Episode Thirty - Nosferatu

This week its just Joakim and Tom discussing a classic and possibly suggesting the ending might not actually be that great....

From Masters of Cinema:

An iconic film of the German expressionist cinema, and one of the most famous of all silent movies, F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu. Eine Symphonie des Grauens. [Nosferatu. A Symphony of Horror.] continues to haunt — and, indeed, terrify — modern audiences with the unshakable power of its images. By teasing a host of occult atmospherics out of dilapidated set-pieces and innocuous real-world locations alike, Murnau captured on celluloid the deeply-rooted elements of a waking nightmare, and launched the signature “Murnau-style” that would change cinema history forever.

In this first-ever screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a simple real-estate transaction leads an intrepid businessman deep into the superstitious heart of Transylvania. There he encounters the otherworldly Count Orlok — portrayed by the legendary Max Schreck, in a performance the very backstory of which has spawned its own mythology — who soon after embarks upon a cross-continental voyage to take up residence in a distant new land… and establish his ambiguous dominion. As to whether the count’s campaign against the plague-wracked populace erupts from satanic decree, erotic compulsion, or the simple impulse of survival — that remains, perhaps, the greatest mystery of all in this film that’s like a blackout…

Remade by Werner Herzog in 1979 (and inspiring films as diverse as Abel Ferrara’s King of New York and The Addiction, and E. Elias Merhige’s Shadow of the Vampire), F. W. Murnau’s surreal 1922 cine-fable remains the original and landmark entry in the entire global tradition of “the horror film”. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present, newly restored on 1080p Blu-ray at long last, Nosferatu. A Symphony of Horror. in its definitive restoration, complete with original intertitles and accompanied by the score that played with the film at the time of its initial release.

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Episode Twenty Nine - Island of Lost Souls

We return with a look at Erle C. Kentons Island of Lost Souls with special guest James Marsh.

From Masters of Cinema:

''Originally rejected by the BBFC on its initial release for being “against nature”, this first and best screen adaptation of H. G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau is a taboo-flaunting, blood-curdling spectacular, and one of Hollywood’s wildest, most notorious, pre-Code pictures.

Shipwrecked and adrift, Edward Parker finds himself a guest on Dr. Moreau’s isolated South Seas island, but quickly discovers the horrifying nature of the doctor’s work and the origin of the strange forms inhabiting the isle: a colony of wild animals reworked into humanoid form via sadistic surgical experiments. Furthermore, Parker quickly begins to fear his own part in the doctor’s plans to take the unholy enterprise to a next level.

Featuring a peerlessly erudite and sinister performance by Charles Laughton as the diabolical doctor, a sterling appearance by Bela Lugosi as the half-beast-half-man “Sayer of the Law”, and sensationally atmospheric cinematography by the great Karl Struss (Murnau’s Sunrise, Mamoulian’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), Island of Lost Souls now returns to claim a central position among the most imaginative and nightmarish fantasies from Hollywood’s golden age of horror. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Kenton’s film on Blu-ray and DVD for the first time in the UK, a celebration of the film’s 80th anniversary.''

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Episode Twenty Eight - Q4 2014 Roundup

It Q4 new release roundup time along with a few off the cuff discussions about some random topics. Enjoy!

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