Halloween Suggestions: Part One
Usually when considering this time of year I would think what complete serials I would want to watch, but as not everyone considers watching an entire serial in one sitting I have decided to instead highlight 20 different serial chapters (five a week) that I consider to work very well for a spooky evening.
The Master Mystery (1919) Chap 1–I can’t say I’m a big fan of silent films but for Halloween this one is a corker. The first chapter has an implication of a robot with a human brain, two men driven insane by a deadly gas, star Harry Houdini picking locks and the afore mentioned robot kicking down doors to get at the heroine.
King of the Forest Rangers (1946) Chap 3–Although the basic plot of this serial is a pedestrian bad guy looking for ancient treasure on Government land, this chapter is one of the spookiest done by the studio. Investigating reports of strange noises and lights at an old native tower, the chapter ends with the heroine being menaced by a ghostly apparition that shrugs off several bullets and keeps coming.
Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) Chap 8–While mostly just a comic book serial with villain Lex Luthor and the Atom Man throwing gadget after gadget at the Man of Steel with no affect, this chapter takes a turn for the creepy with Superman being sent into the empty doom and only able to appear as a transparent entity unable to interact with the rest of the good guys, except for a eerie moment when he causes Lois’ electric typewriter to type out a message on it’s own.
Panther Girl of the Kongo (1955) Chap 1–Republic tries to get in on the science fiction monster craze with this serial ab out a mad scientist growing giant craw fish to keep people away from his hidden diamond mine. Chapter ends with the title character stalking and being stalked by the monster, who grabs her right before the end credits.
The Lost Jungle (1934) Chap 5–Clyde Beatty and friends have been running around an uncharted island trying to avoid an unknown killer and putting down a ships rebellion while exploring an ancient deserted city. For the first four chapters a rouge gorilla has been watching them wander around his city. The monstrous ape finally makes his presence known and attacks the hero in this episode.
Jungle Queen (1945) Chapter 8–Up to this point in the serial the ghostly title character has mainly appeared from a room of fire to give warnings
and popped up next to heroes to sow them a way to escape their particular predicament. In this chapter she takes a more direct part in the action, helping the heroes escape a trap and scaring some of their enemies when she disappears as a spear is thrown at her from point blank range.
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