I saw this film again last night, and was very surprised.
It has very 'modern' use of editing; the forced perspective sets are spectacular, and, in particular the 'swing' scene. In an age where cameras were VERY bulky and usually bolted to a studio floor, some genius said "Hey, let's stick the camera on a swing !". The result was VERY impressive, especially for nineteen thirty-two.
Perkins...the Uncanny
"Zombies, man. Creep me out..."
I saw it last night too and I remembered this as being much better than it is. This film only gets high marks for 2 reasons #1. Lugosi is in it #2. The photography is great... That's it. This is a terrible version of this story. The acting is terrible including Lugosi and the direction is horrible.
shareHey, Lugosi's ALWAYS good, even when he's bad.
Filmmakers LOVE to link literary sources with their films, even when that link doesn't even exist (like 'Edgar Allan Poe's The Conquerer Worm'). It's possible that if a film is based on an already popular book, it'll be more successful. There's VERY little of Poe's original story here...big monkey, some murders and a place called 'Rue Morgue'.
You sound like a Lugosi fan, so I'm sure you've seen 'The Raven'. Not much Poe in that one...a few lines, a stuffed raven and a bust of Pallas.
While I'm thinking about bogus literary connections, how about Lucio Fulci's movie 'H.P.Lovecraft's City of the Living Dead' ?
Perkins...the Uncanny
"Zombies, man. Creep me out..."
Hey, Lugosi's ALWAYS good, even when he's bad.
Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop
Completely agreed on the swing scene. I couldn't believe I was seeing such a bold camera placement in a movie from 1932. That's Freund for you!
What's the Spanish for drunken bum?