The Ten Worst Universal Horror Films From 1931 - 1946 -- The Music of Universal Horror and Drama Films

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Date Posted: 14:16:25 07/20/13 Sat
Author: DAN
Subject: The Ten Worst Universal Horror Films From 1931 - 1946

These are the Universal Horror films that are on most of the movie critics worst horror and Sci-Fi movie lists.

I've read many different reviews and according to the different critics, it looks like "Life Returns" is considered the worst, followed by "The Brute Man" and then "Jungle Captive" and "The Missing Guest"

Leonard Maltin gives Jungle Captive a BOMB rating and the other films listed here a one and a half to two stars.

From worst to best according to many critics.

Life Returns
The Brute Man
Jungle Captive
The Missing Guest
Jungle Woman
The Cat Creeps
The Spider Woman Strikes Back
Pillow of Death
Mad Doctor of Market Street
She-Wolf of London

OK...Now this how I rate those films from my worst to best.

SHE-WOLF OF LONDON:
Absolute bore IMO. Of course the production value is better than a lot of these other films on the list. But story wise and the abssolute waste of June Lockhart make this one my least liked film. Also the fact that I was expecting a real female werewolf when I first saw this as a kid and it turned out to be just a fake, pretty much soured me for life on this movie.

LIFE RETURNS:
Only recently saw this. But I have to agree, it is pretty bad all around. But I did get a little more enjoyment out of it than She-Wolf of London.

PILLOW OF DEATH:
Kinda boring over all. And I didn't like seeing Lon Chaney Jr as the bad guy in an Inner Sanctum flick and also dying at the end.

JUNGLE WOMAN:
Minor entertainment. Too much flasback to the superior "Captive Wild Woman" makes this a little too boring to watch as many times as the better Universal Horrors.

THE MISSING GUEST:
This film is really not as bad as the critics make it out to be.. Yes, "Secret of the Blue Room" and "Murders in the Blue Room" are more enjoyable, and it could use a bigger name horor star in it, but this one is still worth a look IMO.

THE CAT CREEPS:
I don't think this one is as bad as the critics make it out to be either. It moves along pretty good and Noah Beery Jr is actually amusing as the comedy relief, unlike some of them comics that were just plain annoying.

SPIDER WOMAN STRIKES BACK:
Most any movie with Gale Sondergarrd in a major part is worth watching. It is a little slow moving at times and Rondo Hatton was wasted. It was too bad Rondo couldn't have played the CREEPER again. Maybe where the Spider woman took the Creeper under her wing. But over all the film is fairly entertaining.

THE BRUTE MAN:
I think the main reasson this film gets such bad reviews is because of Rondo Hatton being used like he was because of his unfortunate illness, acromegaly. True the story is a little dumb compared to the much better "House of Horrors, and it doesn't quite work as a prequel to HoH. And of course Rondo is no great actor, but he did a good job with the role. I found him believable as a demented killer. Despite a few shortcomings, I can still enjoy this movie.

JUNGLE CAPTIVE:
The only Universal Horror film from the 1931-1946 era that got a bomb rating from Leonard Malting. (Life Returns has never been rated by Malting}
Really, the film isn't that bad IMO. I have a guilty pleasure watching this one. Yes Rondo Hatton is wasted again, but he does better here than in Spider Woman. He comes across more like the Creeper.

MAD DOCTOR OF MARKET STREET:
Well if it wasn't for Lionel Atwill, I probably wouldn't care as much about this film as I do. But as usual Atwill is great palying the usual Mad Doctor/Scientist. Which makes this movie well worth watching despite the low spots.
Another big guilty pleasure for me.

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[> Re: The Ten Worst Universal Horror Films From 1931 - 1946 -- Tim, 15:06:15 07/28/13 Sun [1]

A great list of less than great movies, Dan.

The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942) is a low-budget picture I have always enjoyed, mainly due to Lionel Atwill's memorable performance as the "Mad Doctor" Benson. Whenever Benson is about to put one of his victims to sleep we see him from their point of view as he draws closer and closer, accompanied by appropriately suspenseful Universal music.

I agree that The Cat Creeps (1946) isn't as bad as the critics claim. It's a typical mystery whodunit set in a big spooky mansion, but Noah Beery is pretty amusing as a newspaper photographer. He gets top billing, although Fred Brady really has the leading man role. There was a 1930 version of The Cat Creeps, but I believe it is considered a lost film.

Several of the films on this list I have never seen at all. Dan is more familiar with these fairly obscure Universal movies than I am.

Tim

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[> Re: The Ten Worst Universal Horror Films From 1931 - 1946 -- Tim, 15:20:14 07/28/13 Sun [1]

Here is an interesting three minute scene with Gale Sondergaard and Rondo Hatton from The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946).

The Spider Woman Strikes Back
Uploaded June 16, 2011
2,647 Views

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sduZkGjJZOk

Tim

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