Scream Scene Podcast

It's the last Republic Pictures horror film and the other half of the double feature with CATMAN OF PARIS: this week your hosts review VALLEY OF THE ZOMBIES (1946) directed by Philip Ford & starring Robert Livingston, Lorna Gray/Adrian Booth, & Ian Keith! Will this poverty row horror help liven up the dying genre, or will it add to Republic's sinking ship? Context Setting 00:00; Synopsis 14:14; Di...

The end of an era! Universal ends its '40s horror run with SHE-WOLF OF LONDON (1946, Yarbrough) starring June Lockhart, Don Porter, and Sara Haden. Why is it blamed for the end of the genre? Why does Universal stop making horror after this? And what does British industrialist J Arthur Rank have to do with anything? Listen to find out! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 16:43; Discussion 25:59; Rankin...

All good things must end! We review BEDLAM (1946) from director Mark Robson and starring Boris Karloff and Anna Lee. It's our final horror film from Lewton and his team at RKO, does he go out with a bang? Plus, what's the connection to William Hogarth's art? Why is it called Bedlam? Why is this the last Lewton horror film? Listen and find out! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 33:21; Discussion 49:4...

Paris, the city of lights... and cats! A 'catman' stalks the streets (or is it just a hairy man?), is anyone safe? From Republic Pictures comes THE CATMAN OF PARIS (1946)! Featuring the talents of notable western director Lesley Selander, serial writer Sherman Lowe, and starring Carl Esmond, Lenore Aubert, Gerald Mohr, and Douglass Dumbrille. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 14:09; Discussion 36:05...

PRC challenges Val Lewton's brand of horror with DEVIL BAT'S DAUGHTER (1946) from director Frank Wisbar and starring Rosemary La Planche, John James, and Michael Hale. But will this sequel live up to its progenitor, THE DEVIL BAT (1940)? Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 12:10; Discussion 32:22; Ranking 44:44

Rondo Hatton returns, this time in a starring vehicle, with HOUSE OF HORRORS (1946, Yarbrough). Does Universal succeed in finding a new horror icon and franchise? Joining Hatton are Martin Kosleck, Robert Lowery, Virginia Grey and Bill Goodwin. Context Setting 00:00; Synopsis 15:26; Discussion 35:03; Ranking 52:30

Oh what a tangled web Universal Studios weaves with THE SPIDER WOMAN STRIKES BACK (1946, Lubin) starring Gale Sondergaard. This Poison Ivy wannabe has a bone to pick with nearby ranchers, what's a girl to do?! Also starring Brenda Joyce, Rondo Hatton, and Kirby Grant. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 20:12; Discussion 25:47; Ranking 37:28

What's that in the sky? A bird? A plane? No, it's THE FLYING SERPENT (1946, Newfield)! Starring George Zucco and the mythical Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, we try to separate fact from fiction about just why this movie pseudo-Devil Bat remake was made. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 18:45; Discussion 39:14; Ranking 45:43

How many tropes and plot-pivots can you throw in to an hour-long horror movie? Director William Beaudine gives his best shot with 1946's THE FACE OF MARBLE starring John Carradine, Claudia Drake, Robert Shayne and Maris Wrixon. We have voodoo, ghosts, vampires, mad scientists, white faces of marble, and more! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 10:31; Discussion 34:03; Ranking 48:48

From PRC comes STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP (1946), an American remake of the 1936 German horror film FAHRMANN MARIA! Both films are written and directed by Frank Wisbar, but how does 10 years, a new country, and a post-war environment affect the anti-Nazi story? STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP stars Rosemary LaPlanche, Robert Barrat, and Blake Edwards. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 16:46; Discussion 23:51; Ra...

Noirvember hits the Scream Scene team with THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1946), a film noir combining Gothic horror & slasher tropes. Starring Dorothy McGuire, George Brent & Ethel Barrymore, this old dark house flick comes from RKO and director Robert Siodmak. Context Setting 00:00; Synopsis 30:56; Discussion 40:12; Ranking 1:13:31

All good things must come to an end, but does HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945, Kenton) do justice to Universal's monsters Dracula, Wolfman and Frankenstein's Creature? Will Universal's last classic monster rally film go out with a bang, or a whimper? Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 36:53; Discussion 59:46; Ranking 1:22:19

We uncover and review the lost second half of Republic's horror double feature in this episode on THE PHANTOM SPEAKS (1945) from director John English, writer John K Butler, and starring Richard Arlen, Stanley Ridges, and Tom Powers. How will this film noir horror with supernatural themes fare up against other films on our ranked list? Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 13:30; Discussion 23:47; Ranki...

For the day before Halloween, we humbly present our episode on ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945, Robson), inspired by Arnold Böcklin's painting of the same name! Karloff and Lewton strike gold again, this time in a unique vampire tale set in Greece. It's a one-of-a-kind picture written by Ardel Wray and featuring Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Helene Thimig, Alan Napier, Jason Robards Sr, Ernst D...

It's six horror films for the price of one! This week your deadicated hosts review DEAD OF NIGHT (1945) from directors Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer. Plus, insights into the British film industry, the Rank Organisation, HG Wells and EF Benson, past horror anthologies, and much more. It's our first British horror in a while, so there's a lot to catch up on! Conte...

It's the third and final entry of the Paula Dupree franchise, plus the horror debut of Rondo Hatton. From director Harold Young comes 1945's JUNGLE CAPTIVE out of Universal Studios! The film also features Otto Kruger, Amelita Ward, Phil Brown, Jerome Cowan and Vicky Lane as Paula Dupree (replacing Acquanetta). Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 21:09; Discussion 29:23; Ranking 45:15

We're back at RKO to dig up THE BODY SNATCHER (1945) from Val Lewton and director Robert Wise! Boris Karloff, Henry Daniell and Russell Wade star in this adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic short story. Oh hey Bela Lugosi is here too! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 27:56; Discussion 41:04; Ranking 1:06:04

Wheel of cryptids turn turn turn, name the film that we'll discern... It's THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST (1945) from director Lesley Selander, writer Leigh Brackett, and starring John Abbott, Charles Gordon, Peggy Stewart and Grant Withers. We follow the standard vampire and Dracula formula, this time in the Belgian Congo! But how does this film from Republic Pictures stack up against our other Dracula rip-...

From MGM comes THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1945, Lewin), plus proof that your time in university literature courses doesn't have to go to waste! This Aesthetic, Gothic and classy horror stars Hurd Hatfield, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury and Donna Reed. We give an overview of Oscar Wilde, his 1890 novel, the Aestheticism literary movement, public versus private horror, and so! much! more! Context...

Is it horror? Is it film noir? It's THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET (1945, Murphy) starring Nils Asther and Helen Walker! With a powerful score from Miklós Rózsa and a plot from Barré Lyndon, this certainly is A Film To Watch! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 18:31; Discussion 30:29; Ranking 43:21

Kharis the Mummy returns in THE MUMMY'S CURSE (1944, Goodwins) with Lon Chaney Jr, Virginia Christine, and Dennis Moore. Plus a secret cure to mummification: rest and rehydration! Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 21:16; Discussion 34:02; Ranking 46:09

Five monsters for the price of one! It's our first Monster Rally picture, with Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, Dracula, a Hunchback and Mad Scientist in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944, Kenton). Screams, thrills, and tropes galore await you... Joining director Erle C Kenton are Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr, J Carrol Naish, John Carradine, Glenn Strange, Elena Verdugo, Anne Gwynne, Lionel Atwill,...

What do you do with a sequel-not-sequel? What happens when your deadicated hosts disagree on what makes a horror film? Take a listen to THE CLIMAX (1944) from director George Waggner & starring Boris Karloff in full technicolor! Susanna Foster, Turhan Bey, and Gale Sondergaard also star in this musical melodramatic....horror? Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 25:52; Discussion 39:10; Ranking 1:03:23

Columbia Pictures' second supernatural double horror film THE SOUL OF A MONSTER (1944) comes at you like a bat out of hell in this week's episode! From director/composer Will Jason and starring Rose Hobart, George Macready, Jeanne Bates, Jim Bannon and Erik Rolf. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 10:03; Discussion 32:15; Ranking 52:31

The first in a Columbia Pictures double feature, CRY OF THE WEREWOLF (1944, Levin) howls into your ears in this week's Scream Scene! Starring Nina Foch, Osa Massen and Stephen Crane, this film features our first female werewolf. Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 25:14; Discussion 29:42; Ranking 1:03:06