Vintage Comics - Beware, Issue. 15: The Secret of Pitmurkiewood, Make Me Invisible, Right Connections (15 - End)

I know what you're thinking. Where's the podcast episode? I'm still editing it, but just in case there's an emergency--here's an extra comic post. If I finish editing the episode this morning, this'll be a special 2 post day! The final story in this comic struck me as one of the sweetest I've shared so far, and I almost regret not saving it for a Valentines post.

Horror Flick of the Week: 13 Curses/Trece Campanadas

As I was preparing for our upcoming podcast episode (at long last), I recalled a movie I'd seen last year. Excellent atmosphere, an interesting story arc, and a good example of a movie on my incredibly long Netflix list that I had put off way too long before actually watching it.

13 Curses (Trece Campanadas) is the story of a young man going back to the town he spent his childhood in before a mysterious accident occurred one stormy night claiming the life of his father and the sanity of his mother.

His father was an incredible artist with inclinations towards the more morbid side of sculpting, which in itself is always pretty awesome when you're dealing with vengeful spirit movies. But of course, this is more than that. Much more. Luis Tosar delivers an incredible performance as the ghost and memory of Mateo, the main character's father. This was actually one of my first Luis Tosar films, and it's a great entry into his lexicon.

The Spanish language itself lends itself to incredible horror potential. There's something about the sound, the passion of the words themselves, and I just don't know if 13 Curses would have been nearly as good if it had been of the English fare. An absolutely incredible movie worth a watch on any night.

Horror Flick of the Week: The Walking Dead (1936)

This is not a film about terror, nor will it strike fear into your heart. It is the sort of horror film that reaches deeper, because it is a tragedy. I picked this movie to highlight for the week, because I believe it is one of Karloff’s best performances.

I feel like with all the hundreds of pictures from this period, the title is almost misleading. Even the description can’t do it justice: John Ellman is wrongfully executed and brought back from the dead by a scientific experiment, and then pursues those who were responsible for his death.

BUT…it’s good that the description is misleading. It’s good that the true story isn’t revealed, at least not the ending. There’s more character in this movie than you would expect, and it is most certainly not the sort of film that deserves to be batched up in a 50-movie monster pack. So much is conveyed through the experiences of this good man, which builds into a wonderful piece.

At the end, you’re left with two questions: should one be brought back from death after having experienced it and when someone commits a truly despicable act, is he his own worst judge? I wish more people knew about this picture, because it truly deserves to be ranked among the top horror films of all time, if not films in general. I wish I had a copy of this so I could do the review justice with more screenshots, but hopefully this powerful clip will do.