Would You Buy a Dissertation From This Man?

This drawing of Bela Lugosi was presented to him by artist Jim Logan in 1939. Lugosi loved it so much, he used his himself in a variety of different venues, including as the "author's picture" of Professor Armand Tesla in The Return of the Vampire.

Let's hope he already had tenure.

I Think You're a Worst Fiend Than Your Father

Heresy, I know, but Son of Frankenstein is simply the greatest Frankenstein film ever made, thanks in no small portion to the contribution of these two gentlemen.

It's not that we've forgotten how to make films like Son of Frankenstein, it's that we've forgotten how to make men like Basil Rathbone and Lionel Atwill.

Peter Cushing in The Skull

Have you seen this bizarre little gem?

In it, Peter Cushing plays a collector of supernatural relics. He comes into possession of the skull of the Marquis de Sade, which rapidly comes into possession of Cushing.

I have seldom seen a better cinematic representation of the cut-throat mania for collecting, and the film has a wonderfully creepy vibe. And Cushing was never better.

Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places ... but what fascinated me most about this film is the almost clubland atmosphere. Cushing is not some basement-dwelling mama's boy, but an accomplished scholar with taste, refinement and deep pockets.

If only the Gothic community was a little more like Cushing (barring the homicidal possession, of course).

A New World of Gods and Monsters

Is Dr. Pretorious the first cinematic character defined by his love for the Gothic and the bizarre...?

Probably not, as the case must be made for Erik, the Phantom, and Count Dracula. But Dr. Pretorious is certainly more fun than either of them.

Edward Scissorhands

Have you never noticed the underlying gentility of so much Gothic material? And wouldn't we all be better for having etiquette lessons from Vincent Price?