Friday, August 4, 2023

I Learned A Lot From "The Haunted Strangler" On A Second Viewing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


                                 Wouldn't you love to be one of the ladies of this chorus, girls?



                                                                      

                                     Is the woman, pictured above, a prostitute????????????????

                                         Sadistic cruelty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




                                 Having recently watched "The Unseen" helped me appreciate "The Haunted Strangler" more, on a second viewing.  "Svengoolie" showed it last Saturday evening, and we were there, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!


                                 It opens grotesquely with a public execution in England, in 1860, which foreshadows the opening of 1960's "Horror Hotel."  Except in that film, Elizabeth Selwyn is guilty, and in the other film, the man being hanged turns out to be innocent.



                                   This is considered a horror movie, via Boris Karloff's grotesque make-up, but had he not used it, and when one takes the story apart, it is more of a psychological drama.  Mental illness figures into the plot, and what happens comes more from that than a transformative supernatural monster.



                                      I would guess the filmmakers, from the opening sequence to the present-day story in 1880 were going for something beyond customary horror.  Boris Karloff actually gives a carefully nuanced performance, showing he was more of an actor than most thought--and not just an ugly Universal monster face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



                                       "The Haunted Strangler" is worth a second look, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



                                          I am ready to go to The Judas Hole, and dance like those girls!



                                        

2 comments:

  1. I have missed the last two weekend of the horror fest...as I had a birthday party one weekend for a friend, and spent last weekend plus two days in Cherry Grove with friends. And this weekend is yet another pool gathering of the clan. Summer soirées are busting out all over with no end in sight dear. Just how many caftans can one wear this season?

    Thanks heavens we have a local station here, Comet TV that plays these old cult classics. I may be able to watch one once home Saturday night. Thanks heavens I'm a night owl.

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  2. Mistress Maddie,
    We are going to a barbecue today, and I so wanted
    to wear the hat with green ribbon Vivien Leigh wore
    to Twelve Oaks.

    You may enjoy tonight's "Svengoolie" feature. My
    feline friend, Nicholas, loves it!

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