Scream Scene Podcast

Bonjour! Your deadicated hosts travel to France for 1936’s LE GOLEM, directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Harry Baur and Charles Dorat! What is this film’s relation to Paul Wegener’s earlier classic(s), or even to the horror genre? Listen and find out! Mon Dieu! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 24:30; Ranking 39:31

Your deadicated hosts are back in America for some classic cotton candy horror. Starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, it's 1936's THE INVISIBLE RAY directed by Lambert Hillyer! It's the first in a few genre developments: B-movie scifi and slasher flicks. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 14:08; Discussion 28:51; Ranking 49:22

It's part two of horror in Nazi Germany! Your deadicated hosts cover FÄHRMANN MARIA, a 1936 horror/occult film directed by Franz Wysbar and starring Sybille Schmitz & Peter Voss. What happened to the film industry before, during and after WWII? Why do horror films end in Nazi Germany? And how has German Expressionism morphed from its first incarnation to now? All this and more in this episode! Con...

Your deadicated hosts travel to Nazi Germany for one of two horror films made in the Third Reich... What did the Nazification of the German film industry look like? We get a pretty good idea from this 1935 remake of DER STUDENT VON PRAG starring Anton Walbrook, Theodor Loos, and Dorothea Wieck; directed by Arthur Robison. Context setting 00:00; synopsis 40:14; discussion 52:03; ranking 1:15:35

Your deadicated hosts take on THE CRIME OF DR CRESPI (1935) out of Republic Pictures! This poverty row picture brings together Dwight Frye (!) and Erich von Stroheim (!!) in this strange adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Premature Burial." Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 24:39; Discussion 31:18; Ranking 38:34

Your deadicated hosts swoon through Frank Strayer's 1935 horror CONDEMNED TO LIVE, covering the beginnings of poverty row studio Republic Pictures. Starring Ralph Morgan, Maxine Doyle, Russell Gleason, and Mischa Auer, and featuring a whole lot of meh. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 15:52; Discussion 23:59; Ranking 34:39

Boris Karloff and Boris Karloff star in the 1935 Columbia horror THE BLACK ROOM, directed by Roy William Neill! Joining Karloff is Marian Marsh, Robert Allen, Thurston Hall, and Katherine DeMille! This well-structured film shows us how to go beyond painting-by-numbers and experience the thrill of seeing how the pieces come together. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 11:37; Discussion 20:25; Ranking...

Peter Lorre steals the show as Dr Gogol in MAD LOVE, directed by Karl Freund! You'll go-go for Gogol in this 1935 adaptation of Maurice Renard's novel Les Mains d'Orlac. Hear how this film compares to others on the list in episode 52 of Scream Scene. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 28:57; Discussion 39:26; Ranking 1:03:40

Vaguely inspired by Edgar Allan Poe comes 1935's THE RAVEN starring our favourite boys Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff! Directed by working man director Louis Friedlander, this film hits all the horror notes, Bateman! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 23:22; Discussion 35:55; Ranking 51:59

AWOOO! It's the first Hollywood werewolf picture ever, but your deadicated hosts find that its bark is worse than its bite: it's Universal's 1935 WEREWOLF OF LONDON directed by Stuart Walker and starring Henry Hull, Warner Oland, Valerie Hobson, and Lester Matthews. Context setting 00:00; synopsis 25:07; discussion 39:09; ranking 58:06

Tod Browning and Bela Lugosi chase past glories in this 1935 horror MARK OF THE VAMPIRE! This remake of Browning's 1927 LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT features a truly Halloween atmosphere with Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Lionel Atwill, and Jean Hersholt. Context setting 00:00; synopsis 33:18; discussion 43:04; ranking 1:07:24

The monster demands a mate! Your deadicated hosts dive into Whale's 1935 sequel BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN! Featuring the return of Colin Clive, Boris Karloff, and Ernest Thesiger, and introducing Elsa Lanchester into horror! What is the relationship of horror to camp? To goth or queer culture? And, of course, a thorough discussion of how BRIDE relates to its preceding film, FRANKENSTEIN. Context setti...

On a very special episode of Scream Scene: your deadicated hosts tackle the Hollywood Motion Picture Production Code, William H Hays, Joseph Breen, and how the 1934 amendment and enforcement affected horror, and all, films until 1968.

MANIAC, also known as SEX MANIAC is your deadicated hosts' first foray into exploitation horror -- and certainly won't be the last. Beware, this 1934 Dwain Esper classic is something to be experienced to truly be believed! Context setting 00:00; synopsis 21:20; discussion 37:23; ranking 43:37.

Columbia Pictures offers us our last pre-code horror film: the disappointing BLACK MOON (1934) directed by Roy William Neill and starring Jack Holt, Fay Wray, and Dorothy Burgess. Based off the 1933 novel of the same name by Clements Ripley. It's, uh, not good.

The film that could not possibly fail... your deadicated hosts review Edgar G Ulmer's 1934 pre-code classic THE BLACK CAT, bringing together Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, with third wheels David Manners and Julie Bishop. Hungary and Austria collide in this film about a satanic cultist by a Czech director. To contextualize this conflict, we cover Austria-Hungary's role in World War One. It's relev...

Your deadicated hosts review the poverty row film from Monogram Pictures HOUSE OF MYSTERY (1934) directed by William Nigh and starring Ed Lowry and Verna Hillie. Discover the mysterious origins of this Old Dark House rip-off, with added monkey! Context setting 00:00; synopsis 14:03; discussion 22:52; ranking 34:36

From the behind-the-scenes drama of James Whale's 1933 horror THE INVISIBLE MAN, to HG Wells' writing process, your deadicated hosts explore Claude Rains' iconic role as the Invisible Man! Context setting 00:00; synopsis 26:01; discussion 40:01; ranking 1:03:33

Your deadicated hosts uncover a copy of Ramón Peón's 1933 horror LA LLORONA with "English subtitles." Hear the stories behind Mexico's first horror film, and legendary Crying Woman legend! Context setting 00:00; synopsis 22:25; discussion 33:39; ranking 43:38

Boris Karloff returns to the UK and to the show with T Hayes Hunter's 1933 THE GHOUL; our first British horror film, and the first film rated H for horror! Context setting 00:00; synopsis 20:08; discussion 32:49; ranking 50:57

Your deadicated hosts encounter the pre-code poverty-row picture NIGHT OF TERROR from 1933 directed by Benjamin Stoloff. Despite what Bela Lugosi brings to this horror film, NIGHT OF TERROR is overwhelmingly monotonous and derivative of many films before it. Context setting 00:00; synopsis 10:28; discussion 20:11; ranking 33:29

The deadicated hosts confront the first so-bad-it's-good film on the list: SUPERNATURAL (1933) from the Halperin Bros starring Carole Lombard and Alan Dinehart. Context setting: 00:00; synopsis 12:29; discussion 27:34; ranking 41:07

Your deadicated hosts review Paramount Pictures' 1933 MURDERS IN THE ZOO, featuring the myriad of actors who either before or after this movie had established careers in law, politics, and the military. Plus, the spooky history of zoos! Context setting 00:00; synopsis 27:32; discussion 45:36; ranking 1:11:32

The deadicated hosts talk the morbid origins of wax figures and the lines between mystery thrillers & horror in this review of Curtiz's 1933 two-tone technicolour horror MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, and Glenda Farrell. Context setting 00:00; synopsis 26:11; discussion 37:41; ranking 1:05:33

Your deadicated hosts endure Majestic Pictures' 1933 mockbuster THE VAMPIRE BAT, directed by Frank Strayer and starring Fay Wray, Lionel Atwill, Melvyn Douglas and Dwight Frye! Context setting 00:00; plot summary 13:06; discussion 23:33; ranking 39:44