Bedlam - Boris Karloff, Val Lewton 1946

The 1946 movie Bedlam stars Boris Karloff as Master George Sims, the apothecary General, and Anna Lee as Nell Bowen. It was one of three movies that Karloff worked with producer Val Lewton on, and I'll talk about the other two in the near future.

I loved this movie. Karloff is magnificent, and the production values are top-notch. 

The screenplay was written by Carlos Keith (a pseudonym for Val Lewton) and Mark Robson, though as it says on one of the opening cards, the movie was inspired by William Hogarth's The Rake's Progress, plate 8, pictured here:

This is Plate 8 of Hogarth's work "The Rake's Progress"

The scene above takes place in St. Mary's Bethlehem Asylum, also known as Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as Bedlam, and this is where the movie is centered.

Here's William Hogarth:

Hogarth's painting "Selfie with Dog" (I'm guessing on the title)
Okay, actually, it's called "Painter and his Pug" done in 1745.

The movie is beautifully shot in black and white, and Karloff is at his most...Karloffian...in it.

His voice, his pattern of speech is terrific. He plays the cruel director of the above referenced insane asylum, and unjustly imprisons Anna Lee's Nell Bowen in it. She shows kindness to the patients, and they eventually turn on Karloff.

At one point, Nell Bowen describes Karloff's Sims in this way; "He's a stench in the nostrils, a sewer of ugliness, and a gutter brimming with slop." It reminds me of how Karloff's later portrayal of The Grinch is described.

One of my favorite lines of the movies is when Karloff says to Lee: “So nice to find you here among the upper classes, Mistress Bowen, but that’s exactly where I expected you to be.  It’s a law of physics the lighter elements, like scum, rise to the top.”

Some of the language is cringe-worthy, but historically accurate, such as when the patients are repeatedly called 'loonies.' Also, as in real-life, people were allowed to pay to visit the asylum (for a fee) to see the patients in a cruel form of entertainment.

A bit of fun trivia, according to IMDB: "The dress that Anna Lee is wearing as she mounts her horse is the one Vivien Leigh made from the curtains in Gone with the Wind."

Jason Robards, Sr. (the father of the Jason Robards you are more likely familiar with) also appears in the movie as one of the patients.

Highly recommended movie.

You can buy the DVD of Bedlam (includes Isle of the Dead) here, or you can also rent it via streaming through iTunes.

3 Mario Bava Films - Bay of Blood, Black Sunday & Black Sabbath

Presently on Netflix are a bunch of Mario Bava's horror films, each with garish covers. I watched three of them, and here are my thoughts on them. I'll save my favorite for last.

Bay of Blood (aka Twitch of the Death Nerve) - 1971:

This is considered one of the main inspirations for the slasher movie genre that became popular in the late 1970s and beyond. It really has no plot, other than a bunch of people killing each other off in order to receive an inheritance. There are a lot of inventive killings here, a few which were even copied in later films (Friday the 13th, pt II in particular) but it's a rather cheesy film. Gruesome, sure, but almost silly in its over-the-top style. And of course it has the required skinny-dipping scene.

The best part of this movie is the ending. I won't spoil it, but it's an awesome come-out-of-nowhere sorta thing that actually makes sense and serves as commentary on the rest of the movie.

Black Sunday - 1960:

Bava had worked on many films before as a cinematographer, and also filled in on the director's chair for a few earlier flicks, but Black Sunday was his first truly solo directing gig. It's shot in black and white, and is about a witch who's put to death, and then comes back for revenge a couple centuries later. There are some truly creepy moments in this one. When she's put to death, they place a mask on her face (the film is also known as Mask of Satan) that have spikes to keep it in place, and this is pounded onto her head with a sledge hammer. When she comes back to life, the spike holes are always present on her face, which adds a real ick factor (in a good way) to the make-up effects.

I thought it was a decent film. Nice atmospheric sets, good use of black and white. A little corny at times, but hey...

Black Sabbath - 1963:

Of the three Bava films, Black Sabbath was by far my favorite. It's actually a trilogy of short horror films, all worthy of watching. Each is introduced by Boris Karloff - in a similar fashion that Hitchcock did for his television series. It's fun to see Karloff sans heavy makeup, and it looks like he's enjoying himself in these introductions. 

In the first of the three, The Drop of Water, a woman steals a ring off of a corpse. She is later haunted by the ghost of the ring's original owner. Heavy creep factor in the makeup job done on the corpse.

Next is The Telephone, about a woman who receives mysterious phone calls from someone who should be dead. This one has a very Twilight Zone feel to it.

The last, and my favorite, was The Wardulak, starring Boris Karloff. A wardulak is an undead creature that attacks those whom it once loved - basically a vampire with family issues. Again, great makeup on Karloff that adds to the creepiness of the piece.

Like I said, all parts of the trilogy are very well done, and the sets, cinematography and acting are much better than in the other two Bava flicks I watched. So if you have to pick just one of Bava's movies, I'd recommend Black Sabbath. And yes, this is the movie that inspired the band Black Sabbath's name.

They're currently on Netflix, so watch 'em while you can!

If you don't have Netflix, here's a link to Black Sabbathon Amazon

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