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SAFE IN HELL
(1931, Wellman)



"As long as you behave yourselves here, you are safe from both jail and gallows... safe in hell."

Although not a "popular" film per se, Safe in Hell is one of the most notable Pre-Code films. These were films released between the establishment of the Hays censorship code in 1930 and its enforcement in 1934. These films were notable for pushing the boundaries of what was allowed in Hollywood in terms of nudity, drugs, murder, as well as other themes and topics that were deemed forbidden in films.

Mackaill does a pretty good job in transmitting that confidence and empowerment of her character mixed with the ever-growing despair and defeat that befalls on her. The rest of the island cast also does a good job in showing the immorality and decay of their characters. The portrayals are one-dimensional and might even seem cartoonish, but they do the job that the film asks from them.

Grade:



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Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man - I had never seen this 1943 Universal monster classic which chronologically takes place 4 years after 1941's The Wolf Man. As it opens two grave robbers break into the Talbot family mausoleum where

WARNING: spoilers below
Lawrence (Larry) Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) was laid to rest after being killed by his father at the end of the original movie. But instead of the expected family heirlooms and valuables they only serve to wake Larry from some sort of suspended animation. It being a full moon and all one of the thieves abandons his friend once Larry starts transforming. He next wakes up in Cardiff, Wales where he is hospitalized and tries to tell his attending physician about his curse. He is written off as mentally unstable of course but the following night he escapes and kills a constable, all of which he remembers and recounts to the doctor. After being disregarded a second time he grows violent and is physically restrained.

The doctor and a police inspector visit the Talbot family crypt where they find a dead grave robber and a missing Larry Talbot corpse. In the meantime he escapes yet again and goes in search of the old gypsy woman form the first movie who's played once again by Maria Ouspenskaya. Since it was her son who first bit him he hopes she can provide him with the way to help him die and end his curse. She tells him of a man who might help and they travel to Vasaria, a fictional country standing in for Germany since any mention of it was considered verboten at the time this was made. The guy turns out to be Dr. Frankenstein who has since died in one of the previous films. He does find his creature entombed in ice underneath the ruins of the family castle. When he is unable to locate the late doctors secret diary he approaches his daughter, the Baroness Elsa Frankenstein.

There were changes made to the film following negative test screenings which sort of muddies the water but it still plays out as one would expect with the two iconic monsters going toe to toe. The setup takes awhile but when it finally goes down it happens fast. The villagers don't even get the chance to assemble the usual flaming-torches-and-pitchforks wielding mob. This might not be near the top as far as classic Universal creature features go but it's a fun watch just the same.

70/100



❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
i loved the gore and blood and shooting scenes and loved michelle dockery shes one of my favorite people, loved bill skarsgard he did really good and loved famke janssen shes one of my favorite people aswell and on marvel aswell.








SF = Zzz



[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it