Threshold (2020)
After years of no contact, a phone call reconnects Leo (Joey Millin) with his sister Virginia (Madison West). Their estrangement comes from her years of drug abuse and when he finds her, she’s seemingly going through an overdose. However, she tells him that she’s been clean for eight months thanks to a mysterious group that […]
The Leopard Man (1943)
Based on the book Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich, The Leopard Man is one of the first movies to depict a serial killer. Written by Ardel Wray and Edward Dein for producer Val Lewton and directed by Jacques Tourneur, the master artist behind Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie and Night of the Demon. Somewhere in New Mexico, […]
The Seventh Victim (1943)
The Seventh Victim is a movie that haunts me. Its main character, Jacqueline Gibson, exemplifies the nightmare of existence that is at the heart of so many of Val Lewton’s characters. For her, life is absolutely meaningless and the only way out is to end things, despite the efforts of so many people to discover her, […]
Isle of the Dead (1945)
Inspired by the painting Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin, this movie was written by frequent Lewton collaborator Ardel Wray and was the second of three movies that Lewton would make with Boris Karloff. It’s directed by Mark Robson, the fourth of five movies he would director for the producer. Karloff needed back surgery […]
Bedlam (1946)
Inspiration can come from anywhere. For example, this movie was based on William Hogarth’s 1732-1734 painting series A Rake’s Progress. Written by producer Val Lewton and director Mark Robson, who would go on to make Peyton Place, Valley of the Dolls and Earthquake. It would be Lewton’s last movie for RKO. Boris Karloff plays Master George Sims, […]
REPOST: Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy (2005)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This originally ran on March 12, 2021 on our site, but with Val Lewton’s birthday being today, we’ve re-running it. Part of The Val Lewton Horror Collection, this documentary explains the magic of Val Lewton. Directed by Constantine Nasr (who has created many featurettes for DVDs), it unites William Friedkin, Joe Dante, John […]
I Walked With a Zombie (1943)
Producer Val Lewton’s second film for RKO took two different inspirations that were pretty different. First was an article by Inez Wallace and the other was Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Despite that pedigree, this film got one of those “get ’em in the theater” titles that was forced on Lewton by RKO. The movie starts with […]
The Body Snatcher (1945)
After House of Frankenstein, Boris Karloff was sick of his most famous role. He called that movie a “monster clambake,” as it included Frankenstein’s monster, Count Dracula, The Wolf Man and a hunchback. The film was a success, yet he decided not to renew his contract with Universal. He signed for three films with RKO […]
The Ghost Ship (1943)
This was a lost Val Lewton movie for some time. That’s because the producer was sued for plagiarism by playwrights Samuel R. Golding and Norbert Faulkner, who claimed that they had submitted a script of this story to him as a possible movie. As a result, the film was taken out of theaters and not […]
REPOST: Curse of the Cat People (1944)
EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s Val Lewton’s birthday and thanks to Shudder adding so many of his films, I’d love to get more people watching them. This one is probably his best effort. fter the success of Cat People, RKO demanded that Val Lewton get started on a sequel. The original director was Gunther von Fritsch, but when […]
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