. He is a sad and lonely and, therefore, a totally relatable character.
Sadly for the character and his creator, he becomes the monster he was perceived as, because the world turns on him, rejecting him. His father hates him and so he hates his father and the world of the living. And, though he cannot speak, that is the magic of Karloff’s performance—what a critic called a bit of “acting mesmerism”.
As for Universal’s design of the monster, that was make-up artist Jack Pierce’s doing, in collaboration with Karloff. Every day, Pierce spent 4 hours applying the cotton, gum, greasepaint and collodion to the actor in order to give him that gaunt undead look that we’ve all come to know and love.
And here is a look at the trailer for FRANKENSTEIN…
If you are new to the “Countdown to Halloween”, then here’s how it goes: Each day of the month of October we bloggers participating will blog about the upcoming holiday of horrors.It can be as big or detailed as the most well researched article in a professional magazine, or it can be a simple piece of art, a song, or anything that takes one another step closer to Halloween.In short, it’s just a celebration of the season.
For my part this year, I will be counting down the best "TERROR TEE-VEE" ever to cross the airwaves.Now, I’m not going to go in any particular order, in fact, I may well be mentioning the best horror show in TV history tonight (THRILLER)—but I’m not judging them in order of greatness, just how I happened to order them to keep it interesting.
Also, since we lost so many great horror icons this past year (William Peter Blatty, Bernie Wrightson, Basil Gogos, Tobe Hooper and George A. Romero), we will be featuring them briefly all month long. For Mr. Gogos that means that I'll be using his art all month long at the top of my blogs.
And so...
Here we go again—
let the “Countdown” begin!
THRILLER
“As sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is a Thriller!”
Boris Karloff’s Thriller fits comfortably among such pioneering anthology shows as The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.Where Serling’s Zone focused more on science fiction allegory, Thriller was more concerned with earthly matters of flesh and bone.
With writing by Robert Bloch, Cornell Woolrich, August Derleth, Richard Matheson and Robert E. Howard, one can see that Thriller—at it’s heart—was a televised version of pulp fiction. Stark settings, dire situations, high drama and the twisted plot in the dark are all elements that worked well for the show.
And though, with it’s mix of crime thrillers and supernatural chillers it was an uneven watch for those tuning in every week to watch, it lasted for two seasons.And it would have continued on, had it not been for an interesting jealous interloper who murdered it in it’s infancy… Alfred Hitchcock.That’s right, the innocent looking little film maker felt his show threatened enough by Thriller’s success (it had higher ratings) that he used his considerable power at Universal to axe the show.
But we’re not here about the death of this show, we are here to celebrate a few of it’s greatest efforts!And, in the humble opinion of this viewer,
these are the top three episodes of Thriller…
Nearly every TV critic puts “Pigeons from Hell” at the top of the list for classic television terrors.Taking the Robert E. Howard short tale about two stranded travelers who, along with a local sheriff, battle an evil force in an abandonded old plantation house on swampy land, Thriller simply told a gem of a horror tale with great atmosphere that ratchets up the suspense.And, what do you know, it’s here on the Youtubes:
Next up is “The Hungry Glass”, a kind of haunted house story centered on the allegedly cursed mirrors in the house.A young couple has purchased the home from a friend and are apprehensive after hearing the rumors about the deaths that are associated with the place.Adapted from a short story by Robert Bloch, it features William Shatner in a fairly restrained performance that, even as he is drawn into the horror of the house, rings very true.
And, thanks to the mighty, mighty Youtube, it is available here:
I would finally offer up “The Incredible Doktor Markesan”, which is a great dread-filled episode starring the great Boris Karloff.However, since it isn’t offered to the general public on the Youtube for some strange reason, I will offer another equally creepy episode…
“The Return of Andrew Bentley” is adapted by Richard Matheson and Mark Schorer rom an August Derleth story.It is about a poor couple seeking financial help from an Uncle who soon dies, leaving them the house and all of his possessions if only they stay in the house and oversee the safety of his dead body.It’s not long after that Andrew Bentley comes calling… looking for the body.
As per custom, here is that very episode:
Here are a few more in depth articles and blogs on the thrilling spook show that is THRILLER:
In which I link to two complete horror films from Boris Karloff's early film career for your viewing pleasure!
Tell me, do you like the beard?
THE OLD DARK HOUSE
James Whale’s Pre-Code horror comedy was released in 1932. Although a hit in England, it went unnoticed in America at the time.
A powerful storm has several travelers seeking shelter at an, you guessed it, old, dark mansion belonging to a strange family named Femm. The guests have to deal with Horace, who is on the run from the law, and his sister, the religious and malice-fueled Rebecca. Things deteriorate when the brutish, mute butler, Morgan, gets drunk and runs amok, threatening a guest and releasing the psychotic pyromaniac brother Saul Femm.
Karloff’s The Ghoul was released in the UK in August of 1933, the film was popular in Great Britain, but didn’t meet expectations in the States.
It disappeared and was considered a lost film for the next 31 years, until a collector located an incomplete, inaudible, subtitled copy from Czechoslovakia. Another copy was found in a vault years later that gave restorers enough to rerelease it and clean it up for modern audiences.
Egyptologist and professor Henry Morlant (Boris Karloff) thinks an ancient jewel will give him powers of rejuvenation if it is offered up to the god Anubis. But when he dies, his assistant steals the jewel. While a gaggle of interlopers, including a disreputable lawyer and a fake vicar, descend on the professor's manor to steal the jewel for themselves, Morlant returns from the dead to punish everyone who has betrayed him.
Now we've come to the part of our show where we take a break from all of the Horror Hosting to focus more on the imagery that one can find.
Remember kids, this slideshow may be eerie and strange and it may tickle parts of your brain that you don't even know you have, but don't worry, that just means it's working!
And remember, chances are you can click on one of these images to make it 'spode to full size for a better look--that is, if you dare!
Here we go:
Stay tuned tomorrow night for another exciting chapter of
Dick Von Hoene was The Cool Ghoul, a character he originated in the early ‘60s on the radio in Cincinnati with WCPO (now WDBZ) on a show called “Bob Smith’s Monster Mash”. At the same time, he was working with puppeteer Larry Smith on the character in comedy routines.
In 1969, Von Hoene was on television working in Cincinnati at WXIX. This is when he created the Ghoul’s look. At first, the character was a little too scary for the young ones, so an effort was made to go lighter. His wig, a bright orange-red dutch boy cut, blacked out eyes and powder white face under a beat up pork-pie hat—at least it started out as one.
Von Hoene’s Ghoul was just plain zany—his tall, lanky body he used well to play into the goofiness to be found in his trademark exclaimation “Bleah, bleah, BLEAAAHH!” And most original, his tongue-fluttering “Bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl…”. The Ghoul was a monster “who’s been kicked out of Transylvania because hea has dull fangs.”
His show was “Scream-In”, based on the popular “Laugh-In” and instead of catchphrases like “Sock it to me” he used “Shock it to me”. And the show was a big hit. For three years his Ghoul enthralled audiences. And, like most local talent, he made many appearances and events.
Here’s a remix of the theme song from his show and a very extensive set of photos via the great and powerful YouTube:
Dick was also a great voice actor and could do an impersonation of Boris Karloff that even fooled the horror icon’s personal secretary of 30 years. That voice was the one he used to do the announcer work for his own show.
Like a few other Horror Hosts, The Cool Ghoul made a novelty record… “The Cool Ghoul’s Phantasmagorical Funky Fonograf Record” and here, for your edification and enjoyment is that entire album (praise be to YouTube):
After a successful, but short three and a half years, the show was over. However, the Cool Ghoul remained popular making public appearances, doing fundraisers, putting on annual Halloween TV specials.
Ink the early 1980s, Von Hoene brought the Ghoul South to WCTI-TV 12 in New Bern, North Carolina and gained a solid fanbase for a short period.
Von Hoene died of a heart attack at age 63 in 2004 while shopping with his younger brother. At the time, he had been hosting a show called “Northern Kentucky Magazine” for about a decade, which was a regional personality and places show. Always a versatile broadcaster, Dick did news, DJ, and even hosting a talk-show. By the time of his passing, he’d done it all when it came to local broadcasting, but what he will be forever remembered for is his stint as The Cool Ghoul.
But feel free to skip all of that reading and simply watch the documentary retrospective of his life and career via the YouTubes:
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
And since I love this tale of The Cool Ghoul’s wig…
"Did you ever hear the story about why Dick's (Von Hoene) fright wig was only the back half of a wig?” artist and friend Judy Harrell asks.
"He went up to Dana Bruce, a costumer around town, and told him he wanted a wig in this sort of odd color that he could make kind of stringy and scraggly. Dana had just the thing. A woman had died in a car crash awhile before and needed a wig in that color. Dana made it for her, but also realized that only the front half would show, what with her head on one of those big fluffy satin pillows and all.
"Not being one to waste, he cut the wig in half. Dick took the back half and wore it his entire career."
And now the sites from which we here at The Goods borrowed the facts:
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