Halloween Serial Suggestions
Sorry it’s been so long since my last post, my computer crashed and it was only through the diligence of my incessant whining that caused The Patient One to send me back upstairs so that she could actually fix the problem without my constant interruptions of questioning of everything she did. Since it is so close to Halloween, I thought I would put out some suggestions for serials to watch this holiday. i’m going to avoid such obvious titles as The Purple Monster Strikes (1945), Panther Girl of the Kongo (1955) and all five Lugosi serials.
Dick Tracy (1937)- Though considered the weakest of the four titles in the series it is the one that comes closest to a horror film in sheer atmosphere with John Picorri’s demented hunchback mad scientist, Carlton Young’s brain damaged henchman and the disfigured main villain who stays mostly in the shadows.
Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (1938)- The second of Universal’s Flash Gordon trilogy has some of the creepiest moments found in any serial, with Beatrice Roberts using magic to turn people into clay, Charles Middleton’s mind boggling ability to walk through flames and Jean Rogers drug induced attack on hero Buster Crabbe. Creepiest moment by far is the sight of the Clay People emerging from solid rock walls and laughing off bullets in Chapter Two.
Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939)- Though a straight forward action film with the twist of a mystery hero instead of a mystery villain, this one gets included for the sadistic psychological torture villain Charles Middleton forces victim Miles Mander to endure through ten of the twelve chapters, a precariously balanced gas pellet set with a timer that Middleton has to reset everyday or else Mander dies, allowing Middleton to indulge in tormenting his victim with what will happen if he chooses not to come back one day.
The Green Archer (1940)- Whats Halloween without a good haunted house spoof? This James Horne extravaganza has villain James Craven framing his own brother for murder, kidnapping his sister in law and keeping her a prisoner in his family’s ancestral castle where he has a man prowling the halls dressed as The Green Archer, a legendary ghost of his family, in order to scare people away so he can use the place as a hideout for his criminal activities. Things get complicated when another Green Archer shows up.
Batman (1943)- More so than any other comic book superhero, Batman is the best suited for creepy goings on. And what could be more creepy than J. Carroll Naish creating zombies to carry out sabotage against the United States?
Captain America (1943)- Horror icon Lionel Atwill plays a demented museum curator bent on revenging himself against those who have cheated him from his just rewards. Armed with such devices as a drug that induces suicide, a machine that can reanimate the dead and a gas that turns people into withered mummies. But nothing tops his nonchalant torturing of John Hamilton in Chapter Thirteen.
Jungle Queen (1945)- One of the few serials with a true supernatural storyline. Ruth Roman plays Lothal a mysterious jungle spirit that appears from a flaming chamber whenever danger threatens the natives of the jungle, and the jungle is being invaded by Nazis bent on world domination.
Mysterious Mr. M (1946)- Universal rose to the occasion with their last serial, making one of their best. A simple plot of foreign agents stealing plans and parts for a new submarine is given a scary boost with a drug that can make people do the villain’s bidding. Paranoia permeates the serial as the hero can’t even trust his closest friends, who could turn on him on at any moment and not even be aware their under the influence of the drug.
Mysterious Island (1951)- Late era Katzman serial that dives headfirst into the sci-fi horror craze of the fifties by inserting alien invaders bent on destroying the Earth into Jules Verne’s novel about Civil War era prison camp escapees fighting off pirates and savage natives on an uncharted island.
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