Everything has to start somewhere. And, in Post-World War I Germany, a cinematic breakthrough was brewing: Carl Mayer, an Austrian scenarist and Hans Janowitz, a Czech poet, conceived the tale of a psychotic madman who could control another human being and drive him to murder. While that may seem rather common place these days, the concept, which influenced later films of the genre (such as Murders in the Rue Morgue, 1932), was positively novel in 1920. With the help of director Robert Wiene, a meddling producer, and a team of brilliant production designers, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is now a landmark in film history, both within and without the horror genre.(read more...)

Vampires versus werewolves is the horror equivalent of that eternal struggle between pirates and ninjas, only toothier and hairier. With Night of the Werewolf (original Spanish title: El Retorno del Hombre-Lobo), we have a film that doesn't bring much new to the genre in terms of plot. It's pretty standard fare, with no great twists or turns you couldn't see coming. The film is mostly a rehashing of ideas from a previous film that also features Paul Naschy, La Noche de Walpurgis (also known as Werewolf Shadow), though this is not uncommon for any of Naschy's werewolf films. Unlike the shabby remakes of today, this is actually an instance of refining old ideas into a better movie. The film is a product of its time, in both the good nostalgia of the vibrant cinema of the late seventies/early eighties, as well as the unfortunate gender portrayal trappings of that era.(read more...)