R.I.P. George A. Romero.

Horror film icon George A. Romero passed away on July 16, 2017, at the age of 77.

George Romero and Friends, from "Day of the Dead".

It’s hard to imagine what the horror subset of our popular culture would be like, without George Romero.  Especially so, given today’s omnipresence of ZOMBIES!  The ghastly, violent, flesh-eating kind, of course!  

  

In 1968, Romero loosed upon an unsuspecting world, his low-budget masterpiece “Night of the Living Dead”, and things were never the same again!   So low-budget was Romero’s horror flick, that it was filmed in black-and-white, almost unheard-of in 1968!  Yet, due to this, the film actually benefited from an unusually scary atmosphere, which I feel would have been more diffused had it been filmed in color. 

Before George Romero and “Night of the Living Dead”, zombies were considered scary, but were more-or-less simply “undead persons” carrying out various tasks while in the thrall of some sinister figure, or utilized as an unpaid and uncomplaining labor force.  

Examples included “White Zombie” (1932) starring Bela Lugosi, and “I Walked with a Zombie” (1943, below) directed by the great Jacques Tourneur, and produced at RKO by another horror icon Val Lewton.   

A further sub-genre were the “zombie horror/comedies” (“zom-coms”?) like “King of the Zombies” (1941) and “Revenge of the Zombies” (1943), both featuring Mantan Moreland as his character “Jeff”, who recurred over a series of films at the time.  “Revenge of the Zombies” featured yet another horror icon, John Carradine as said “sinister figure”.  

  

Comic book legend Carl Barks even got into the act with a famous Donald Duck adventure “Voodoo Hoodoo” (1949), which he noted was inspired by the above-mentioned Lugosi film “White Zombie”, and where the “zombie” was more or less a mindless message-deliverer.

  

Special Delivery, Donald! 

But, George Romero changed all that “placidly mindless servitude” with his tale of vicious and relentlessly driven “Flesh-Eating Ghouls”, fashioning the zombie into the horrific creature we know and love today!  

And let's give Romero some serious props for casting black actor Duane Jones as the film's hero, "Ben"!  That, too, was "...almost unheard-of in 1968!"  Jones' casting serves as an important counterpoint to much of the imagery of earlier "zombie films".   

Forgive me, but I also have George Romero to eternally thank for this memorable image!  Hey, I'm only human... 

Romero eventually followed with also-very-good “Dawn of the Dead” (1978), where a band of survivors take refuge from the zombie plague in a MALL.  Neither Romero nor the rest of us could possibly foresee the unanticipated irony of MALLS themselves eventually becoming “zombies”.

Gore was so much simpler in Black and White, wasn't it? 

Over the years, a string of Romero “Dead” films followed with varying results.  But, perhaps more significant was George Romero’s influence on Italian filmmaker Lucio Fulci, resulting in “Zombie” (1979), my second-most favorite “undead” film of all time… after “Night of the Living Dead”, of course!  Fulci would also become a favorite filmmaker of mine, as a master of horror and the unique type of Italian violent murder mystery known as the “Giallo”.   

Need I say that Lucio Fulci’s “Zombie”, great as it was, takes a back seat to George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” – which is my personal favorite horror movie of ALL TIME, ever since seeing it at a drive-in movie in the late 1960s as a kid, and again in the later 1970s, when I could “drive-in” myself! 

And, no list of things influenced by George Romero could possibly be complete without noting his direct effect on the extremely popular TV series THE WALKING DEAD , the comic book it was based upon, and its spinoff FEAR THE WALKING DEAD!  My Sunday nights just aren’t complete without them!  ...Or, a Sunday Night without Zombies is like a Day without Sunshine… or, “Sunset”, or whatever. 

At the “Thursday Night Horror and Sci-Fi Appreciation Society”, that I’ve mentioned elsewhere on this Blog, we are asked to comment on and RATE the week’s featured film.  “Night of the Living Dead” was the first film presented to our group I rated as a TEN of TEN, and is the standard by which I have rated every other film since.  

My oft-repeated quote to the members is: “You can never see ‘Night of the Living Dead’ too many times!”

And, to digress just for the record, other “TENS” have included Tod Browning’s “Freaks” (1932), “King Kong” (1933), “Island of Lost Souls” (1932) with Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi, “The Most Dangerous Game” (1932) with Joel McCrea, Fay Wray and the amazing Leslie Banks, the previously-mentioned "Zombie" (1979), and two superb examples of the Giallo – “A Bay of Blood” (1971) directed by Mario Bava (…Described by me as “Scooby-Doo with murders”!) and “Tenebrae” (1982) directed by Dario Argento… to which I actually gave an impossible “TWELVE of TEN”!  Yes, it was THAT GOOD! 

Oh, and next week we're going to see Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960) - about which you can read my thoughts HERE.  I've already advance-rated that as a TEN!  [End of Digression] 

Finally, as my own very personal tribute to the work of the great George A. Romero, I submit that when I was assigned an Italian Mickey Mouse horror-adventure tale (to translate and to write an American English script for domestic publication) in which the CAPTION BOXES of comic books that Mickey and Goofy are in somehow achieve sentience and revolt en-masse against the penciled-and-inked servitude in which they’ve spent decades… do you know what I decided to call it? 

“NIGHT OF THE LIVING TEXT”! 

Rest in peace, George A. Romero… and thank you for all the flesh-eating zombies… er, “ghouls”, and for inspiring generations of filmmakers and writers… including, even me!  

DVD Review: The Devil Bat (1940)

The Devil Bat (1940)

Released: September 10, 2013 by Kino Classics

Another looong DVD Review by Joe Torcivia

Summary:  Death by…  Shaving Lotion?  Yes, really!

 

Once upon a time there were two rich families, the Heaths and the Mortons, who became richer still on chemical cosmetic formulas concocted by Dr. Paul Carruthers (Bela Lugosi), who accepted a cash payment for his initial efforts rather than a stake in Heath and Morton’s operation.  While this benefited Carruthers in the short run, it made him bitter and vengeful over time. 

But, let’s kick it over to the on-screen text “Foreword” that opens the picture: 

“All Heathville loved Paul Carruthers, their kindly village doctor.  No one suspected that, in his home laboratory, on a hillside overlooking the magnificent estate of Martin Heath, the doctor found time to conduct certain private experiments – weird, terrifying experiments!”   

 

Did you read that?  They LOVE me! 

Now, Dr. Carruthers didn’t really have it so bad on the whole.  He worked in a laboratory, and with materials, apparently supplied by Heath and, presumably, drew a salary – or, at least existed on a stipend – that would ensure his continued services. He’s even presented with a bonus check for his continued good work by one of Heath’s sons…

…But, when you remain a wage-slave while those around you continue to amass great wealth, it’s not hard to understand why resentment creeps in, even if the situation results from your own ill-advised choices. 

What IS a bit hard to understand (at least outside the context of horror movies), is why you’d want to grow giant killer bats and use them as the instruments of your revenge. 

On the other hand, if the Heaths and Mortons were just a tad less “dickish” (if you will) in their dealings with Dr. Carruthers, continually reminding him of their “deal” – and maybe shared a little piece of the pie with the man upon whose work said “pie” came into existence in the first place – perhaps none of this would have happened… and there’d be no movie, no DVD to review, and I’d probably be posting on THE WALKING DEAD, LOST IN SPACE, or some old comic book, instead!

Caught between "The Devil Bat" and the "Deep Blue Zombies"!

But, never expect the mad genius of Dr. Paul Carruthers (or Bela Lugosi, for that matter) to let you down, especially when there’s a buck at stake, or a “dickish” family member to be offed! 

 

 

 

In a secret room in his (actually Heath’s) lab, Carruthers has enhanced ordinary bats, using Universal Pictures “Frankenstein-era” type sparking and sizzling equipment, to grow several times their size, and several times as fierce!  And, to boot, trained them to zero-in on the scent of a particular type of new shaving lotion Carruthers developed, and to kill anyone carrying its scent!  And, succeed at this he does, bringing about the deaths of several Heaths and Mortons by “Devil Bat Attack”! 

Lugosi, as Carruthers, clearly relishes each successive slaying, laying ironic comments on each victim as they depart after sampling the shaving lotion, such as: 

The Shaving Lotion of Death!

ROY HEATH (Victim): “Good Night, Doctor!”

CARRUTHERS: “Good BYE, Roy!” 

Or…

CARRUTHERS: (in reference to the new brand of shaving lotion): “I don’t think you’ll EVER use ANYTHING ELSE!” 

Ahhhhhhh!

 …And, Dr. Carruthers would have succeeded, too, if not for “those meddling kids from SCOOBY-DOO” – no wait, I mean “Johnny Layton” and “One-Shot McGuire”, a meddling newspaper reporter and his meddling photographer. 

"Who's on first... Bat's on second... I don't know's on third!

 Despite throwing-off a distinct “Abbott and Costello vibe” (perhaps because “The Devil Bat’s” director, Jean Yarbrough, was later known for working with the legendary comedy team?) , Layton and McGuire, working with heiress-to-be “Mary Heath”, eventually turn the tables on Carruthers, ridding the world of Devil Bats once and for all. 

NO!  No, not ME!  Noooo!

Once again, it seems Bela Lugosi was done in by a newspaper reporter, just as he was HERE! 

That does it!  I must CANCEL my newspaper subscription at once!

“The Devil Bat” was produced by Producer’s Releasing Corp. (est. 1939), and is 01:08: 27 worth of pure “Poverty Row” goodness, and the delightful “pluses and minuses” that come with that are evident throughout.  

For instance, the “Devil Bat” itself was nothing more than a stuffed prop, which glides on the expected wires.  Yet, even in this nicely cleaned-up version of the film, the wires are nowhere near as evident as they might be in other productions of this (or even later) vintage, indicating some extra care on the part of the special effects crew. 

Shhhh!  Perhaps it's SLEEPING!

Unless it was in flight, the Devil Bat never moved, but hung motionless and upside-down on a perch, even when that perch was carried around by Dr. Carruthers.  The only “spark of life” ever exhibited by the Devil Bat was in extreme CLOSE-UP, when a REAL snarling bat’s face was intercut with the “still ‘n’ stuffed” dummy.  At least, the “live bat’s” face and expression WAS scary by 1940 standards, if not still by today’s.  Bats are just scary – PERIOD, regardless of what century you’re living in!  BRRRR! 

Carruthers kept both the Devil Bat, and its normal-sized brethren, in a top-floor room of his lab building.  Whenever he’d unleash the beast, he’d… er, “go upstairs to the bat-room”, pull a rope that would open the room’s lone window, and out would fly the bats.  First, a few normal ones, followed by the Devil Bat.  But, each time Carruthers would target another victim, we were treated to the same stock-shot of mass Bat-exodus!  You’d see it several times, over the course of the picture! 
 

Here we go... AGAIN and AGAIN!

Ironically, watching all those BATS exit in exactly the same way every time, sorta reminded me of the weekly, recurring stock-shot of the BATMOBILE, exiting the Batcave and traveling the “14 miles” to Gotham City, to begin the BATMAN 1966 TV SHOW every week! 

Movies like this give BATS a bad name, Old Chum!

 …Ah, there’s nothing like “Poverty Row” pics!  
     

Oh, and there’s one additional casting selection of note!  Arthur Q. Bryan, best known as the voice of Elmer Fudd, is seen in a rare on-camera role as (the comedy team of) Layton and McGuire’s harried newspaper editor! 

"A Wild Hare" (1940)

 Both “The Devil Bat” and the Tex Avery directed Warner Bros. cartoon “A Wild Hare” (which marked the FIRST “vewy, vewy, quiet” hunting-encounter between Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd) were released in 1940.  I don’t know which one was released first, but it’s interesting to think about WHO may have actually had the more successful career going forward… Bela Lugosi or Arthur Q. Bryan.

Arthur Q. Bryan

 

Imagine ME... meeting Bewwa Wugosi!  Unbeweevable!

As is our custom in these reviews, we’ll break it into CONS and PROS.  

The CONS:
    

No Theatrical Trailer for “The Devil Bat”:  As the DVD market has changed; I’ve lowered my standards of what is an acceptable package for a movie DVD.  Formerly, those standards required the inclusion of a theatrical trailer for the film, a commentary track, and a "making-of" featurette.  Today, I'm somewhat satisfied with only a theatrical trailer,  And, alas, this version of “The Devil Bat” fails to include one. 

No Subtitles:  More and more, on older films, I find myself engaging the subtitle option because the sound quality on such films is often less then it could be.  “The Devil Bat” offers no English subtitles; however, the audio has been cleaned-up to such an extent that the option is not required for the best enjoyment of the film.  Still, the lack of subtitles is noted here.  

The PROS:

 It’s Bela Lugosi:  The American cinema’s first truly enduring master of horror, in a delightfully fiendish role.  Sure, he’s campy sometimes.  But who wouldn’t be, in a picture like this!  Lugosi never fails to light-up the screen whenever he’s on! 

It’s “Poverty Row”:  These supposedly “lesser” films are a wonder unto themselves!  I’ve grown to love the product of these smaller independent studios more and more, every time I see one!

Picture Quality:  The picture quality is fantastic for a film of this vintage.  Bela Lugosi films that did not originate with major studios like Universal and Columbia usually suffer in overall quality, but Kino Classics is to be commended for its superb restoration efforts.  (Images used here are from the Internet, and not necessarily indicative of the great restoration work that his been done on this film!)

You don't need GOGGLES like these to see the great picture quality!

The Extra Features: As noted above, Extra Features are no longer what they used to be for older films.  And, even with no theatrical trailer for “The Devil Bat”, Kino Classics has made more of an effort in this area than I’ve come to expect of late.

Theatrical Trailer for “White Zombie”:  (02:47) I suppose, if you could not include a theatrical trailer for Bela Lugosi in “The Devil Bat”, the next best thing would be to offer a theatrical trailer for Bela Lugosi in “White Zombie”. 

Funny thing is, neither the narration, in both voice and tone, and the superimposed text graphics, in their style, would seem to be authentic to a film released in 1932 – so I’ll not quote any of it.  See it for yourself, and decide.  Cross-checking with my DVD of “White Zombie”, it COULD be from a reissue trailer of 1952 – but it doesn’t even feel contemporary with THAT year, and more like something altered in recent times.  We may never know. 
      
One thing we DO know is that legendary Donald Duck comic book writer and artist Carl Barks drew upon “White Zombie” as his inspiration for the great Donald Duck comic book classic tale “Voodoo Hoodoo”, published in 1949.  See “The Carl Barks Library of Walt Disney’s Donald Duck Volume II” Pages 7–15 for more detail. 

Image Gallery:  An array of theatrical posters, lobby cards, and stills from “The Devil Bat”.  The “slideshow” is user-controlled, allowing you to savor each artifact (or move on to the next) at the viewer’s own pace. 

 Commentary Track:  Film historian Richard Harland Smith offers a lively and informative commentary for the 01:08:27 length of the film.  This sort of feature should be a part of EVERY movie package (…and pretty much once WAS!), and should exist for at least selected episodes of every TV series package.  Unfortunately, such tracks appear less and less these days.  Again, kudos to Kino Classics for this! 
 

Smith’s observations include: 
 

Dr. Carruthers’ glowing and sparking lab machinery was courtesy of Kenneth Strickfaden, who created, or otherwise furnished similar props for Universal’s “Frankenstein” series of films – all the way up through ‘60s TV favorite THE MUNSTERS. Smith adds:  “This is one thing modern horror movies no longer do – CRACKLE!”  And, “You can’t hear a TESLA COIL over the buzz of a CHAINSAW!” 

 

Oh, Lily?  There was this Dr. Carruthers... and did he ever have a GREAT yard sale!

Ever wonder what became of the physical sites of the Poverty Row studios?  I know *I* do.  Smith informs us that the last production to be filmed at the site where “The Devil Bat” was shot was the BAT (appropriately?) MASTERSON western TV series, that starred Gene Barry.   A Trader Joe’s now stands at the location.  (If only it was a place that sold “shaving lotion”!)   

At least the property remained in the "Bat" family!

Smith describes “The Devil Bat” as both a “Mad Scientist Film” and a “Revenge Thriller”. 
  

He also regards “The Devil Bat” as “…One of the early Body Count Movies – the grandfathers of 'Halloween' and 'Friday the 13 th', in which you are introduced to a cast of victims and asked to attend their murders – one by one.  [JOE’S NOTE: Sure makes me think of THIS personal favorite Vincent Price effort!]   

And, in perhaps the greatest “Life Imitates Art Irony” of all, Smith tells us that “The Devil Bat’s” lead actress, Suzanne Kaaren (“Mary Heath”), is said to have invented / originated the concept of the “Pop-Top Can”, took it to the Continental Can Co., and received a payment of only $1.20! 

…Perhaps she should have asked Bela Lugosi if he had any of those Devil Bats left over!   

"Now, my winged friend... We're going to kick some CAN!"

 

OVERALL:

On the Bela Lugosi Scale, “The Devil Bat” falls somewhere between Tod Browning and Universal’s horror classic “Dracula” (1931) and the fun, but somewhat bizarre, Poverty Row artifact “Murder By Television”  (1935).  If pressed, I’d move it up closer in “Dracula’s” direction, and away from more standard Poverty Row fare. 

More THIS...

...than THIS!

The restoration effort by Kino Classics is magnificent for a film of this vintage.  I purchased the Standard Definition version, and I can only imagine how great the Blu-ray must look! 

Kino Classics includes a nice selection of Extra Features for “The Devil Bat”, at a time when such things seem headed toward extinction.  

“The Devil Bat” is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in horror films of the period.  It’s probably more likely to make you smile (or even laugh) than it is to actually scare you, but that’s the great charm of a film like this.  Just sit back and watch Bela Lugosi “chew up some scenery”, while his mad-scientifically augmented Devil Bats “chew up some necks”! 

Give “The Devil Bat” extra points if you like Bela Lugosi… or bats – or if you’re just plain old “Bats for Bela”!