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THEODORA, THE SLAVE EMPRESS (Italian: Teodora, IMPERATRICE DI BYZANZIO) is a 1954 film about Theodora, a former slave who married Justinian I, emperor of Byzantium in AD 527–565. It was directed by Riccardo Freda. PLOT: Teodora, a Roman courtesan and former slave girl, marries the Roman emperor Justinian and assumes the throne as Empress of Rome. But the divide between nobility and slave is too great. Teodora seeks justice for her people, and revolution and armed conflict erupt in both Byzantium and Rome. The iconic image of Theodora, Empress of Byzantium, looks down from the mosaic in the Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna. It is hard to believe that this imperious figure had once been an 'actress' for want of a better term, in the sleazy pleasure district known as the Hippodrome. Career opportunities for women at that time were somewhat limited so she simply played the game with the cards she was dealt. This movie is full of beautiful women, of course Theodora (a magnificent Gianna Maria Canale) and the treacherous Faidia (Irene Papas!). The general Belisario, (Nerio Bernardi) an accomplice of Theodora, who wants to save the empire, is also worth to be mentioned. The emperor Justinian (Georges Marchal) acts like a fool but sometimes Theodora has also good ideas he must admit. We have a look at the justice of that time, presided by Justinian and in the politics of the blue and the green factions CAST: Gianna Maria Canale as "Theodora" Georges Marchal as "Justinian I" Renato Baldini as "Arcal", Theodora's would-be lover Henri Guisol as "Giovanni di Cappadocia" Irene Papas as "Faida", Theodora's step-sister Olga Solbelli as "Egina", Theodora's step-mother Roger Pigaut as "Captain Andres" Nerio Bernardi as "General Belisarius" Carletto Sposito as "Scarpios" Alessandro Fersen as "The Metropolitan" Release Theodora, Slave Empress was distributed theatrically in Italy on 29 September 1954 by Lux Film.[1] It grossed a total of 592 million Italian lire on this domestic release.[1] It was also distributed in France by Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France as Théodora, impératrice de Byzance.[1] The film was the first of director Riccardo Freda's film to obtain a wide distribution outside Italy.[2] It was also released in the USA in December, 1954, distributed by Lux Film America as an I.F.E. release. For this occasion, the film was dubbed into English and edited to in its original runtime of 124 minutes. .

ADMIRAL USHAKOV is the first part of two part series of Russian films produced in the Soviet era dealing with thee career of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov. It covers the era of the Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1732, directed by Mikhail Romm and starring Ivan Pereverzev, Boris Livanov and Sergei Bondarchuk. The film portrays the career of Fyodor Ushakov, regarded as one of the greatest naval commanders in history. As admiral of the Russian fleet under Catherine the Great and Paul I, he won every battle he participated in. A sequel, ATTACK FROM TH SEA, was released the same year. The film is dedicated to the formation of the Russian fleet on the Black Sea. PLOT: In 1780, Captain of the Imperial Navy Fyodor Ushakov asks the Commander-in-Chief Grigory Potemkin to oversee the construction of the Black Sea Fleet. This means giving up a career at the royal court in St. Petersburg. Three years later, Ushakov arrives at the Kherson shipyards with a contingent of sailors and craftsmen. An epidemic of plague rages among the workers. Tikhon Prokofiev, nicknamed the Ragged Ear, encourages the workers to flee the city and set fire to the shipyards, at the instigation of the English spy Orfano. With the help of his sailors, Ushakov stops the rebels and organizes a fire-fighting brigade to put out the fire. A strict quarantine regime is introduced and the plague is brought under control. Viktor Ermolaev, a mere boy, asks Ushakov to enlist in the Russian Navy. Ushakov refuses him, because the ships are not yet finished. While shipbuilders work on constructing the fleet, Ushakov conducts artillery training for the officers. Throughout the film, he stresses the importance of accuracy in artillery firing. Potemkin arrives to witness the launching of the ships. The head of the newly created Black Sea Admiralty board, Count Mordovtsev, informs Potemkin that Ushakov has not been training his officers strictly according to naval statutes. Potemkin sees the potential of a talented naval commander, and dismisses his transgressions. Workmen cut the ropes holding the St. Paul on drydock, and the battleship is launched into the sea. The boy, Viktor Ermolaev, despite protests from his mother, runs to the ship to join the Navy. Fast forward to 1787. At the head of an entourage of courtiers and foreign ambassadors, Catherine the Great travels to Crimea to inspect the fleet. Potemkin complains to the ambassadors that Turkish pirates operating in the Black Sea are using English and French weapons. The ambassadors of Great Britain and France ignore the statements. Potemkin decides to surprise the audience with a display of military might. At his signal, Ushakov commands the battleships to fire on an abandoned fortress. Ushakov, in his excitement at the accurate firing of the gunners, cries out "Well done Vasiliev, a glass of vodka for everyone!". Despite his indelicacy, the Empress promotes Count Voinovich to Rear Admiral, and Ushakov to Brigadier General. The British government wishes to maintain its supremacy of the seas and is concerned about the appearance of the Russian fleet on the Black Sea. Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger decides the best way to contain the Russian fleet is by goading the Turkish sultan into war against Russia. The sultan takes the bait, orders the Russian ambassador to be imprisoned in the Fortress of the Seven Towers, and declares war on Russia. In Crimea, a liaison officer informs the English spy Orfano that war is beginning. The British are arranging that the Crimean Tatars rise up in revolt when the Turks land in Crimea. Orfano's task is to get rid of Ushakov, and he enlists Tikhon Prokofiev to kill him. Instead of agreeing to the order, Prokofiev attacks Orfano, but is forced to stop when a group of sailors passes by. Orfano informs Count Mordovtsev that Ushakov is harboring a runaway convict. When Mordovtsev goes to report this to Potemkin, Senyavin arrives with the news that Turkey has declared war on Russia. In the second year of the Russo-Turkish War (1787-1792), the Battle of Fidonisi takes place near Snake Island (Black Sea). Fidonisi is the Greek name for the island. The Turks have a clear advantage of 17 battleships against 2 Russian, but Brigadier General Ushakov, commanding the battleship St. Paul and the frigates Berislav and Strela, is confident he can achieve victory. He convinces Rear Admiral Count Voinovich to let him act at his own discretion. Before the battle, Prokofiev confesses to Ushakov that he is a runaway convict, but Ushakov orders him to take his post. Ushakov's three ships break away from the squadron and maneuver to the head of the Turkish line. The Turks open fire, but their shots fall short. Ushakov forbids shooting back until the ships are within firing distance. The Turkish commander orders his sailors to prepare for boarding, but the Russian ships open a devastating round of fire on the Turkish line. The Turkish flagship is under fire from both sides, causing the Turkish line to turn away and flee. The Russians are victorious. In 1790, the Battle of Tendra results in another Russian victory. In London, officers Edward Foote and Horatio Nelson analyze Ushakov's tactics in the battle. Foote sees his violation of the rules of engagement as barbarous, but Nelson admires his innovations. Nelson's superior officer reminds him of the fate of Admiral Bing, who was shot for violating the regulations of the Admiralty. In Constantinople, the Turkish Sultan and his associates discuss the situation. Admiral Said-Ali, an Algerian, reassures the Sultan that new ships from the Mediterranean Sea are faster and more powerful than the Russian ships. He promises the Sultan to bring back Ushakov in an iron cage. At the Battle of Kaliakria, the Russian fleet passes under the fire of coastal batteries, and then falls in line with the Turkish fleet. During the battle, Ushakov's flagship draws close to the flagship of Said-Ali. Ushakov notices the Turkish admiral and shouts to him, "Hey, Said-Ali, I'll teach you to make promises to the Sultan!" The battle lasts until late at night and ends with the defeat of the Turkish fleet. Upon the death of Potemkin in 1791, Mordovtsev becomes Commander of the Black Sea Fleet. He is determined to make Ushakov more obedient. He tells him that an officer has a voice, a boatswain has a pipe, and a sailor is no more than a tool for obeying orders. Without arguing, Ushakov departs and returns to complete the port of Sevastopol. The people welcome him back as a hero. CAST: Ivan Pereverzev as Adm. Feodor Feodorovich Ushakov Boris Livanov as Prince Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin Sergei Bondarchuk as Tikhon Alekseevich Prokofiev Vladimir Druzhnikov as Midshipman Vasilyev Gennadi Yudin as Capt. Dmitri Nikolayevich Senyavin Vladimir Vasilyev as Sultan Eski Hassan Nikolai Svobodin as Mordovtsev Nikolai Chistyakov as Voinovich Mikhail Pugovkin as Pirozhkov Aleksey Alekseev as Metaksa Georgi Yumatov as Viktor Ermolaev Pavel Volkov as Medical Doctor Ermolaev Olga Zhiznyeva as Empress Catherine the Great Nikolai Khryashchikov as Khvorin, palace guard Nikolay Volkov as William Pitt Ivan Solovyov as Admiral Horatio Nelson Vladimir Etush as Capt. Said-Ali Pavel Shpringfeld as Shipbuilder Orfano Grigory Shpigel as Thomas Grey Lev Fenin as Robert Ansley Pyotr Sobolevsky as English Ambassador Yan Yanakiyev as French Ambassador Georgy Georgiu as Turkish Ambassador Vyacheslav Gostinsky as Lanskoy Nikolay Kutuzov as General Viktor Kulakov as Korovin Pyotr Lyubeshkin as Lepekhin PRODUCTION: The original version of the script was written by the historian-novelist Anatoly Vinogradov in 1944, during his time at the front. Vinogradov's name is not listed in the credits, but his official bibliography cites the screenplay. The film was commissioned by the Soviet Navy under Vice Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov to publicize the importance of Admiral Ushakov in naval history. During World War II, the Order of Ushakov was created for Soviet Naval officers for outstanding achievements leading to victory over a numerically superior enemy.[4] The Ushakov Medal was also established for sailors who risked their life defending the Soviet Union. The USSR Department of the Navy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised on the script. Filming was conducted at the fortress in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi. CANONIZATION: On 7 August 2001 the Russian Orthodox Church glorified Ushakov as a Saint and declared him the patron of the Russian Navy. His relics are enshrined in Sanaksar Monastery, Temnikov, Russia. Since then the films have become very popular in the post-Soviet era

THE GHOUL is a 1933 British horror film directed by T. Hayes Hunter and starring Boris Karloff. The cast also features Harold Huth, Dorothy Hyson, Ernest Thesiger, Cedric Hardwicke, and Ralph Richardson in his first credited film role. PLOT: Professor Henry Morlant, a great Egyptologist, thinks that the ancient jewel which he calls the "Eternal Light" will give him powers of rejuvenation if it is offered up to the ancient Egyptian god Anubis. But when Morlant dies, his servant Laing steals the jewel. While a gaggle of interlopers, including a disreputable solicitor and a fake parson, descend on the Professor's manor to investigate or steal the jewel for themselves, Morlant returns from the dead ("when the full moon strikes the door of my tomb", he predicted before dying) to kill everyone who has betrayed him. CAST: Boris Karloff as Professor Henry Morlant, renowned Egyptologist Cedric Hardwicke as Mr. Broughton, the Professor's solicitor Ernest Thesiger as Laing, the Professor's clubfooted servant Dorothy Hyson as Miss Betty Harlon, the Professor's niece and one of his two heirs Anthony Bushell as Ralph Morlant, the Professor's nephew and one of his two heirs Kathleen Harrison as Miss Kaney, Miss Betty Harlon's flatmate and movie's comic relief Harold Huth as Sheikh Aga Ben Dragore, who sold the jewel to the Professor D. A. Clarke-Smith as Mahmoud Ralph Richardson as Nigel Hartley, false parson Jack Raine as Davis, Mr. Broughton's chauffeur (uncredited) George Relph as Doctor (uncredited) RELEASE AND REDISCOVERY: Loosely based on a 1928 novel by Frank King (and subsequent play by King and Leonard J. Hines), The Ghoul was produced by Gaumont British and released in the UK in August 1933. Release in the US followed in January 1934, with a reissue in 1938. The film was financially successful in the UK, but performed disappointingly in the US.[1] The only film made during a brief contract dispute with Universal Studios, The Ghoul also marked the first time in over two decades that Karloff had acted in Britain and the British film industry. Subsequently, the film disappeared and was considered to be a lost film. In 1969, collector William K. Everson located a murky, virtually inaudible subtitled copy, Běs, in then-communist Czechoslovakia. Though missing eight minutes of footage including two violent murder scenes, it was thought to be the only surviving copy of the film. Everson had a 16mm copy made and for years made it available to film societies in England and the United States, including a screening at The New School in New York City in 1975 on a Halloween triple bill with Lon Chaney in The Monster and Bela Lugosi in The Gorilla. Subsequently, The Museum of Modern Art and Janus Film made an archival negative of the Prague print and it went into very limited commercial distribution. In the early 1980s, a disused and forgotten film vault at Shepperton Studios, its door blocked by stacked lumber, was cleared and yielded the nitrate camera negative of the film in perfect condition. The British Film Institute took possession of the film, new prints were made, and the complete version aired on Channel 4 in the UK. However, the official VHS release from MGM/UA Home Video was of the mutilated Czech copy. In 2003, MGM/UA released the fully restored version of the film on DVD. It was subsequently released in the United Kingdom by Network Distributing, in restored DVD and Blu-Ray editions featuring a new commentary by Kim Newman and Stephen Jones.

CRIME BACKSTAGE - ΕΓΓΛΚΗΜΑ ΣΤΑ ΠΑΡΑΣΚΗΝΙΑ is a 1960 Greek theatrical film noir film starring Alekos Alexandrakis, Maro Kontou, Hristos Tsaganeas, Titos Vandis, Aliki Georgouli, Georges Sarri and Dimos Starenios. The writer was from the famous police novelist Giannis Maris. PLOT: A crime is committed in a theater. The leading lady of a play is murdered in her dressing room, and (the famous) police inspector Bekas (Titos Vandis) will investigate the case. His friend Makris (Alekos Alexandrakis), a newspaper editor, will help him solve it. Eglima sta paraskinia (I could translate it as Backstage crime), is a highly artistic and a rather suspenseful whodunit movie, written by a master of the genre, Yannis Maris. The acting is great, especially by the two protagonists. Vandis nails the role of Bekas and should have reprised it in another movie. Alexandrakis is full of grace as usual, in a role that suites him well. The rest of the cast give great performances as well. The action occurs during the occupation period of World War II. Cast Alekos Alexandrakis - Journalist Makris (Δημοσιογράφος Μακρής) Titos Vandis - Officer Bekas (Αστυνόμος Μπέκας) Maro Kontou - Elena Pavlidi (Έλενα Παυλίδη) Aliki Georgouli - Mary Lambrinou (Μαίρη Λαμπρινού) Zorz Sarri - Thaleia Halkia (Θάλεια Χαλκιά) Christos Tsaganeas - Pavlos Stefanou (Παύλος Στεφάνου) Efi Mella - Roza Delli (Ρόζα Δελλή) Thanassis Mylonas - Haris Apostolidis (Χάρης Αποστολίδης) Dimos Starenios - Stavros Lavrentis Dianellos - barman Sapfo Notara - cleaning lady Vasos Andrianos Dimitris Nikoalidis Giorgos Damassiotis - doorman Giorgos Belos Gkikas Biniaris Velisarios Kontogiannis Awards The movie was presented with the presentation of an American film noir that made it one of the greatest Greek movies of the time, it was awarded twice at the first Thessaloniki Film Festival in 1960.

THE TROJAN HORSE (or THE WAR OF TROY) is a 1961 Italian peplum film set in the tenth and final year of the Trojan War. The film focuses primarily on the exploits of the Trojan hero Aeneas during this time. The film was directed by Giorgio Ferroni and stars Steve Reeves as Aeneas and John Drew Barrymore as Odysseus. PLOT: The film starts with Achiles(Arturo Dominici)dragging body of Hector, Priam's son. Later Aeneas (Steve Reeves) and Priam, king of Troy, go to the enemy camp asking his body. There, Aeneas will have to combat two men (Mimmo Palmara, Nello Pazzafini). Later on,t he famous episodes of the prophecy of Cassandra (Lidia Alfonsi) and the ¨Trojan Horse¨ at Troy take place . The movie deals with war of Troy as adaptation from classic poem of Homer. CAST: Steve Reeves as Aeneas Juliette Mayniel as Creusa John Drew Barrymore as Odysseus Edy Vessel as Helen Lidia Alfonsi as Cassandra Warner Bentivegna as Paris Luciana Angiolillo as Andromache Arturo Dominici as Achilles Mimmo Palmara as Ajax Nerio Bernardi as Agamemnon Nando Tamberlani as Menelaus Carlo Tamberlani as Priam Giancarlo Bastianoni as Acate Giovanni Cianfriglia as Diomedes Luigi Ciavarro Giulio Maculani as Sinone Nello Pazzafini as Achaean warrior Bianca Doria as Ecuba (uncredited) Andrej Gardenin as Fencer (uncredited) Nando Gazzolo as Narrator (uncredited) Nino Marchetti as Member of the council of elders (uncredited) Benito Stefanelli as Ulysses Right-hand Man (uncredited) RELEASE: The Trojan Horse was released in Italy on 26 October 1961 with a 115-minute running time. It was released in July 1962 in the United States with a 105-minute running time.

THE AVENGER or LEGEND OF AENEAS is a 1962 Italian film directed by Giorgio Venturini. PLOT: Aeneas leads escaped survivors of the Trojan War to new land in Italy. Based on Virgil's The Aeneid. The Avenger covers the story of Aeneas and how he led some survivors of Troy into exile on the Italian peninsula. Steve Reeves repeats his role Aeneas from The Trojan War as the exiled Trojans look to make a new home. Unfortunately in Etruscan Italy their addition complicates what looks like a delicately balanced situation among a lot of petty kings. One of them covets the land the Trojans have been granted on to settle. In the tradition of the Trojan War the film is cut above a lot of the Peplum epics that the Italians were churning out in the early 60s, taking advantage of those sets left over from Ben-Hur and Quo Vadis. CAST: Steve Reeves as Enea (Aeneas) Carla Marlier as Lavinia, Latino's Daughter Liana Orfei as Camilla, Queen of the Volsci Giacomo Rossi-Stuart as Eurialo (Euryalus) Gianni Garko as Turno (Turnus), King of the Rusalie (Rutuli) Mario Ferrari as King Latino (Latinus) Lulla Selli as Queen Amata, Latino's Wife Maurice Poli as Mesenzio (Mezentius), Turno's Henchman Luciano Benetti as Sergesto (Sergestus) Pietro Capanna as Bisia Enzo Fiermonte as Acate (Achates) Charles Band as Ascanio (Ascanius) Benito Stefanelli as Niso (Nisus) Nerio Bernardi as Drance Adriano Vitale as Dancer Walter Zappolini as Dancer Robert Bettoni as Pallante (Pallas) RELEASE: The Avenger was released in Italy on 28 November 1962 with a running time of 95 minutes. It was released in the United States in June 1965 with a 105-minute running time.

CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF is a 1961 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Clifford Evans, Oliver Reed and Yvonne Romain. It was based on the novel The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore. If was produced by Anthony Hinds for Hammer Film Productions. The leading part of the werewolf was Oliver Reed's first starring role in a film and composer Benjamin Frankel's score is notable for its use of twelve-tone serialism, rare in film music. It was the first werewolf film to be shot in colour. PLOT: A beggar in 18th-century Spain is imprisoned by a cruel marqués after making inappropriate remarks at the nobleman's wedding feast. The beggar is forgotten, and survives another fifteen years. His sole human contact is with the jailer and his beautiful, mute daughter. The aging, decrepit marqués makes advances on the jailer's daughter while she is cleaning his room. When she refuses him, the marqués has her thrown into the dungeon with the beggar. The beggar, driven mad by his long confinement, rapes her and then dies. The girl is released the next day and sent to "entertain" the marqués. She kills the old man and flees. She is found in the forest by the kindly gentleman-scholar Don Alfredo Corledo, who lives alone with his housekeeper Teresa. The warm and motherly Teresa soon nurses the girl back to health; however, the girl dies after giving birth to a baby on Christmas Day, a fact that Teresa considers "unlucky". Alfredo and Teresa raise the boy, whom they name Leon. Leon, cursed by the evil circumstances of his conception and by his Christmas Day birth, is soon revealed to be a werewolf. An early hunting incident gives him a taste for blood, which he struggles to overcome. Soon, a number of goats are found dead, and a herder's dog is blamed. Thirteen years later, Leon leaves home to seek work at the Gomez vineyard. The vintner, Don Fernando, sets Leon to work in the wine cellar with Jose Amadeo, who becomes Leon's friend. Leon falls in love with Fernando's daughter, Cristina, and becomes despondent at the seeming impossibility of marrying her. He allows Jose to take him to a nearby brothel, where he transforms and kills Vera, one of the girls. He also kills Jose, before returning to Alfredo's house. Too late, he learns that Cristina's loving presence prevents his transformation; he is about to run away with her when he is arrested and jailed on suspicion of murder. He begs to be executed before he changes again, but the mayor does not believe him. His wolf nature rising to the surface, he breaks out of his cell, killing an old soak and the gaoler. Shocked and disgusted by his appearance, the local people summon his adoptive father, who has obtained a silver bullet made from a crucifix blessed by an archbishop. Though torn with grief, Alfredo shoots Leon dead, and tearfully covers his body with a cloak. CAST: Clifford Evans as Don Alfredo Corledo Oliver Reed as Leon Corledo Justin Walters as Young Leon Corledo Yvonne Romain as servant girl Loraine Carvana as young servant girl Catherine Feller as Christina Fernando Anthony Dawson as Marques Siniestro Josephine Llewelyn as Marquesa Siniestro Richard Wordsworth as beggar Hira Talfrey as Teresa John Gabriel as priest Warren Mitchell as Pepe Valiente Anne Blake as Rosa Valiente George Woodbridge as Dominique the goat herder Michael Ripper as old soak Ewen Solon as Don Fernando Peter Sallis as Don Enrique Martin Matthews as Jose Amadayo David Conville as Rico Gomez Denis Shaw as gaoler Sheila Brennan as Vera Joy Webster as Isabel Renny Lister as Yvonne Charles Lamb as Marques' chef Desmond Llewelyn (uncredited) as Marques's footman RELEASE: It was released in May 1961 on a double feature bill with Shadow of the Cat (1961), another Hammer film. Upon its initial release, the film was heavily censored in the UK, and a restored print was first aired on the BBC in 1993. While a premiere TV screening of the restored print had been planned to air on BBC2 on 31 October 1992, during the Vault of Horror all-night marathon hosted by Dr. Walpurgis (played by Guy Henry; later named Dr. Terror), the censored version was aired by mistake. In North America, the film was released on 6 September 2005 along with seven other Hammer horror films on the 4-DVD set The Hammer Horror Series (ASIN: B0009X770O), which is part of MCA-Universal's Franchise Collection. This set was re-released on Blu-ray on 13 September 2016. The film received an individual release with a new 4K scan in April 2020. The new release included a new commentary track by Steven Haberman, a featurette on the making of the film, make up artist Roy Ashton, "Lycanthrophy: The Beast in All of Us" and stills from the film. Furthermore, in some versions of the video, the mute girl's father is the beggar, himself.

BLACK SUNDAY (Italian: La maschera del demonio, lit. 'The mask of the demon') is a 1960 Italian gothic horror fantasy film directed by Mario Bava in his official directorial debut, and starring Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Andrea Checchi, Ivo Garrani, Arturo Dominici and Enrico Oliveri. Loosely based on Nikolai Gogol's short story "Viy", the film takes place in Moldavia and tells the story of a witch who is put to death by her brother, only to return two centuries later to seek revenge upon his descendants. Mario Bava was permitted by the company's president, Lionello Santi, to make a film for foreign markets; he chose to make a horror film to capitalize on the recent success of Terence Fisher's version of Dracula. Black Sunday had limited financial success upon its initial Italian release. It was acquired for distribution in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson of American International Pictures (AIP), who oversaw numerous alterations to the film prior to its American release, including the removal of some scenes of violence and sexuality, redubbing the dialogue, and replacing Roberto Nicolosi's musical score with one by Les Baxter. The film found greater success upon its American release in 1961 when it became the highest-grossing film to be released by AIP in its first five years of existence. It may have influenced American International to pursue a series of Gothic thrillers based upon the works of Edgar Allen Poe made by Roger Corman. This is the British/European without the great Lex Baxter score and perhaps some of the expurgated scenes. PLOT: In 1630s Moldavia, Asa Vajda, a vampiric witch, and her paramour, Javutich (Javuto in the American version), are sentenced to death for sorcery by Asa's brother Griabi. Asa vows revenge and puts a curse on Griabi's descendants. Bronze masks with sharp spikes on the inside are placed over Asa and Javutich's faces and hammered into their flesh, but a sudden storm prevents the villagers from burning them at the stake. Two centuries later, Dr. Choma Kruvajan and his assistant, Dr. Andrej Gorobec, are traveling through Moldavia en route to a medical conference when one wheel on their carriage breaks. While waiting for their coachman to fix it, the two wander into a nearby ancient crypt and discover Asa's tomb. Observing her death mask through a glass panel, Kruvajan breaks the panel (and the cross above it) by accident while striking a bat. He removes Asa's death mask, revealing a partially preserved corpse. He cuts his hand on the broken glass, and some of his blood drips onto Asa. Returning outside, Kruvajan and Gorobec meet Katia Vajda. She tells them she lives with her father and brother Constantine in a nearby castle that the villagers believe is haunted. Struck by her haunting beauty and sadness, Gorobec becomes smitten with Katia. The two men leave her and drive to an inn. Meanwhile, Kruvajan's blood brings Asa back to life. She contacts Javutich telepathically. He rises from his grave and goes to Prince Vajda's castle, where Vajda holds up a crucifix to ward off the reanimated corpse. However, Vajda is so terrified by the visit he becomes paralyzed with fear. Constantine sends a servant to fetch Dr. Kruvajan, but the servant is killed before he can reach the inn. Javutich brings Kruvajan to the castle under the pretext that his services are needed. Javutich leads Kruvajan to Asa's crypt. The witch hypnotizes Kruvajan and says she needs the rest of his blood. Asa then kisses him, turning him into her servant. By Asa's command, Kruvajan follows up on the request to tend to Vajda. He orders the crucifix removed from the room, ostensibly so it will not upset Vajda; this allows Javutich to return later and murder him. Asa's plan is to revive herself by draining Katia of her life since Katia is physically Asa reincarnated. Puzzled to hear that Kruvajan abandoned his patient shortly before he died, Gorobec questions Sonya, a young girl who saw Javutich take Kruvajan to the castle. She identifies Kruvajan's escort with a painting of Javutich. A priest and Gorobec go to Javutich's grave and find Kruvajan's body inside the coffin. Realizing he is now one of the undead, they kill him by driving a nail through his eye. Javutich throws Constantine into a death pit and takes Katia to Asa. Asa drains Katia of her youth. When the witch goes to take her blood, the crucifix around Katia's neck thwarts her. Gorobec enters the crypt to save Katia, but Javutich attacks him and pushes him to the edge of the death pit. Constantine uses the last of his strength to pull Javutich into the pit and push Gorobec to safety. Gorobec finds Asa and Katia. Asa pretends to be Katia and tells Gorobec that Katia is the witch. Accordingly, he goes to kill Katia but notices the crucifix she is wearing has no effect on her. He turns to Asa and opens her robe, revealing a fleshless skeletal frame. The priest then arrives with many torch-carrying villagers, and they burn Asa to death. Katia awakens from her stupor, her life and beauty restored, and is reunited with Gorobec. CAST: Barbara Steele as Asa Vajda/Katia Vajda John Richardson as Dr. Andrej Gorobec (Dr. Andreas Gorobec in the AIP dub) Andrea Checchi as Dr. Choma Kruvajan (Dr. Thomas Kruvajan) Ivo Garrani as Prince Vajda Arturo Dominici as Igor Javutich (Javuto) Enrico Olivieri as Constantine Vajda Tino Bianchi as Ivan, the Vajdas' Manservant Antonio Pierfederici as Priest Clara Bindi as Innkeeper Mario Passante as Nikita, the Coachman Renato Terra as Boris, the Vajdas' Stableman Germana Dominici as Sonya, the Innkeeper's Daughter

THE HAUNTED PALACE is a 1963 horror film released by American International Pictures, starring Vincent Price, Lon Chaney Jr. and Debra Paget (in her final film), in a story about a village held in the grip of a dead necromancer. Directed by Roger Corman, it is one of his series of eight films based largely on the works of American author Edgar Allan Poe. Although marketed as "Edgar Allan Poe's The Haunted Palace", the film actually derives its plot from The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, a novella by H. P. Lovecraft.[4] The film's title is derived from a 6-stanza poem by Poe, published in 1839 (which was later incorporated into Poe's horror short story "The Fall of the House of Usher"), and the film uses eight lines from the poem within the framing of the story. PLOT: In 1765, the inhabitants of Arkham, Massachusetts, are suspicious of the strange phenomena surrounding the grand "palace" that overlooks the town. They suspect the palace's owner, Joseph Curwen, is a warlock. A young girl wanders up to the palace in a trance-like state. She is led by Curwen and his mistress, Hester, down into the dungeons. The girl is subjected to a strange ritual, in which an unseen creature rises up from a covered pit. The townspeople observe the girl wandering off, and they storm the palace to confront its owner. Though the girl appears unharmed, the townspeople surmise that she has been bewitched to forget what happened to her. They drag Curwen out to a tree where they intend to burn him. The mob leader, Ezra Weeden, insists that they do not harm Hester (to whom he had been previously engaged to marry). Before being burned alive, Curwen puts a curse on Arkham and its inhabitants and their descendants, promising to rise from the grave to take his revenge. In 1875, 110 years later, Curwen's great-great-grandson, Charles Dexter Ward, and his wife Anne arrive in Arkham after inheriting the palace. They find the townsfolk hostile towards them and are disturbed by the horrific deformities that afflict many of Arkham's inhabitants. Charles is surprised by how well he seems to know the palace and struck by his strong resemblance to a portrait of Curwen. He and Anne meet Simon, the palace caretaker, who persuades them to stay at the palace and to forget the townspeople's hostility. Charles becomes more and more obsessed with the portrait of Curwen, and at times seems to change in his personality. Charles and Anne befriend the local doctor, Marinus Willet. He explains the circumstances surrounding Curwen's death, and that the townspeople blame the deformities on the curse. He tells them of a black magic book, the Necronomicon, believed to have been in Curwen's possession, and which Curwen used to summon the Elder Gods Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth. Curwen's plan was to mate mortal women with these beings in order to create a race of super-humans, which led to the deformities. The townspeople are terrified that Curwen has come back in the form of Charles to seek his revenge. Dr. Willet advises Charles and Anne to leave the town. Charles seems to be falling under the control of something and insists that they stay in Arkham. One night, Charles is possessed by the spirit of Joseph Curwen. Curwen reunites with two other warlocks, Simon and Jabez, who also have possessed their descendants. They make plans to continue their work and resurrect Hester. Curwen's hold on Charles is limited, and he tells Simon and Jabez that Charles is fighting him. Curwen begins his revenge on the descendants. He kills Ezra Weeden's descendant Edgar by releasing Weeden's monstrously deformed son from his locked room and attacks Micah Smith's descendant Peter with fire. Curwen takes complete control of Charles and he attempts to rape Anne. Anne seeks help from Dr. Willet, whom Curwen then attempts to persuade that Anne is insane. Curwen and his associates succeed in resurrecting Hester. The townspeople discover Peter Smith's charred corpse and storm the palace. Dr. Willet and Anne try to rescue Charles and discover a secret entrance to the dungeons. They are ambushed by Curwen, Simon, Jabez, and Hester. Anne is offered as a mate to the creature in the pit, while the residents break in and begin to raze the palace. The portrait of Curwen is destroyed, breaking Curwen's hold over Charles. Charles releases Anne, then urges Dr. Willet to take her away from the palace. While Curwen's associates seize Charles, Dr. Willet shepherds Anne from the burning palace. He returns to rescue Charles, and finds that Simon, Jabez, and Hester have escaped and left him to die. Charles and Willet barely escape the flames. Charles and Anne fervently thank Willet for saving their lives. However, it is apparent that Joseph Curwen still inhabits Charles' body. CAST: Vincent Price as Joseph Curwen / Charles Dexter Ward Debra Paget as Anne Ward Cathie Merchant as Hester Tillinghast Frank Maxwell as Priam Willet / Dr. Marinus Willet Lon Chaney Jr. as Simon Orne (credited as Lon Chaney) Milton Parsons as Jabez Hutchinson Elisha Cook, Jr. as Micah Smith / Peter Smith (credited as Elisha Cook) John Dierkes as Benjamin West / Jacob West (credited as John Dierkies) Leo Gordon as Ezra Weeden / Edgar Weeden Barboura Morris as Edgar's wife Guy Wilkerson as Gideon Leach / Mr. Leach Bruno VeSota as Bruno the bartender (credited as Bruno Ve Sota) I. Stanford Jolley as Mr. Carmody the coachman (credited as Stanford Jolley) Darlene Lucht as Miss Fitch

THE COMEDY OF TERRORS The Comedy of Terrors is a 1963 American International Pictures horror comedy film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Joe E. Brown (in a cameo performance) in his final film appearance. It is a blend of comedy and horror that features several cast members from Tales of Terror, a 1962 film also released by AIP. The film is set in a New England town named after the region of Gilead. The corrupt owner of a funeral parlor murders clients to increase his business and tries to bury his landlord alive. PLOT: In the New England town of New Gilead during the late 19th century, unscrupulous drunkard Waldo Trumbull runs a funeral parlor that he acquired from his former business partner Amos Hinchley. Trumbull is unhappily married to Hinchley's daughter Amaryllis. Trumbull enlists fugitive picklock Felix Gillie as his assistant. They repeatedly reuse the firm's only coffin to save money and murder wealthy residents to increase business. Trumbull is abusive to Amaryllis while unsuccessfully trying to poison her senile father to hasten an inheritance, by telling him the poison is his medicine. Gillie is in love with Amaryllis and ineptly tries to seduce her, but she remains faithful to Trumbull, who wastes money on alcohol while his business is dwindling. When threatened with eviction by his landlord John F. Black for overdue rent, Trumbull murders a wealthy shipping magnate and offers the heirs funeral services. However, following the funeral the magnate's wife absconds with her husband's fortune without paying Trumbull's fees. After a final demand for the rent, Trumbull sends Gillie to murder Black. Gillie flees when he finds Black awake and haphazardly swinging a sword while reciting texts by William Shakespeare, but Black is startled and suffers a heart attack. A physician pronounces him dead, despite a servant's warning him that Black has previously suffered bouts of death-like sleep. Trumbull and Gillie transport Black to the mortuary, where Amaryllis' cat Cleopatra awakens Black. They prevent him from escaping, but Black suffers another heart attack. While returning him to the coffin, Black revives and Trumbull knocks him unconscious. The funeral proceeds without anyone else aware that Black is alive, and he is placed in his family crypt. Trumbull gets drunk and counts his profits from the funeral. Following another of Gillie's crude seductions, Amaryllis tries to attract Trumbull's attention but is rebuffed. She relents and decides to run off with Gillie. Black awakes, escapes his tomb, enters the parlor, and grabs an axe. Amaryllis faints. Black chases Trumbull and Gillie around the house. Gillie falls down a flight of stairs and is rendered unconscious. Trumbull shoots Black, who delivers a final Shakespearean monologue before dying. Amaryllis awakens and thinks that Gillie is dead by Trumbull's hand. She threatens to call the police and Trumbull strangles her. Gillie awakens and, after Trumbull claims credit for murdering Amaryllis, attacks Trumbull with a sword. Trumbull strikes him down with a poker. Black's servant arrives, sees the chaos and informs the police. Trumbull collapses to the floor from exhaustion. Amaryllis and Gillie revive and run off together. Hinchley, who slept through the commotion, tries to revive Trumbull with a vial of his "medicine". Trumbull realizes that he has drunk his own poison and drops dead. Cleopatra walks over to Black, who has an allergic reaction to her. CAST: Vincent Price as Waldo Trumbull Peter Lorre as Felix Gillie Boris Karloff as Amos Hinchley Basil Rathbone as John F. Black, Esq. Joyce Jameson as Amaryllis Trumbull Joe E. Brown as the Cemetery Keeper Beverly Powers (credited as Beverly Hills) as Mrs. Phipps Alan DeWitt as Riggs Buddy Mason as Mr. Phipps Douglas Williams as the Doctor Linda Rogers as Phipps' Maid Luree Holmes as Black's Servant Rhubarb the cat as Cleopatra

THE MONSTER MAKER is a 1944 science-fiction horror film starring J. Carrol Naish and Ralph Morgan. PLOT: Dr. Markoff (J. Carrol Naish) has concocted a formula that spreads acromegaly, a hideous disease that extends bones and distorts facial features. Markoff has no moral dilemma in experimenting on unsuspecting human subjects. His amoral behavior assumes monstrous dimensions when famed concert pianist Lawrence (Ralph Morgan) is injected with the doctor's disease-inducing serum. In return for an antidote, Markoff intends to exact more than his pound of flesh by extorting a fortune from Lawrence and demanding the hand of the musician's pretty daughter Patricia (Wanda McKay).[2] CAST: J. Carrol Naish as Dr. Igor Markoff Ralph Morgan as Anthony Lawrence Tala Birell as Maxine Wanda McKay as Patricia Lawrence Terry Frost as Bob Blake Glenn Strange as Giant / Steve Alexander Pollard as Butler / Stack Sam Flint as Dr. Adams Ace the Wonder Dog as Ace

THE TOMB OF LIGEIA is a 1964 American-British horror film directed by Roger Corman. Starring Vincent Price and Elizabeth Shepherd, it tells of a man haunted by the spirit of his dead wife and her effect on his second marriage. The screenplay by Robert Towne was based upon the short story "Ligeia" by American author Edgar Allan Poe and was the last in his series of films loosely based on the works of Poe. Tomb of Ligeia was filmed at Castle Acre Priory and other locations with a mostly British cast. PLOT: A funeral takes place at the side of Castle Acre Priory. The casket has a window allowing the face of a beautiful young woman to be seen. A black cat jumps on the coffin and seems to steal the soul of the woman. The widower, Verden Fell is both mournful about and feels threatened by the death of his wife, Ligeia. He had sensed her soul's reluctance to die and was concerned about her near-blasphemous statements about God (she was an atheist). Alone and troubled by an eye condition that requires him to wear dark glasses, Fell shuns the world. By accident, back at the graveside, he meets a headstrong young woman, Rowena, who pursues him even though she is apparently betrothed to an old friend, Christopher Gough. Against Fell's better judgement, he marries Rowena. Ligeia's spirit seems to haunt their mansion, previously a medieval abbey, and nocturnal visions and the sinister presence of a cat (which may be inhabited by the spirit of Ligeia) distress Rowena. The cat, who first appears at Ligeia's burial, wounds and appears to attempt to kill Rowena several times and Fell unsuccessfully orders its destruction. Ultimately he must face the spirit of Ligeia and resist her or perish. The climax of the film takes place when Fell has a showdown with Ligeia, now in the form of a cat. Fell is blinded by Ligeia, but gets the upper hand and strangles the cat, while the tomb around him burns down, due to an accident. Fell and Ligeia perish and Gough and Rowena start a new life together. CAST: Vincent Price as Verden Fell Elizabeth Shepherd as Rowena Trevanion/Ligeia John Westbrook as Christopher Gough Derek Francis as Lord Trevanion Oliver Johnston as Kenrick Richard Vernon as Dr. Vivian Frank Thornton as Peperel the butler Ronald Adam as clergyman Denis Gilmore as livery boy Penelope Lee as maid

THE PREMATURE BURIAL, also known as Premature Burial, is a 1962 American horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Ray Milland, Hazel Court, Alan Napier, Heather Angel and Richard Ney. The screenplay by Charles Beaumont and Ray Russell is based upon the 1844 short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe. It was the third in the series of eight Poe-themed pictures, known informally as the "Poe Cycle", directed by Corman for American International Pictures. PLOT: In the Victorian era, British aristocrat Guy Carrell is consumed with the fear of being buried alive. His fear becomes so overwhelming that it nearly prevents him from marrying his fiancée, Emily. He tells her that he, like his father, suffers from a cataleptic disease which can make one appear to be dead. Guy then takes Emily down to the family catacomb and claims that when he was a boy, he heard his father scream from his tomb after being interred, even though his sister, Katie, insists it was all in his mind. Despite all this, Emily tells Guy that she still wants to marry him. After the wedding ceremony, Emily plays the melody to "Molly Malone" on the piano, which seems to send Guy into a state of abject misery, finally causing him to pass out. After regaining consciousness, Guy becomes even more morbid, obsessed with the idea of being buried alive. He soon builds an elaborate burial vault equipped with several safeguards in case of his premature burial, including a poisonous elixir to be used as a last resort. This latest project causes Emily and his colleague, Miles Archer, to become concerned about his mental health. In an effort to change his mood, Guy goes for a walk in the moors with his wife when he suddenly hears a gravedigger whistle the same Irish tune that was played after his wedding. The music causes him to pass out again, and he experiences a horrific dream where he finds himself trapped inside his burial vault; however, none of his safeguards work. When he finally wakes up from his dream next to his wife, he asks her about the whistling gravedigger, but she insists that she heard no one. Finally, Emily becomes unable to deal with Guy's behavior and tells him that either he rids himself of this obsession with death, or she will leave him forever. This ultimatum seems to work. He destroys the burial vault he constructed and slowly starts to become more amenable. As a final step of his treatment, Miles suggests that Guy open his father's tomb to prove that he was never buried alive. But when he does, it causes him to go into another cataleptic state, and this time, he is unable to wake. After an examination by Emily's father, he is declared dead. Guy's family concludes he suffered a heart attack, and upon Emily's request, he is buried in the cemetery. It appears Guy's biggest fear is about to be realized when he is miraculously dug up by a pair of grave robbers just as he regains his mobility. Now in a state of madness, Guy returns to his home to seek revenge on those who conspired for his demise. Guy promptly kills Emily’s father in the laboratory by electrocuting him. While this is occurring, Emily tells Miles she has feelings for him and that she made a mistake marrying Guy. A servant comes to retrieve Miles after finding Emily’s father's body. Guy goes to Emily’s room, where the sight of him causes her to faint. Guy takes her to the graveyard, places her into his burial plot, and covers her with dirt. Miles approaches and begs for Guy to stop, and a fight ensues. Guy is stopped by Katie, who shoots him dead on the spot. Miles retrieves Emily from the grave only to find that she has died. Katie shows Miles that Emily had the key to Guy's crypt. Katie reveals that once Emily discovered Guy's fear of being buried alive, she worked hard to have him meet his end. Emily hired grave robbers to torment him, only to pretend not to hear or see them when Guy questioned himself. Emily also hid a cat in the walls of their home and had Guy’s father's tomb desecrated, all to make Guy’s fears grow. Katie confesses to Guy’s corpse that she knew what Emily was up to but that she did not have enough proof and needed to wait, only to have waited too long. Katie and Miles exit the graveyard as the camera pans over to a grave that says “rest in peace.” CAST: Ray Milland as Guy Carrell Heather Angel as Kate Carrell, Guy's Sister Hazel Court as Emily Gault, Guy's Wife Alan Napier as Dr. Gideon Gault Richard Ney as Miles Archer John Dierkes as Sweeney Dick Miller as "Mole" Clive Halliday as Judson Brendan Dillon as Clergyman

TALES OF TERROR is a 1961 horror film directed by Roger Corman, starring Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, and Luana Anders. The screenplay by Richard Matheson was loosely inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's 1842 short story of the same name. Set in sixteenth-century Spain, the story is about a young Englishman who visits a foreboding castle to investigate his sister's mysterious death. After a series of horrific revelations, apparently ghostly appearances and violent deaths, the young man becomes strapped to the titular torture device by his lunatic brother-in-law during the film's climactic sequence. The film was the second title in the popular series of Poe adaptations released by American International Pictures, the first having been Corman's House of Usher released the previous year. Like House, the film features widescreen cinematography by Floyd Crosby, sets designed by art director Daniel Haller, and a film score composed by Les Baxter. A critical and box-office hit, Pit's success convinced AIP and Corman to continue adapting Poe stories for another six films, five of them starring Price. The series ended in 1964 with the release of The Tomb of Ligeia. Film critic Tim Lucas and writer Ernesto Gastaldi have both noted the film's strong influence on numerous subsequent Italian thrillers, from Mario Bava's The Whip and the Body (1963) to Dario Argento's Deep Red (1975). Stephen King has described one of Pit's major shock sequences as being among the most important moments in post-1960 horror film. PLOT: In 1547 Spain, Englishman Francis Barnard visits the castle of his brother-in-law, Nicholas Medina, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of his sister, Elizabeth. Nicholas and his younger sister, Catherine, offer a vague explanation that Elizabeth died from a rare blood disorder three months earlier; Nicholas is evasive when Francis asks for specific details. Francis vows not to leave until he discovers the truth behind his sister's death. Francis again asks about his sister's death during dinner with the family physician, Dr. Leon. Dr. Leon tells him that his sister died of massive heart failure, literally "dying of fright". Francis demands to see where Elizabeth died. Nicholas takes him to the castle's torture chamber. Nicholas reveals that Elizabeth became obsessed with the chamber's torture devices under the influence of the castle's "heavy atmosphere". After becoming progressively unbalanced, she locked herself into an iron maiden, and died after whispering the name "Sebastian" one day. Francis refuses to believe Nicholas's story. Francis tells Catherine that Nicholas appears to feel "definite guilt" regarding Elizabeth's death. In response, Catherine talks about Nicholas's traumatic childhood. Their father was Sebastian Medina, a notorious agent of the Spanish Inquisition. When Nicholas was a small child, he explored the forbidden torture chamber when his father entered the room with his mother, Isabella, and Sebastian's brother, Bartolome. Hiding in a corner, Nicholas watched in horror as his father repeatedly hit Bartolome with a red-hot poker, screaming "Adulterer!" at him. After murdering Bartolome, Sebastian began torturing his wife slowly to death in front of Nicholas. Dr. Leon later informs Catherine and Francis that Isabella was not tortured to death; instead, she was entombed behind a brick wall while still alive. He explains, "The very thought of premature interment was enough to drive your brother into convulsions of horror." Nicholas fears that Elizabeth may have been interred prematurely. The doctor tells Nicholas that "if Elizabeth Medina walks the corridors of this castle, it is her spirit, not her living self." Nicholas believes that his late wife's vengeful ghost is haunting the castle. Elizabeth's room is the source of a loud commotion, now ransacked and her portrait slashed. Her beloved harpsichord plays in the middle of the night. One of Elizabeth's rings shows up on the keyboard. Francis accuses Nicholas of planting the evidence of Elizabeth's "haunting" as an elaborate hoax. Nicholas insists that Francis open his wife's tomb. They discover Elizabeth's putrefied corpse frozen in a position that suggests she died screaming after failing to claw her way out of her sarcophagus. Nicholas faints. That night, Nicholas– now on the verge of insanity– hears Elizabeth calling him. He follows her ghostly voice down to her tomb. Elizabeth rises from her coffin and pursues Nicholas into the torture chamber, where he falls down a flight of stairs. As Elizabeth gloats over her husband's unconscious body, her lover and accomplice, Dr. Leon, appears. They had plotted to drive Nicholas mad so that she could inherit his fortune and the castle. Leon confirms that Nicholas "is gone", his mind destroyed by terror. Elizabeth taunts her insensate husband, but then Nicholas suddenly begins laughing hysterically while Elizabeth and Dr. Leon recoil in horror. Believing himself to be Sebastian, he replays the events of his mother and uncle's murders, mistaking Elizabeth for Isabella and Dr. Leon for Bartolome. Nicholas slams Dr. Leon against a pillar and seizes Elizabeth, repeating his father's promise to Isabella to torture her. After dealing with Elizabeth, Nicholas attacks a fleeing Dr. Leon, who falls to his death in the pit while trying to escape. Francis, having heard Elizabeth's screams, enters the dungeon. Nicholas also confuses Francis for Bartolome and knocks him unconscious. He straps him to a stone slab located directly beneath a huge razor-sharp pendulum. The pendulum is attached to a clockwork apparatus that causes it to descend fractions of an inch after each swing, closer to Francis' torso. Catherine arrives just in time with Maximillian, one of the Medina family's servants. After a brief struggle with Maximillian, Nicholas falls to his death. Francis is removed from the torture device, bleeding but still alive. The three survivors–Francis, Catherine, and Maximillian–leave the torture chamber, and Catherine vows that no one shall ever enter it again. Unbeknownst to them, a still-living Elizabeth, gagged and trapped in the iron maiden, watches helplessly as the door is closed and locked forever. CAST: Vincent Price as Nicholas / Sebastian Medina John Kerr as Francis Barnard Barbara Steele as Elizabeth Luana Anders as Catherine Medina Antony Carbone as Doctor Leon Patrick Westwood as Maximillian Lynette Bernay as Maria Larry Turner as Nicholas as child Mary Menzies as Isabella Charles Victor as Bartolome

THE RAVEN is a 1963 American comedy gothic horror film produced and directed by Roger Corman. The film stars Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff as a trio of rival sorcerers. The supporting cast includes Jack Nicholson as the son of Lorre's character. It was the fifth in the so-called Corman-Poe cycle of eight films largely featuring adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories produced by Roger Corman and released by American International Pictures (AIP). The film was written by Richard Matheson, based on references to Poe's 1845 poem "The Raven". AIP released the film as a double feature with Night Tide. Three decades earlier, Karloff had appeared in another film with the same title, Lew Landers's 1935 horror film The Raven with Bela Lugosi. PLOT: In the year 1506, the sorcerer Dr. Erasmus Craven has been mourning the death of his wife Lenore for over two years, much to the dismay of his daughter (Lenore's stepdaughter), Estelle. One night he is visited by a raven, the wizard Dr. Bedlo. Together they brew a potion that restores Bedlo to human form. Bedlo explains that he was transformed by Dr. Scarabus in an unfair duel. Both decide to see Scarabus, Bedlo to exact revenge and Craven to look for his wife, whom Bedlo saw alive at Scarabus's castle.[8] After fighting off an attack by Craven's coachman, who acted under the influence of Scarabus, they are joined by Estelle and Bedlo's son Rexford, and set out to the castle. Estelle and Rexford become fond of each other over the journey. At the castle, Scarabus greets his guests with false friendship, and Bedlo is apparently killed as he conjures a storm in an act of defiance. At night, however, Rexford finds Bedlo alive and well, hiding in the castle. Bedlo conspired with Scarabus to deliver Craven to him, so that Scarabus could acquire his magical secrets. Craven, meanwhile, is visited and tormented by Lenore, who is revealed to have faked her death to become Scarabus's mistress. As Craven, Estelle, Rexford and Bedlo try to escape from the castle, Scarabus stops them, and they are imprisoned. Bedlo panics and begs Scarabus to turn him back into a raven rather than torture him. He then flees the dungeon by flying away. Craven is forced to choose between surrendering his magical secrets to Scarabus or watching his daughter be tortured. Having only pretended to desert his friends and son, Bedlo secretly returns and frees Rexford, and together they aid Craven. Craven and Scarabus engage in a magic duel. After a series of attacks, counterattacks and insults, during which Scarabus sets the castle on fire, Craven defeats Scarabus. Lenore tries to reconcile with him, claiming that she was bewitched by Scarabus, but Craven disbelieves and rejects her. Craven, Bedlo, Estelle and Rexford escape as the castle collapses on Scarabus and Lenore; both survive, but Scarabus's magic is gone. Bedlo, still a raven, tries to convince Craven to restore him to human form. Still bitter over Bedlo's earlier betrayal, Craven casts a spell to render him mute. CAST: Vincent Price as Dr. Erasmus Craven Peter Lorre as Dr. Adolphus Bedlo Boris Karloff as Dr. Scarabus Hazel Court as Lenore Craven Olive Sturgess as Estelle Craven Jack Nicholson as Rexford Bedlo Connie Wallace as Maid William Baskin as Grimes Aaron Saxon as Gort

TWICE-TOLD TALES Twice-Told Tales is a 1963 American horror anthology film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Vincent Price. It consists of three segments, all loosely adapted by producer/screenwriter Robert E. Kent from works by Nathaniel Hawthorne. PLOT: Each of the three sequences is introduced by Vincent Price (in a voice-over). Price also stars in all three narratives. "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" Two elderly friends, Carl Heidegger (Sebastian Cabot) and Alex (Price), meet to celebrate Heidegger's 79th birthday. They discover that Heidegger's fiancée from 38 years before, Sylvia (Mari Blanchard), is perfectly preserved in her coffin. Heidegger believes that the water dripping into the coffin has the power to preserve. He tries it on a withered rose and it comes back into full bloom. Carl and Alex drink it and become young again. Carl injects the liquid into Sylvia and she comes back to life. Sylvia reveals that she and Alex were secretly lovers. Carl attacks Alex, but Alex kills him in the struggle. The effects of the water wear off. Sylvia is reduced to a desiccated skeleton, Carl's body returns to its original age. Alex returns to the crypt to find more of the water, but it no longer flows. "Rappaccini's Daughter" In Padua, Giacomo Rappaccini (Price) keeps his daughter Beatrice (Joyce Taylor) in a garden. A university student next door, Giovanni (Brett Halsey), sees her and falls in love. One of Giovanni's professors says that he used to teach with Rappaccini. Many years ago, Rappaccini abruptly quit academia and became a recluse after his wife ran away with a lover. Rappaccini has treated Beatrice with an exotic plant extract that makes her touch deadly; he does this to keep her safe from unwanted suitors, but it makes her a prisoner in her own home. When Rappaccini sees the attraction between Giovanni and Beatrice, he surreptitiously treats Giovanni with the extract so they can be together. Giovanni is aghast, and obtains an experimental antidote from his professor. He consumes the antidote in front of Beatrice, but it kills him. Beatrice drinks it also, killing herself. Rappaccini grabs the exotic plant with both hands and its touch kills him. "The House of the Seven Gables" Gerald Pyncheon (Price) returns to his family house after an absence of 17 years, bringing with him his wife Alice (Beverly Garland). His sister Hannah (Jacqueline deWit), who had been living in the house, tells Alice about the curse put upon Pyncheon men by Mathew Maulle, who used to own the house but lost it in a shady deal to the Pyncheon family. Jonathan Maulle (Richard Denning), a descendant of Mathew, arrives, but he refuses Gerald's offer to give him the house in exchange for the location of a vault where valuable property deeds are stored. Alice becomes haunted by the curse on the house, which eventually leads her to the cellar. Gerald finds her there and, lifting up the basement grave of Mathew Maulle, discovers the map to the vault. He kills Hannah to keep her share of the inheritance. Gerald traps Alice in the grave, then goes to the study to find the vault. He opens it, and a skeletal hand inside the vault kills him. Jonathan arrives and takes Alice out of the house, just as it shakes and collapses into rubble. CAST: Vincent Price as Alex Medbourne / Giacomo Rappaccini / Gerald Pyncheon Sebastian Cabot as Dr. Carl Heidegger Brett Halsey as Giovanni Guasconti Beverly Garland as Alice Pyncheon Richard Denning as Jonathan Maulle Mari Blanchard as Sylvia Ward Abraham Sofaer as Prof. Pietro Baglioni Jacqueline deWit as Hannah Pyncheon, Gerald's Sister Joyce Taylor as Beatrice Rappaccini Edith Evanson as Lisabetta, the landlady Floyd Simmons as Ghost of Mathew Maulle Gene Roth as Cabman BACKGROUND: The film is an 'omnibus'-style film based on two of Nathaniel Hawthorne's stories, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" (1837) and "Rappaccini's Daughter" (1844), and on the novel The House of the Seven Gables (1851), which had previously been adapted in 1940 also starring Price.[1] Only "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" was actually published in Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales, which supplied the film's title. Similar to Tales of Terror (1962), Price appeared in all three segments.

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM is a 1961 horror film directed by Roger Corman, starring Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, and Luana Anders. The screenplay by Richard Matheson was loosely inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's 1842 short story of the same name. Set in sixteenth-century Spain, the story is about a young Englishman who visits a foreboding castle to investigate his sister's mysterious death. After a series of horrific revelations, apparently ghostly appearances and violent deaths, the young man becomes strapped to the titular torture device by his lunatic brother-in-law during the film's climactic sequence. The film was the second title in the popular series of Poe adaptations released by American International Pictures, the first having been Corman's House of Usher released the previous year. Like House, the film features widescreen cinematography by Floyd Crosby, sets designed by art director Daniel Haller, and a film score composed by Les Baxter. A critical and box-office hit, Pit's success convinced AIP and Corman to continue adapting Poe stories for another six films, five of them starring Price. The series ended in 1964 with the release of The Tomb of Ligeia. Film critic Tim Lucas and writer Ernesto Gastaldi have both noted the film's strong influence on numerous subsequent Italian thrillers, from Mario Bava's The Whip and the Body (1963) to Dario Argento's Deep Red (1975). Stephen King has described one of Pit's major shock sequences as being among the most important moments in post-1960 horror film. PLOT: In 1547 Spain, Englishman Francis Barnard visits the castle of his brother-in-law, Nicholas Medina, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of his sister, Elizabeth. Nicholas and his younger sister, Catherine, offer a vague explanation that Elizabeth died from a rare blood disorder three months earlier; Nicholas is evasive when Francis asks for specific details. Francis vows not to leave until he discovers the truth behind his sister's death. Francis again asks about his sister's death during dinner with the family physician, Dr. Leon. Dr. Leon tells him that his sister died of massive heart failure, literally "dying of fright". Francis demands to see where Elizabeth died. Nicholas takes him to the castle's torture chamber. Nicholas reveals that Elizabeth became obsessed with the chamber's torture devices under the influence of the castle's "heavy atmosphere". After becoming progressively unbalanced, she locked herself into an iron maiden, and died after whispering the name "Sebastian" one day. Francis refuses to believe Nicholas's story. Francis tells Catherine that Nicholas appears to feel "definite guilt" regarding Elizabeth's death. In response, Catherine talks about Nicholas's traumatic childhood. Their father was Sebastian Medina, a notorious agent of the Spanish Inquisition. When Nicholas was a small child, he explored the forbidden torture chamber when his father entered the room with his mother, Isabella, and Sebastian's brother, Bartolome. Hiding in a corner, Nicholas watched in horror as his father repeatedly hit Bartolome with a red-hot poker, screaming "Adulterer!" at him. After murdering Bartolome, Sebastian began torturing his wife slowly to death in front of Nicholas. Dr. Leon later informs Catherine and Francis that Isabella was not tortured to death; instead, she was entombed behind a brick wall while still alive. He explains, "The very thought of premature interment was enough to drive your brother into convulsions of horror." Nicholas fears that Elizabeth may have been interred prematurely. The doctor tells Nicholas that "if Elizabeth Medina walks the corridors of this castle, it is her spirit, not her living self." Nicholas believes that his late wife's vengeful ghost is haunting the castle. Elizabeth's room is the source of a loud commotion, now ransacked and her portrait slashed. Her beloved harpsichord plays in the middle of the night. One of Elizabeth's rings shows up on the keyboard. Francis accuses Nicholas of planting the evidence of Elizabeth's "haunting" as an elaborate hoax. Nicholas insists that Francis open his wife's tomb. They discover Elizabeth's putrefied corpse frozen in a position that suggests she died screaming after failing to claw her way out of her sarcophagus. Nicholas faints. That night, Nicholas– now on the verge of insanity– hears Elizabeth calling him. He follows her ghostly voice down to her tomb. Elizabeth rises from her coffin and pursues Nicholas into the torture chamber, where he falls down a flight of stairs. As Elizabeth gloats over her husband's unconscious body, her lover and accomplice, Dr. Leon, appears. They had plotted to drive Nicholas mad so that she could inherit his fortune and the castle. Leon confirms that Nicholas "is gone", his mind destroyed by terror. Elizabeth taunts her insensate husband, but then Nicholas suddenly begins laughing hysterically while Elizabeth and Dr. Leon recoil in horror. Believing himself to be Sebastian, he replays the events of his mother and uncle's murders, mistaking Elizabeth for Isabella and Dr. Leon for Bartolome. Nicholas slams Dr. Leon against a pillar and seizes Elizabeth, repeating his father's promise to Isabella to torture her. After dealing with Elizabeth, Nicholas attacks a fleeing Dr. Leon, who falls to his death in the pit while trying to escape. Francis, having heard Elizabeth's screams, enters the dungeon. Nicholas also confuses Francis for Bartolome and knocks him unconscious. He straps him to a stone slab located directly beneath a huge razor-sharp pendulum. The pendulum is attached to a clockwork apparatus that causes it to descend fractions of an inch after each swing, closer to Francis' torso. Catherine arrives just in time with Maximillian, one of the Medina family's servants. After a brief struggle with Maximillian, Nicholas falls to his death. Francis is removed from the torture device, bleeding but still alive. The three survivors–Francis, Catherine, and Maximillian–leave the torture chamber, and Catherine vows that no one shall ever enter it again. Unbeknownst to them, a still-living Elizabeth, gagged and trapped in the iron maiden, watches helplessly as the door is closed and locked forever. CAST: Vincent Price as Nicholas / Sebastian Medina John Kerr as Francis Barnard Barbara Steele as Elizabeth Luana Anders as Catherine Medina Antony Carbone as Doctor Leon Patrick Westwood as Maximillian Lynette Bernay as Maria Larry Turner as Nicholas as child Mary Menzies as Isabella Charles Victor as Bartolome

THE HOUSE OF USHER (also known as The Fall of the House of Usher) is a 1960 American gothic horror film directed by Roger Corman and written by Richard Matheson from the 1839 short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. The film was the first of eight Corman/Poe feature films and stars Vincent Price, Myrna Fahey, Mark Damon and Harry Ellerbe. In 2005, the film was listed with the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[6][7] PLOT: Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) travels to the House of Usher, a desolate mansion surrounded by a murky swamp, to see his fiancée Madeline Usher (Myrna Fahey). Madeline's brother Roderick (Vincent Price) opposes Philip's intentions, telling the young man that the Usher family is afflicted by a cursed bloodline which has driven all their ancestors to madness and even affected the mansion itself, causing the surrounding countryside to become desolate. Roderick foresees the family evils being propagated into future generations with a marriage to Madeline and vehemently discourages the union. Philip becomes increasingly desperate to take Madeline away; desperate to get away from her brother, she agrees to leave with him. During a heated argument with Roderick, Madeline suddenly falls into catalepsy, a condition in which its sufferers appear dead. Roderick knows that she is still alive, but convinces Winthrop that she is dead and rushes to have her entombed in the family crypt beneath the house. As Philip is preparing to leave following the entombment, the butler, Bristol (Harry Ellerbe), lets slip that Madeline suffered from catalepsy. Madeline revives inside her sealed coffin, goes insane from being buried alive, and breaks free. Philip rips open Madeline's coffin and finds it empty. He desperately searches for her in the winding passages of the crypt but eventually collapses. Madeline confronts Roderick and attacks him, throttling him to death. Suddenly the house, already aflame due to fallen coals from the fire, begins to collapse, and the two Ushers and Bristol are consumed by the falling house, ending the Usher bloodline. Philip alone escapes and watches the burning house sink into the swampy land surrounding it. The film ends with the final words of Poe's story: "... and the deep and dank tarn closed (sullenly and) silently over the fragments of the 'House of Usher'". CASTl Vincent Price as Roderick Usher Mark Damon as Philip Winthrop Myrna Fahey as Madeline Usher Harry Ellerbe as Bristol

Only one episode of the SIN FANG ADVENTURE SERIES (1928) evidently survived: "The Adventure of the Torture Cage." In this fifth chapter. Lt John Byrne and Bill Riggers are on the hunt for the criminal doctor Sin Fang, who is hell-bent on locating a lost ‘sacred seal’. A trader hoping to make a quick buck on the seal is lured to Fang’s lair, where he and Riggers are held prisoner in Fang’s torture cage. Only Byrne’s fiancée, Betty Harbray, can save the day. Dr. Sin Fang serial borrowed many of the performers (including the lead villain and plot elements) from the hugely successful Fu-Manchu serials. Producer Fred Paul had played Nayland Smith in The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu and went on to direct The Further Mysteries of Dr. Fu Manchu. Star Harry Agar Lyons brings much of Fu-Manchu to his portrayal of the lesser-known, but also a sinister genius, Sin Fang. This serial was made on a much lower budget than Fu-Manchu and only ran to six parts - this was the final one. Like the earlier Fu Manchus, this series is really a serial, because the feature main character (Sin Fang) survives every effort to eradicate him. The very episodic nature of of the series makes it a serial.

THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (U.S. title: The Devil's Bride), is a 1968 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Niké Arrighi and Leon Greene. It was written by Richard Matheson based on the 1934 novel of the same title by Dennis Wheatley. It is considered one of Terence Fisher's best films. It was the final film to be produced by Seven Arts Productions after the company was merged with Warner Bros. to become Warner Bros.-Seven Arts on 15 July 1967. Plot Set in London and the south of England in 1929, the story finds erudite Nicholas, Duc de Richleau, investigating the strange actions of his protegé, the son of a late friend, Simon Aron, who has a house replete with strange markings and a pentagram. He quickly deduces that Simon is involved with the occult. De Richleau and his friend Rex Van Ryn manage to rescue Simon and another young initiate, Tanith, from a devil-worshipping cult. During the rescue, they disrupt a May Day ceremony on Salisbury Plain, in which the Devil appears under the guise of the "Goat of Mendes". They escape to the country home of de Richleau's niece Marie and her husband Richard Eaton. They are followed by the group's leader, Mocata, who has a psychic connection to the two initiates. After visiting the house while de Richleau is absent to discuss the matter and an unsuccessful attempt to influence the initiates to return, Mocata forces de Richleau and the other occupants to defend themselves through a night of black magic attacks, ending with the conjuring of the Angel of Death. De Richleau repels the angel, but it kills Tanith instead (for, once summoned, it must take a life). His attacks defeated, Mocata kidnaps the Eatons' young daughter Peggy. The Duc has Tanith's spirit possess Marie in order to find Mocata, but they only are able to get a single clue, and Rex realizes that the cultists are at a house he visited earlier. Simon tries to rescue Peggy on his own, but he is recaptured by the cult. De Richleau, Richard, and Rex also try to rescue her, but they are defeated by Mocata. Suddenly, a powerful force (or Tanith herself) controls Marie and ends Peggy's trance. She then leads Peggy in the recitation of a spell which visits divine retribution upon the cultists and transforms their coven room into a church. When the Duc and his companions awaken, they discover that the spell has reversed time and changed the future in their favour. Simon and Tanith have survived, and Mocata's spell to conjure the Angel of Death has been reflected back on him. Divine judgment ends his life, and he is subject to eternal damnation for his unholy summoning of the Angel of Death. De Richleau comments that it is God to whom they must be thankful. Cast Christopher Lee as Nicholas, Duc de Richleau Charles Gray as Mocata Niké Arrighi as Tanith Carlisle Leon Greene as Rex Van Ryn (dubbed by Patrick Allen)[6] Patrick Mower as Simon Aron Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies as Countess d'Urfe Sarah Lawson as Marie Eaton Paul Eddington as Richard Eaton Rosalyn Landor as Peggy Eaton Russell Waters as Malin Eddie Powell as The Goat of Mendes (uncredited) Yemi Ajibade as African cultist (uncredited) Peter Swanwick as cultist (uncredited) Keith Pyott as Max (uncredited)

THE MYSTERY OF FU MANCHU is a series of fifteen silent films collectively called The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, all filmed in 1923, followed by a 1924 series of eight additional Fu Manchu films under the title "The Further Mysteries of Dr. Fu Manchu". Harry Agar Lyons starred in the title role of all 23 movies (which ran about 20 –25 minutes each in length), all of which featured Fu's ongoing battle with his two British nemeses, Sir Nayland Smith (played by Fred Paul) and his assistant Dr. Petrie. Both series were produced by Oswald Stoll (see List of Stoll Pictures films), who had earlier produced a 1920 film version of Sax Rohmer's 1915 "Yellow Peril" novel. In spite of the many films in which Lyons played an Oriental character, the obviously British actor "put forth little effort to make himself seem anything other than Caucasian". He also starred in another evil Asian genius series, entitled "Sin Fang" in 1929. Only chapters 2-8, 10-15 of THE MYSTERY OF FU MANCHU fully survive These are included. I will try to include the available chapters of "The Further Mysteries of Dr. Fu Manchu" and the "Sin Fang Adventures" in the future. I believe that of these series are really serials, because the feature main characters (Fu Manchu and Sin Fang) survive every effort to eradicate them. The very episodic nature of of the series makes them serials.

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME is a 1923 American drama film starring Lon Chaney, directed by Wallace Worsley, and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. The supporting cast includes Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier, and Brandon Hurst. Distributed by Universal Pictures, the film was the studio's "Super Jewel" of 1923 and was their most successful silent film, grossing $3.5 million.[1] The film premiered on September 2, 1923 at the Astor Theatre in New York, New York, then went into release on September 6. The screenplay was written by Perley Poore Sheehan and Edward T. Lowe Jr., based on Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, and is notable for the grand sets that recall 15th century Paris as well as for Chaney's performance and make-up as the tortured hunchback bellringer Quasimodo. This was the seventh film adaptation of the novel. The film elevated Chaney, who was already a well-known character actor, to full star status in Hollywood, and also helped set a standard for many later horror films, including Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera in 1925. PLOT: The story is set in Paris in 1482. Quasimodo is a deaf, half-blind, hunchbacked bell-ringer of the famous Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. His master is a man named Jehan, the evil brother of Notre Dame's saintly archdeacon Dom Claude. One night, Jehan prevails upon Quasimodo to kidnap the fair Esmeralda, a dancing Roma girl (and the adopted daughter of Clopin, the king of the oppressed beggars of Paris' underworld). The dashing Captain Phoebus rescues Esmeralda from Quasimodo, while Jehan abandons him and flees (later in the film, Quasimodo hates Jehan for abandoning him and is no longer loyal to him). At first seeking a casual romance, Phoebus becomes entranced by Esmeralda, and takes her under his wing. Quasimodo is sentenced to be lashed in the public square before Esmeralda and Dom Claude come to his aid. Dom Claude restrains Quasimodo from violence. To their dismay, Jehan and Clopin learn that Phoebus hopes to marry Esmeralda, despite being engaged to Fleur de Lys. Phoebus persuades Esmeralda to accompany him to a ball celebrating his appointment as Captain of the Guard by King Louis XI. He provides her with rich garments and introduces her to their hostess, Madame de Gondelaurier, as a Princess of Egypt. Clopin, accompanied by his beggars, crashes the festivities and demands Esmeralda be returned. To avoid bloodshed, Esmeralda says that she does not belong with the aristocracy. Later, however, Esmeralda sends the street poet Pierre Gringoire to give Phoebus a note, arranging a rendezvous at Notre Dame to say goodbye to him. Phoebus arrives and is stabbed in the back by Jehan. After Esmeralda is falsely sentenced to death for the crime, she is rescued from the gallows by Quasimodo and carried inside the cathedral, where he and Dom Claude grant her sanctuary. Later that night, Clopin leads the whole of the underworld to storm the cathedral, and Jehan attempts to take Esmeralda, first by guile (telling her that Phoebus's dying wish was for him to take care of her), then by force. Quasimodo holds off the invaders with rocks and torrents of molten lead. Meanwhile, the healed Phoebus is alerted by Gringoire and leads his men against the rabble. Clopin is killed in the battle. When Quasimodo finds Jehan attacking Esmeralda, he throws his former master off the ramparts of Notre Dame, but not before Jehan fatally stabs him three times in the back. Phoebus finds and embraces Esmeralda. Witnessing this, Quasimodo rings his own death toll, and Gringoire and Dom Claude enter the bell tower just in time to see him die. The last image is of the great bell swinging silently above Quasimodo's corpse. CAST: Lon Chaney as Quasimodo[7] Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda[7] Norman Kerry as Phoebus de Chateaupers[7] Kate Lester as Madame de Gondelaurier[7] Winifred Bryson as Fleur de Lys[7] Nigel De Brulier as Don Claudio[7] Brandon Hurst as Jehan[7] Ernest Torrence as Clopin[7] Tully Marshall as King Louis XI[7] Harry von Meter as Monsieur Neufchatel[7] Raymond Hatton as Gringoire[7] Nick De Ruiz as Monsieur le Torteru[7] Eulalie Jensen as Marie[7] Roy Laidlaw as Charmolue[7] Ray Myers as Charmolue's assistant[7] William Parke as Josephus[7] Gladys Brockwell as Sister Gudule[7] John Cossar as Judge of the Court[7] Edwin Wallock as King's Chamberlain[7] Louise LaPlanche as a young Gypsy girl (extra) Elmo Lincoln Joe Bonomo (stunt double) Harvey Parry (stunt double) Cesare Gravina[8]

VAMPYR is a 1932 gothic horror film directed by Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer. The film was written by Dreyer and Christen Jul based on elements from J. Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 collection of supernatural stories In a Glass Darkly. Vampyr was funded by Nicolas de Gunzburg who starred in the film under the name of Julian West among a mostly non-professional cast. Gunzburg plays the role of Allan Gray, a student of the occult who enters the village of Courtempierre, which is under the curse of a vampire. Vampyr was challenging for Dreyer to make as it was his first sound film and was required to be recorded in three languages. To overcome this, very little dialogue was used in the film and much of the story is told with title cards like a silent film. The film was shot entirely on location and to enhance the atmospheric content, Dreyer opted for a washed out, soft focus photographic technique. The soundtrack was created in Berlin where the characters’ voices, sound effects, and score were recorded. Vampyr had a delayed release in Germany and opened to a generally negative reception from audiences and critics. Dreyer edited the film after its German premiere and it opened to more mixed opinions at its French debut. The film was long considered a low point in Dreyer's career, but modern critical reception to the film has become much more favorable with critics praising the film's disorienting visual effects and atmosphere. PLOT: On a late evening, Allan Gray arrives at an inn close to the village of Courtempierre and he rents a room to sleep. Gray is awakened suddenly by an old man, who enters the room and leaves a square packet on Gray's table; "To be opened upon my death" is written on the wrapping paper. Gray takes the package and walks outside. Shadows guide him to an old castle, where he sees the shadows dancing and wandering on their own. Gray also sees an elderly woman (later identified as Marguerite Chopin) and encounters another old man (later identified as the village doctor). Gray leaves the castle and walks to a manor. Looking through one of the windows, Gray sees the lord of the manor, the same man who gave him the package earlier. The man is suddenly murdered by gunshot. Gray is let into the house by servants, who rush to the aid of the fallen man but it is too late to save him. The servants ask Gray to stay the night. Gisèle, the younger daughter of the now deceased lord of the manor, takes Gray to the library and tells him that her sister, Léone, is gravely ill. Just then they see Léone walking outside. They follow her, and find her unconscious on the ground with fresh bite wounds. They have her carried inside. Gray remembers the parcel and opens it. Inside is a book about horrific demons called vampyrs, who can force humans into submission. By reading the book, Gray realizes that Léone is the victim of a vampyr. The village doctor visits Léone at the manor, and Gray recognizes him as the old man he saw in the castle. The doctor tells Gray that a blood transfusion is needed and Gray agrees to donate his blood to save Léone. Exhausted from blood loss, Gray falls asleep. Meanwhile, the oldest of the servants of the manor also reads the book and learns that a vampyr can be defeated by driving an iron bar through its heart. Gray wakes up sensing danger and rushes to Léone's bedside, where he surprises the doctor as he is attempting to poison the girl. The doctor flees the manor, and Gray finds that Gisèle is gone. Gray follows the doctor back to the castle, but before reaching it he has an out-of-body experience and sees himself being dead and buried by Marguerite Chopin and the doctor. After he returns to his own body, he sees the old servant heading to Marguerite Chopin's grave. They open the grave and find the old woman perfectly preserved. They hammer a large metal bar through her heart, killing her. The curse of the vampyr is lifted and Léone suddenly recovers. The ghost of the lord of the manor appears to the doctor, chasing him away from his house and killing the soldier who was helping him. Gray rescues Gisèle, who was held tied up. The doctor hides in an old mill, but finds himself locked in a chamber where flour sacks are filled. The old servant arrives and activates the mill's machinery, filling the chamber with flour and suffocating the doctor. Gisèle and Gray cross a foggy river by boat and find themselves in a bright clearing. CAST: Nicolas de Gunzburg (credited as Julian West) as Allan Gray, a young wanderer whose studies of occult matters have made him a dreamer. Gray's view of the world in the film is described as a blur of the real and unreal. Rena Mandel as Giséle, Léone's younger sister and the daughter of the Lord of the Manor. Giséle is kidnapped by the Village Doctor late in the film. Sybille Schmitz as Léone, Giséle's older sister, who is in thrall to the vampire and finds her strength dwindling day by day. Jan Hieronimko as the Village Doctor, a pawn of the vampire, Marguerite Chopin. He kidnaps Giséle late in the film. Henriette Gérard as Marguerite Chopin, the vampire, an elderly woman whose hold extends beyond her immediate victims. Many villagers, including the village doctor, are her minions. Maurice Schutz as the Lord of the Manor, Giséle and Léone's father who offers Gray a book about vampirism to help Gray save his daughters. After his murder, he returns briefly as a spirit and takes revenge on the village doctor and a soldier who had helped Marguerite Chopin. Albert Bras as an Old Servant, a servant at the manor house. After the death of his master, he finds Gray's book on vampirism and, aided by Gray, ends the vampire's reign of terror. N. Babanini as his Wife Jane Mora as a Nurse Georges Boidin as the Limping Soldier

THE SCREAMING SKULL is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white horror film, produced by John Kneubuhl and directed by Alex Nicol, starring John Hudson, Peggy Webber, Russ Conway, Tony Johnson, and Nicol. The Screaming Skull marked Nicol's directorial debut; he decided to try it because he felt that he was not acting in the roles which he wanted. The film was distributed by American International Pictures as a double feature in different markets with either Earth vs. the Spider or Terror from the Year 5000. The film's storyline concerns a newlywed woman who believes she is being haunted by the ghost of her new husband's previous wife. The simplistic musical score centres on the dies irae. Plot An opening prologue explains that The Screaming Skull is so frightening that it may kill its viewers. Over a scene of an opening coffin, a narrator explains that the film's climax is so terrifying that it may kill the viewer, while reassuring the audience that should they die of fright they will receive a free burial service. Inside the coffin is a card that reads "Reserved for You." Newlyweds Jenni and Eric arrive at Eric's palatial country home in a gull-wing Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. It is revealed that Jenni is Eric's second wife: his first wife Marion died when she accidentally slipped and hit her head on the edge of a decorative pond on the estate, drowning in the pond. At the home they meet Eric's friends, the Reverend Snow and his wife, as well as Mickey, the mentally disabled gardener. Eric privately mentions to the Snows that Jenni spent time in an asylum following the sudden death of both her parents, who were also drowned, and Mrs. Snow reveals that Jenni is very wealthy. Jenni is disturbed both by Mickey's belief that Marion's ghost wanders the estate and by Marion's self-portrait inside the house, which Jenni believes resembles her mother. When she begins to hear unexplained screaming noises and see skulls around the house, she believes that Marion is haunting her. Though Eric speculates to Jenni that Mickey, who was a childhood friend of Marion and thus dislikes Jenni, may be behind the trickery, Jenni worries that she is going insane. Eric suggests that they remove Marion's self-portrait from the home. Eric and Jenni take the painting outside and burn it, later uncovering a skull from the ashes. Jenni panics at the sight of the skull, but Eric denies that the skull is there. As Jenni faints, Eric withdraws the skull and hides it, revealing that he has been gaslighting her all along. The Screaming Skull Believing she has finally lost her sanity, Jenni resolves to be committed, and Eric says he has arranged for them to leave that night. Reverend Snow visits, and Eric tells him that Jenni is going back to the hospital. Later, Jenni tells Eric that Reverend Snow, when saying goodbye, had promised to bring people the next day so that the entire property can be meticulously searched for the skull as a last resort. Mickey secretly steals the skull and brings it to Snow before Eric can retrieve it. That night, Eric prepares to murder Jenni and stage it as a suicide. Jenni sees Marion's ghost in Mickey's greenhouse and flees back to the house, where Eric begins throttling her. The ghost appears and chases Eric outside, corners, and attacks him, drowning him in the decorative pond. After Jenni regains consciousness, the Snows arrive. Mrs. Snow comforts an hysterical Jenni and the Reverend discovers Eric's body in the pond. Some undisclosed time later, Jenni and the Snows depart from the house. Reverend Snow declares whether or not Marion's death was an accident will remain a mystery. The film ends with Mickey taking some water from the pond in his hand and placing it on his face before saying "They're gone. Rest." A vision of what may be a woman's face begins to appear in the pond as smoky bubbles cover its surface. Cast Jon Hudson and Peggy Webber John Hudson as Eric Whitlock Peggy Webber as Jenni Whitlock Russ Conway as Rev. Edward Snow Tony Johnson as Mrs. Snow Alex Nicol as Mickey

ISLAND OF LOST SOULS is a 1932 American science fiction horror film directed by Erle C. Kenton. Produced and distributed by Paramount Productions, it is based on H. G. Wells' 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau, and stars Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, and Kathleen Burke. Island of Lost Souls is about Edward Parker (Arlen), a sailor who finds himself stranded on an island that is occupied by the scientist Dr. Moreau (Laughton). Parker agrees to stay until the next boat arrives; Moreau introduces him to Lota (Burke), who unknown to Parker, is part-panther. It is revealed all of the island's inhabitants are the results of Moreau's experiments to create humans from animals. Moreau tries to persuade Lota to have sex with Parker so he can continue his experiments. The film is Paramount's follow-up to the successful horror film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931). Several writers, including Joseph Moncure March, Cyril Hume, Garrett Fort, and Philip Wylie, worked on scripts for the film. While Paramount had invited stage actor Charles Laughton to Hollywood, they did not have the film set up for him, leading him to work on other projects in 1932. For the role of Lota the Panther Woman, a contest was run across the United States to cast an unknown actor for the film. From thousands of contenders, the final group was Lona Andre, Gail Patrick, Verna Hillie, and the winner Kathleen Burke. Island of Lost Souls began production on October 1, 1932. Some scenes were filmed on location on Catalina Island. During production, Bela Lugosi joined the cast, having declared bankruptcy during the same month. Production ended in early November. Island of Lost Souls was released in December 1932. Since then, several edited forms have been released with several edits to remove dialogue and scenes involving Dr. Moreau. The film was banned in several countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, India, and New Zealand. Theatrical, television, and home video releases have often been truncated until the 2011 release by the Criterion Collection, which was described by the company's president as one of the most difficult restorations they had done. Contemporaneous critical reception was mixed, noting the horrific nature of the film. Retrospective reviews have been mostly positive and have often complimented Laughton's performance; some reviews praised the cinematography, while others noted the film's disturbing themes. Plot Shipwrecked traveler Edward Parker is rescued by a freighter delivering animals to an isolated South Seas island owned by Dr. Moreau. Parker fights with the freighter's drunken captain who mistreats M'ling, a passenger with some bestial features, and the captain tosses Parker overboard into Mr. Montgomery's boat, which is bound for Moreau's island. When Parker arrives at the island, Moreau welcomes him and introduces him to Lota, a young woman who Moreau claims is of Polynesian origin. When she and Parker hear screams coming from another room, which Lota calls "the House of Pain", Parker investigates. He sees Moreau and Montgomery operating on a human-like creature without anesthetic. Convinced Moreau is engaged in brutal vivisection, Parker tries to leave but encounters savage-looking humanoids resembling beasts emerging from the jungle. Moreau appears, cracks his whip and orders them to recite a series of rules ("the Law"), and the creatures disperse. Kathleen Burke as Lota and Richard Arlen as Edward Parker At the main house, Moreau tries to assuage Parker by explaining his scientific work—years before in London, he had begun experiments to accelerate the evolution of plants. He then progressed to animals, trying to transform them into humans through plastic surgery, blood transfusions, gland extracts and ray baths. When a dog hybrid escaped from his laboratory, it horrified people and he was forced to leave England. Moreau tells Parker that Lota is the sole female on the island but hides the fact she was derived from a panther. Later, Moreau privately expresses his excitement to Montgomery that Lota is showing human emotions in her attraction to Parker. So he can continue observing this process, Moreau destroys the only available boat, ensuring Parker cannot leave, and blaming this on his beast-men. Lota falls in love with Parker and they eventually kiss. After Lota hugs him, Parker examines her fingernails, which are reverting to animalistic claws. Parker storms into Moreau's to confront him for hiding the truth about Lota. Moreau explains Lota is his most-nearly human creation, and he wanted to see if she was capable of reproducing with a man. Enraged by the deceit, Parker punches Moreau and demands passage off the island. Moreau observes Lota weeping and showing human emotions; his hopes are raised and he screams he will "burn out" the remaining animal in her in the House of Pain. Meanwhile, the American consul at Apia, Samoa learns about Parker's location from the cowed freighter captain. Parker's fiancée Ruth Thomas persuades Captain Donahue to take her to Moreau's island. She is reunited with Parker and Moreau persuades them to stay the night. The ape-themed Ouran, one of Moreau's creations, tries to break into Ruth's room but is driven away by her screams. Montgomery confronts Moreau and implies Moreau arranged Ouran's attempted break-in. Donahue tries to reach the ship and fetch his crew. Moreau, seeing him depart, dispatches Ouran to strangle him. Learning Moreau has allowed Ouran to break the Law, the other beast-men no longer feel bound by it; they set their huts ablaze and defy Moreau, who tries and fails to regain control. The beast-men drag Moreau into his House of Pain and brutally hack him to death with his own surgical knives. Parker and Ruth escape with help from the disaffected Montgomery. Parker tries to rescue Lota but she decides to buy the group some time when she notices Ouran ambushing them, leading to both of their deaths. The others escape by boat as the island goes up in flames, presumably destroying Moreau's work and eradicating the beast-men. CAST: Charles Laughton as Dr. Moreau Richard Arlen as Edward Parker Leila Hyams as Ruth Thomas Bela Lugosi as Sayer of the Law Kathleen Burke as Lota, The Panther Woman Arthur Hohl as Montgomery Stanley Fields as Captain Davies Paul Hurst as Donahue Hans Steinke as Ouran Tetsu Komai as M'Ling