I want to make things very clear, I am not hear to scare you with images of me in a bathing suit. I am not hear to mention Mama June from that Honey Boo Boo Show or basically those Walmart characters, but I will talk about body horror, this week’s theme from Wandering Through The Shelves. Personally I think people who have tattoos all over their body is not appealing especially when they will get old and wrinkly...bleccchhh. Ok I chose these 3 films and hope they work with the theme.
1. THE WOLFMAN-1941
This is the film that started the whole wolfman franchise. Lon Chaney Jr plays sweet Lyle Talbot who goes back to his home after his brother’s passing. He ends up helping a little gypsy girl when something attacks the gypsy camp and Lyle gets bitten in the process. This is the beginning of the end for poor Lyle who now turns into the wolfman when there is a full moon. This movie might be tame compared to other wolfman movies but I love the atmosphere of this film. It takes on, like many horror films made from the ‘30s & '40s, the German Expressionism that was throughout the Silent films from Germany in the 1920s. I believe Jack Pierce created the wolfman and I still think the look is one of the best.
2. HOUSE OF WAX-1953
This was the start of Vincent Price becoming synonymous with horror movies. He plays a talented wax sculpter in partnership with Burke who wants to burn the place down for the insurance money. Burke does burn the place down with Price in the building, hoping he died.....he didn’t. Price is very much alive and starts a new wax museum and has the help of his own Igor played by...Charles Bronson! The wax figures are hailed as very lifelike....almost too lifelike especially since people are disappearing. This was one of the first films made in 3D and a great movie with a unique take on the horror genre.
3. ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU-1996
This is a remake of a 1932 film starring Charles Laughton and one I have to see still but I did see the remake which is just batshit crazy. This film was fraught with difficulties from the stars to the location shooting. I actually saw this movie in the theatre and didn’t mind it. I should watch it again since it is classified as a horrible film. So Kilmer helps save someone from a plane wreck in the water and takes him to an island. There they meet Dr. Moreau who is played by Marlon Brando whose face is very white (think Michael Jackson) plus he has his own mini me. Soon you find out this doctor is playing God By taking the DNA from animals and humans mutating the animals into human hybrids. These poor animals and humans undergo torture and pain. It is really quite the nutty movie and I bet, the original film is much better.
What would you choose?
I didn't think the remake was horrible either.
ReplyDeleteI agree about people who are tatted up. It's not attractive now and when they get older, it will be a freak show.
I pretty sick of these tattoos
DeleteI have never seen a single one of these films, and I have never heard of the last two. But I agree on the tats. My grandmother used to say that a woman with a tattoo is a loose woman. She also said that about pierced ears. Isn't it amazing how times have changed. But old, wrinkled, and tatted would turn anyone off.
ReplyDeleteHow's your mom (or is that mum)?
Tattoos everywhere are really just ugly. My mom is actually doing better! She is eating and is actually in the dining room!! I am amazed but happy
DeleteHi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteI saw both The Wolfman and House Of Wax at a very early age. In fact, I point to House Of Wax (1953) as the very first horror movie I remember watching in a theater. My parents took me to see it when I was three years old. We were issued special 3-D glasses to view it. Vincent Price made such an impression on me that he went on to become my favorite horror movie actor. The following year I saw Vincent as The Mad Magician. Phyllis Kirk went on to become one of my favorite actresses appearing in the Jerry Lewis comedy film The Sad Sack and as Nora in the TV series The Thin Man with Peter Lawford.
Lon Chaney Jr is another of my favorite actors of any genre. I have seen most of his pictures. At college I studied the German Expressionism used in those Gothic horror films of the 30s and early 40s. Unlike the gory slice and dice color films of recent years those early horror films were slow paced, contained long quiet passages, were shot in brilliant black and white and featured nighttime scenes bathed in the romantic light of a full moon.
To me body horror is the most disturbing of all horror sub-genres and the TV series American Horror Story exploits it season after season.
Thank you very much, dear friend BB!
I am so happy you know the style of filming and that you took film studies and know all these movies so well. Lon Chaney jnr got typecast but he was so good in Mice and Men. I love Vincent Price who was such a gentle man who loved cooking and art
DeleteSurprise surprise I have seen all of these Birgit....my brother used to drag me to the cinema so he could meet with his girlfriend...and I was supposed to watch the films!....oh I agree I hate tats...they are just ugly I see nothing in them ...don’t have any never will....hope Mom is comfortable....xxxx
ReplyDeleteWow you saw all of these...I’m impressed. Tattoos are really just too much and so many will regret these later on
DeleteI haven't seen any of these but your intro totally cracked me up! :D
ReplyDeleteGlad I made you laugh
DeleteI haven't seen any of them
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day
DeleteI haven't seen any of these. I loved your intro though. I like tattoos (on other people) but you're right, they look terrible with age.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you liked my intro and maybe you will see one of these films
DeleteNice choices. I have seen the original Dr. Moreau but not the remake-held at bay by the savage reviews and my indifference to both Kilmer and Brando.
ReplyDeleteThe original Wolfman is a decent film as these things go and you do really feel for the character. House of Wax is a hooty delight thanks to Price who factors into one of my picks as well.
I am most definitely not a fan of body horror films (and I am COMPLETELY in accord with you view on tattoos!) but I did manage to dredge up three by including a film I hated.
Altered States (1980)-Ken Russell directed head trip about a college professor (William Hurt) who uses ancient tribal halogenics and an isolation tank to achieve another level of consciousness eventually devolving to a primordial ooze of energy as his colleagues and estranged wife (Blair Brown) fight to restrain him from destroying himself. Screen bow for both Hurt and Drew Barrymore as one of his daughters.
Society (1989)-Bottom of the barrel sludge about a teenage boy (Billy Warlock) who senses that he’s different from the rest of his family who mix with a certain level of society while he is more of an everyday kind of guy. After several disturbing incidents he discovers the truth which is revealed in revolting fashion. Terrible junk.
The Fly (1958)-Inventor Andre Delambre (David Hedison) is experimenting with his teleportation device, first with inanimate objects which he’s successful with and eventually animals where he runs into problems. Working on the glitches he decides to try the machine out on himself….but unbeknownst to him a fly gets in before he hits the switch and a melding occurs and he becomes THE FLY!! A big drive-in hit on release this isn’t as technically savvy as the 80’s remake but fun on its own merits and hey it’s got Vincent Price in the cast, always a plus.
I actually was writing about The Fly but realized I used this one before so I changed it to Moreau. I haven’t seen your other 2 pics but may see Altered States one day.
DeleteNot a fan of tattoos either. I think it was Stephen T. McCarthy who observed that people who get a tattoo to be rebellious are not actually being rebellious. If you want to be rebellious, don't get a tattoo. ha!
ReplyDeleteNot sure I understand what Body Horror is supposed to be. I thought of that movie with Eric Stoltz (and Cher?). I can't think of the name of it any longer. My mind is going. Do you think that would fall into this category.
Per the usual, I haven't seen any of these. This weekly event only reminds me how few movies I actually watch.
I love what Dtephen said and how true! I agree with his assessment. I think Mask would work here because his body is so deformed it does scare people and what’s sad is how true it is.
DeleteI've only seen your last pick and I don't remember any of it. I liked the House of Wax remake!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea they remade House of Wax
DeleteI remember many summers watching the House of Wax with Vincent Price back when I was growing up.
ReplyDeleteIt’s such a fun movie
DeleteHaven't seen The Wolf Man since I was a kid. I generally love anything that has Claude Rains in it, whether it's The Invisible Man, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Casablanca, Phantom of the Opera...
ReplyDeleteHe’s one of my favourite actors and what’s a crime he never won An Oscar
DeleteI don't know what I'd choose because I've always avoided horror movies. It took me a long time to accept my son's tattoos, but they no longer horrify me.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
My niece has tattoos and plans to get more....sigh...
DeleteNever saw any of these. Funny about tattoos and getting old. I want to get my eyebrows done since I have lost mine thanks to hormones. But I was concerned about whether they might look more like eyeliner in 20 years.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t realize they can tattoo eye brows but that I can see when people lose all their hair. As long as they don’t make your eye brows look like Jean Harlow’s
DeleteI worked with a young man once who insisted on telling me, in great detail, about the process of having his “half sleeve” done. I got paler and paler. I would never voluntarily put myself through that amount of pain.
ReplyDeleteI am scared to ask what a half sleeve is??
DeleteA tattoo over half his arm (below the elbow in this case). A full sleeve (his ambition) would be the full arm. Maybe he has it by now. I don’t care - I don’t know him any more so I’ll never have to hear about it!
DeleteI haven't seen any of those.
ReplyDeleteThinner - Based on a Stephen King novel.
Wolf - Michelle Pfeiffer and Jack Nicholson.
Bug - Ashley Judd.
These are great even though I haven’t seen any of these
DeleteSeen them all this week as my uncle liked to watch the old horror ones. Yep, people who tattoos by the ton sure don't hold any attraction for me.
ReplyDeleteGlad you saw them!
DeleteThe Island of Dr. Moreau was shit. There's a documentary about the making of that film as it was supposed to be helmed by Richard Stanley who got fired after a few days and then John Frankenheimer took over. Island of Lost Souls with Charles Laughton as Dr. Moreau is the film to see.
ReplyDeleteYes, I heard about the antics especially the stars of ego..Brando and Kilmer. I do have to see the original
DeleteThe Wolf Man is a very nice pick. The performance by Chaney is iconic, to say the least. I saw the remake to House of Wax, but not the original. It wasn't terrible.
ReplyDeleteLove this Wolf Man and I didn’t know they remade House of Wax
DeleteWhat would I choose? None. These are the kinds of films I avoid. But classic picks. I've heard of these, but not seen any of them.
ReplyDeleteHorror films are not my go to movies either but I’ll 5ake the old ones over the new anyday
DeleteI have to admit, I can find tatoos attrative, but not too many.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any of your picks, but anything with Vincent Price normally has to good things about it.
I can appreciate the artistry but when it is all over a person’s body is just a turn off for me especially when women do it. I love Vincent
DeleteBirgit,
ReplyDeleteI don't like tattoos, either.
I remember the first two classics "The Wolf Man" and "House of Wax" both of which I've watched more than once as a kid. It's so funny how I thought these were spooky but now not so much. :)
I still find them spooky but not scary..any more:)
DeleteBirgit,
DeleteThe old classics aren't really all that spooky anymore but I do find them a lot of fun to watch simply because it takes me back to days' of my youth. :)
While I loved "The Wolfman," my favorite line from Lon Chaney, Jr. was in "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein."
ReplyDeleteAnd I paraphrase...
Lon Chaney, Jr.: "When the full moon rises, I become a wolf."
Costello: "You and million udder guys."
Still makes me laugh.
Hahahaaaaa...I love the movie and Abbott & Costello
DeleteI need to put House of Wax on my viewing list. Looks fun.
ReplyDeleteIt is and hope you see it
DeleteHouse of Wax is absolutely the best horror film on my very, very short list of horror films that I've seen. For the longest time, I got the creeps seeing Vincent Price on anything, even a talk show. hahaha
ReplyDeleteMany people did and he was such a gentle man who loved fine art and cooking
DeleteI don't think I've seen any of these all the way through, but Lon Chaney Jr's Wolfman was spooky.
ReplyDeleteYOU, have a pleasant, healthful weekend.
Hugs,
He was great and the cinematography was excellent
DeleteI've seen all of these and enjoyed them all. Although having seen the original Dr Moreau just recently I think it is much better than the remake. For a film made in 1932 I was especially impressed in all respects regarding the film.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
I have to see the original because I know it will be better than the remake
DeleteI'm not entirely sure what body horror is, but I think The Fly, Gingersnaps, and Dog Soldiers would qualify.
ReplyDeleteThe first two aren't favourites of mine, but they definitely have that transformation gross-out factor.
The Fly..the original, I have seen but not the remake yet. I don’t know the other 2 you mentioned
DeleteWoo Hoo! Glad to hear your mom is better, Birgit.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy, a bit mystified, but so, so happy. She is eating and in the dining room...the nurses and PSW’s were also happy.
DeleteSpooky! I haven't seen these ones.
ReplyDeleteSo glad your mom is better.
I’m so happy she is better
DeleteI haven't seen any of these- but I have watched many spooky movies in my life. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome that your mom is better.
~Jess
It is awesome that she is better
DeleteActually a little animal DNA would probably improve most humans:)
ReplyDeleteTotally agree on the tattoos. I'm amazed when I see such pretty or handsome folks scar themselves up, and wonder if they think how it will look as they age. Also see some older people who get them, and just figure they are losing their minds. I don't like tattoos at ALL! Also have never seen any of these movies, but I have heard of them. I'm one who doesn't watch horror movies - at ALL! I need a good drama, historical flick or chick flick. Thanks for visiting after I've been MIA so long, appreciated it! TFS & Hugs.
ReplyDeleteHey Birgit,
ReplyDeleteI would definitely pick The Wax Museum. I know I saw it ages ago but it was nice to get a plot recap because I have forgotten all about it. Vincent Price was for sure the Go To guy for horror flicks! And Charles Bronson was in that?? How old was he back then?!
That last one you profiled sounds a little too brutal for me. When you mentioned animals being tortured, I said Nah, not for me!
Hope you're doing well! Have a great weekend,
Michele at Angels Bark
You are so right about Vincent Price's name being synonymous with horror films. He's a legend.
ReplyDeleteHope today was a good day.
I watched House of Wax eons ago. Still gives me nightmares. One of the scariest movies I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteI have watched many spooky movies in my life. :)
ReplyDeleteเกย์
The Wolfman and House of Wax - have not seen both of the originals, only the remakes and they weren't that good.
ReplyDelete