What about FRENCH horror movie ?

Le voyage dans le lune - George Meliès

In this blog, i chose to stay focused on Universal Horror movies that is to say American movie. We all know that cinema has always been influenced by american production BUT i'm sure you also know that French invented cinema in the small town of LYON : Lumière's brothers (Louis and Auguste) in 1895.
From the end of the nineteen century until now, we can notice the domination of American Studios who release plenty of movies of every kind (Silent,Horror,Noire,Thriller, Sci-Fi,...) Nowadays, it's still the same schema, USA is the most productive country of films in the world (Even if Indians release many movie, their production dont reach the rest of the world) I would say that it's not that bad cause i dont really enjoy bollywood movies !

So french are capable of creating machine to record images but they dont invest in cinema like the US did and that's why american studio are seen like industry in the early of cinema.
DO NOT think that french didnt try to produce Horror movie at all, it would be a huge mistake because they did and they did well !! However, we cant ignore that until the 50's it's very difficult to find a real french horror movie. From 1920's to 1940's french movies are made to show the capacity of the machines they are able to create so it's more like fantastic movie i would say..

I will present some of the first french "horror" movies and french directors i like to show you how good they are !

1. Cat People, 1942 by Jacques Tourneur

I know that you will say that i start with an american production Jacques Tourneur is a director i like and he's French so the honor is safe !

I think that this movie is a Must-see for the only reason of the pool scene! (No sexual allusion). I guess Jacques Tourneur is for me the precursor in what we call today "photography". He managed to immerse yourself in an ambiance that we could qualified of Noire or Dark, by adjusting the light and making shadows (that creep you out !!). He use all the elements of the setting to keep you "lock" into the ambiance all along the movie. For example, the pool scene is one of the best scene i ever seen because Jacques Tourneur use the light but mostly water movement to plunge you into a dark universe that make the scene so strained !
To conclude, i would say that you should see this movie in order to understand on what are based film Noire we all know, in my opinion of course !

   2. Les yeux sans visage, 1960 by George Franju

This movie is an adaptation from the novel written by Jean Redon released in 1959 in "Collection Angoisse".
It's about a famous plastic surgeon who want to transplant an entire face to his child. The kid had been disfigured after a car accident caused by her father himself.
The mad surgeon start to install an illegal surgery in his house. Then, as you can imagine he will try to seduce women to experiment on their faces!

In my opinion, its a movie to see because its the first real fantastic movie from George Franju and not a documentary as he used to make. Moreover, the director never give is opinion on what is good or bad he only suggests thoughts to his audience.

WARNING : Les yeux sans visage is a bit long and descriptive, so if you're not in the mood for a B&W slow movie, do NOT chose to watch this one !

  3.Chair pour Frankenstein, 1973 by Paul Morissey and Antonio Margheriti

The last but not least ! I wanted to show you this one because i really love all the stories about Frankenstein and because this one is FRENCH and produce by Andy Warhol. It's a US production realized by  french directors and that's why i chose this one. Warhol's Frankenstein couldn't be relased with others directors. This film is an ufo in all the version of the life of Frankenstein.From the end of the eighteen century we can see the twisted mind of warhol and especially in this movie.

The specific part of this movie is the 3D version, YES you didnt misread, 3D in the early 80's !!! i really recommend this movie because of the Technics employed and because of the completely sick/crazy scenario. Imagine a scientist who wants to create the perfect serbian race by assembling body parts from perfect male and female : That means a LOT of kills !!You're excited right ?
Try to watch this movie when you want something funny and not too darky, with monsters and scientist experiences in it! a great melting pot for a successful Saturday night!!

With these three movies you'll necessarily understand the skills and technics of french directors in the beginning of the French horror and see how powerful they are. If we like french horror movie nowadays it is thanks to them !

Man-Made Monster

Finally times to celebrate : 1st Review of the YEAR 

I did it, YES I DID IT!! The first review of the year finally comes up on Universal Monsters. Let me present to you the too often forgotten MAN-MADE MONSTER aka Atomic Monster starring the incredible and handsome Man of a Thousand Faces : Lon Chaney Jr

What you NEED to know bout' Man-Made Monster :

• Directed by George Waggner
• Produced by Jack Bernhard
• Written by Harry Essex, Sid Schwartz and Len Golos
• Release dates : March 28, 1941
• Distributed by Universal Studio
• Running time : 59 min

Man-Made Monster is NOT really a horror movie, its more like a science fiction movie for me.  You probably never heard of this movie but some of you should know this one because it's one of the first Sci-Fi/ Horror movie of Lon Chaney Jr.
We should notice that he appeared in Man-Made Monster (MMM) only few month prior the making his name as THE WOLF MAN (yes its him AGAIN !)
 In this movie the main character (Lon Chaney Jr.) is the only survior of a tragic bus accident at the totally beginning. In this scene we saw (with amazing visuals effects) that he is virtually immune to electricity : A kind of ELECTRIC MAN in fact !

(Btw you should find a  re-release of MMM under the name of Electric Man)

So, our Electric Man named Dn McCormick) sell himself in fairs as Dynamo Man like would do a tiger in a zoo. He seems all alone and depressed until 2 scientists in Electrobiology came to him to discuss of his "Power". As you can guess, one of them (Dr John Lawrence played by Samuel S hinds) is a GOOD doctor who only want to study the electricity and the other ( Dr Paul Rigas played by Lionel Atwill) is the MAD SCIENTIST who has bad thoughts of course !
The mad doctor want to study him in order to create an ARMY of electrobiologically driven zombie.(You could think that this army is not easy to command and direct but NO, for Him its seems natural to lead a zombie army ):  Dr Paul Rigas starts his experiences by giving higher and higher electric dose to McCormick until his mind explode is ruined. The poor Monster become addicted to electric doses... The charges give him THE TOUCH OF DEATH : He is capable of killing anyone he touchs by electrocution.

My favorite part is when the doctor find a brilliant idea to give more power to his subject : An ELECTRIC CHAIR !! That a fact, the electric chair give him  A LOT of power to kill A LOT of people, i wont spoil you anything about the rest of the story.

I really enjoyed the ambiance, dark and tensed all long the film. The characters are very interesting/complexes mostly McCormick and the mad Dr Rigas. The two actors show their best role in a horror/Sci-Fi  movie in my opinion. (yes, even if McCormick is so good in each movie and specially in THE WOLF MAN).

 I hope this little review give you an overwhelming desire to watch Man-Made Man by the end of 2014 !!

The Freaks are coming back in Paris !

YES you didn't misread....Monsters are coming back in Paris for a MONTH ! We all know that Paris is still one of the most multicultural center in Est Europe BUT i guess program makers tend to forget that in France we LOVE freaky shows, old black and white trash movies : We are Blood-Thirsty !!!

If you need your dose, You totally have to run to the "FORUM DES IMAGES" from 11 December 2013 to  12 January 2014.

 The line up is pretty attractive because they tried to show how monsters have always fascinated people. Yes, even if we see them as circus freak or if we're terrorized we are curious about what they really are !
They decided to present no less than 68 movies from FREAKS,1931 by Tod browning;  THE MAN WHO LAUGHS, 1928 by Paul Leni (Cf  image above) to CARRIE, 1995 by Bryan De Palma or LET THE RIGHT ONE IN,2008 by Tomas Alfredson
Click HERE to see the entire film program

And DO NOT try to bring your Little monsters Kids during the freaky Kids weekend organised from 21 to 22 December !
Imagine a weekend with only Monster kids everywhere on screens, day and night !! and don't worry they won't show you any stupid remake of Chucky (the doll). They focus on the sixties, and more specially on remake from the sixties in the 70's Horror movies..

I cant finish my article before  telling you that there are some MUST-SEE projected at the Forum des Images, here is my list :

• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1946 by Victor Flemming

• Labyrinth Man, 1977 by David Lynch

• The Fly, 1987 by David Cronenberg

• Les Révoltés de l'an 2000, 1976 by Narciso Ibanez

• The Phantom of the Opera, 1925 by Rupert Julian

How to watch a Horror film

Here is the ultimate guide to truly enjoy classic horror movie :

It''s true that two people won't get the same experience when they've watched the same film especially classic horror movie. These days, you won't find anyone over th age of 13 who actually gets scared by watching horror film..Thanks you internet and video games !!

Howerver it is still possible to immerse yourself in a horror movie and get frightened if you follow step by step my process ! if you're siiting comfortably we will begin :

1. Do NOT watch horror films at the cinema !
Without taking care about the quality of the film, you will definitely have your experience ruined by stupid persons talking, laughing or even texting on their phone (how annoying !). Worst of all, you may get placed close to a troublemaker who can't stop shouting at the screen.. it's true that characters in horror movie usually make stupid decisions BUT we dont need a running commentary !!!

That's the guy you want close to you in a movie theater

So, to sum up you stay home with your own home cinema, it will totally do the trick so you can enjoy your movie.

PS : do not deprive yourself of eating POP CORN, i think its the basic way to enjoy any movie !

2. Do NOT watch horror movie during the day 
You need to create the right obscur ambiance as in the movie, so it HAS TO BE DARK in your living room !! the best way is to close your shutters but i prefer let them openned and see the darkness through the window. OF COURSE you have to switch off the lights !!

3.You need to control your environment

• First, you may think that its better to watch movie with bunch of friends( if you have enough)  but ITS NOT ! : it will increase the opportunity for conversations and you'll miss some great scenes.

• Then, you need to get the volume loud (like at the cinema) :  why ?? because you will fully take the adventage of the weird/scary noises and also of the terrifying music in the movie. we all know some of them : Psychose (Hitchcock) ; Shinning (Stanley Kubrick) ; The exorcist (William Friedkin)
  
  Here is some creepy anbient horror you can find in monsters movie :

• NOBODY has to interupt your concentration/immersion in the movie : switch off your phone, computer, tablet computer, alarm clock etc.. 

Now you have your set up ready to enjoy you horror movie, we will introduce some classics monsters movie later ..

WELCOME TO ALL OF YOU 

In this blog you will learn about all the monsters you're afraid of ! By monsters i think about the real old fashion monsters as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman , the Invisible Man and many others !

During the golden age of Horror in the 40's there was one single studio that prevailed over the rest and assumed to create some of the most iconic horror characters known to the wolrd : UNIVERSAL STUDIO.
Even if you're not a horror movie fan you all know those characters ! Since their creation in the 40's they inspired many artists as film directors, book and comics writers and in our actual society they've been immortalized in pop culture through Movie remakes, television references but also through thousands of clothing and figurines.

Nowadays, film director only focus on blood and gore as the 7 or 8 SAW(we dont even know how many..).. They dont care about myth, hidden fears or terror of the unknown..But they are all inspired by the universal monsters!

It is refreshing to see that classic monsters continue to live through the ages.