31 Days of Halloween ~ 24: The Raven

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Hello Pulp Friends

Only ONE week away to the Grand Finale (make sure to tune in next SUNDAY for it).
Meanwhile hope you enjoy this other classic of HORROR, Poe-inspired: THE RAVEN! :)

The Raven
USA, 1935
directed by Lew Landers
starring: Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lester Matthews

An escaped criminal goes to a doctor to have his face changed. The doctor asks to be paid for his help by killing a woman who refused him, her father and her fiancee. The criminal rebels against the evil plan and it will be the doctor, obsessed by E.A.Poe’s tales, who will die at the end.

Cheers,
Francesco

~!~ BONUS CHILLS! ~!~


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Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days of Halloween ~ 16: The Body Snatcher

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Hello Pulp Friends

Starting this second half of the month with another little horror cult featuring two icons of the genre like Lugosi and Karloff: "THE BODY SNATCHER"!
Hope you guys enjoy :)

The Body Snatcher
USA, 1945
directed by Robert Wise
starring: Boris Karloff, Henry Daniell, Russell Wade, Bela Lugosi
A medical student works as an assistant for his doctor to pay for school. The student is disgusted when he finds that one of his jobs is to receive the corpses that the doctor uses for study, which are stolen from the graveyard by cabman John Gray. Eventually Gray starts to murder people to provide more bodies to the doctor. The student gets drawn into the wretched games of blackmailing: Gray has information he could reveal about the doctor’s involvement in the Burke and Hare trial.

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days of Halloween ~ 13: The Island of Lost Souls

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Hello Pulp Friends

for Day 13 of our Classic Horror Marathon I give you "THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS"!
Hope you guys enjoy it and enjoy the two extra chills below (some of you may remember the Mad Doctor series from last year :))

The Island of Lost Souls
USA, 1933
directed by Erle C. Kenton
starring: Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi

Edward Parker, a castaway in the Southern Seas, arrives on an island which is not reported on the maps. Here Dr. Moreau lives with a bunch of monstrous creatures, half human and half animal, that he has created with genetic manipulations. This is the first of four movie adaptations of H.G. Wells’ novel.

Cheers,
Francesco

~!~ BONUS CHILLS! ~!~



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Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days of Halloween ~ 9: Dracula

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Hello Pulp Friends,

Day 9 and yet another classic/cult: "DRACULA"!

Dracula
USA, 1931
directed by Tod Browning
starring: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan

Recently arrived in England from Transylvania, Count Dracula sets an abbey in ruins and starts to leave a trail of death in the neighborhood. Suspicious, Prof. Van Helsing will find out the cause and kills the vampire by sticking a piece of wood in his heart.

And as extra chill, a page of sketches done some time ago while watching the entertaining Bram Stoker's Dracula by Coppola :)

Cheers,
Francesco

~!~ BONUS CHILL! ~!~


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Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

Mad Doctors: Dr. Alex Zorka

Hello Pulp friends :)

As mentioned, there are too many mad doctors and crazy scientist to fit in one week, but I couldn't pass on the kindly requested Dr Zorka, also because I couldn't let this first Mad Doctor Week go without a Bela Lugosi tribute :)

So here he is, in all his intense and signature look, while working on his 8 foot tall robot he created to distroy the mankind. Yeah, becuase Dr Zorka is that kind of mad scientist, aiming to the world domination!

The tagline for the 12 episode serial that aired in the early '40s:
"12 SPINE-SHIVERING ACTION THUNDERBOLTS!
Sinister scientists... foreign spies...
federal agents... and a pretty girl...
crashing through amazing adventures!"
It reads like a truckload of FUN to me :D

Note: I know that he eventually shaves his beard during the serial, but I couldn't resist to draw a bearded Lugosi. ;)

See you tomorrow with another crazy Doc!

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.
Mad Doctors & Pulp Sunday created by, ™ and © 2009 Francesco Francavilla

"White Zombie" (1932)

A girl travels to Haiti to marry his fiancee, but with the help of a poisoned rose, she becomes victim of a local sugar factory owner, who uses zombies as slave labor. The necromancer takes the girl to his castle, but he will be killed by one of his zombies. A very low budget horror movie, but extraordinarily evocative, with a superb Bela Lugosi.

The term "zombie" became of common use in 1929 thanks to a book about Haiti by William B. Seabrook titled "The Magic Island". White Zombie (1932) by Victor Halperin can be considered the first authentic zombie-movie. In Haiti, between voodoo dolls and powerful black magic, Bela Lugosi is Murder Legendre, a satanic individual who enslaves zombies in his mill. When a worried John Harron asks who are these weird, cadaveric people without sign of life and personality, Lugosi answers "For you, my friend, they are simply the angels of Death!".

Excerpt from the upcoming "Schermoscuro" Vol.II
Click here for "SCHERMOSCURO" Vol. I by Francesco Francavilla

Cheers,
Francesco