Hollywood Gothique

Reviews of movies playing around Los Angeles, in nationwide release or at local art houses and specialty venues

Horror fans who are looking for a shot of adrenalin to revitalize their spirits now that October’s monster mazes, haunted hayrides, ghost ships, and harvest festivals are have closed their gates, could do worse than taking in THE THING, before it exists from theatres. Although neither a box office nor a critical powerhouse, the film [...]

Lon Chaney as Erik, the Phantom
This silent film adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s novel is one of the classics in the history of the horror genre, although it actually predates the widespread use of the term “horror film.” With its static camera style and sometimes slow pace, this old-fashioned gothic-mystery-romance about a deformed madman-musician, who haunts [...]

Lon Chaney, Jr.’s Wolf Man may be cinema’s most famous lycanthrope, but there can be little doubt that this 1960 film from Hammer Productions is the best werewolf movie ever made. It features all of the studio’s classic virtues: beautiful sets, effective music, colorful photography, solid scripting, memorable performances, and a muscular directorial approach that [...]

This full-blooded vampire film (you should pardon the expression) reinvented the image of Count Dracula for a generation of filmgoers, eschewing cobwebby castles and black-and-white atmosphere in favor of a bold, colorful approach, filled with lovely cinematography and lavish sets that belie the modest budget. The screenplay by Jimmy Sangster jettisons the creepy clichés and [...]