I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
View MoreThis Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
A different way of telling a story
It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
View MoreSatanists.....split personalities obsessed with felines.....mental institutions abusing their patients....corpse thefts for medical research....obsessions with the undead. Just some of the subjects of the Val Lewton unit at RKO that lasted only four years. The dream-like photography of these cult thrillers fascinate film students to this day, and are studied by horror filmmakers who have utilized many of the aspects that these films have made legendary. If there is a genre called horror noir, then Val Lewton created it.A great look at the life and career of this cult film figure, exploring the concepts of the technology that to some aspect is really the star. Big names like Karloff, Lugosi, Simone Simon, Tom Conway and Henry Danielle added box office interest, but ultimately it is the look of the film that remains the focus of conversation with aficionados of his work. Photography, lighting, editing, shadowing and music are important aspects of his work, revealing more than the words of the characters even do. If you ever have the chance to see his films on a big screen, I highly recommend it. The echoes of silence become so much more frightening in what he has his technical crew doing. What makes these films more fascinating is that there is a sensuality in the themes, and much is left to the imagination. More ironic is the fact that Lewton only produced these films, directing only the director, and many of those men went onto impressive careers of their own. You can tell by the narration of legendary modern director Martin Scorsese is that he was greatly influenced into going into filmmaking by seeing these films as a kid. Certainly, the earlier horror films of James Whale and Tod Browning had some influence on the technology that Lewton took a step further. I can get watch his films over and over and pick up something new every time. Make that his movies and this documentary.
View MoreVal Lewton is a deeply respected hero of American cinema, but his works are best appreciated without scholars telling you why Lewton's contributions are so important. To begin with, it's disrespectful to the directors of Lewton's films to have film historians waxing on about every detail and crediting Lewton almost exclusively, as if he was the director. In the event that you never noticed before, Hollywood is collectively its own biggest fan. Watching Turner Classic Movies on a regular basis will expose you to film experts and movie people gushing over past works as if God himself, or perhaps they were interim Dr. Frankensteins acting as proxy creators. Martin Scorsese is almost as well known for his embellishments on the topic as he is for his own pictures."Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows" is a library of prose praising the visual style, the dialog, the lighting, the mood -- attributes normally credited to the director, as if the actual directors of these films were merely showing up and collecting a check while Lewton commandeered every job on and off the set. The fault is, as noted before, the self-referential adoration from the industry itself of its own offspring. Imagine for a moment having to hear such praise of one's work from carpenters, mechanics, teachers, civil servants, construction crews...it would be appalling to be subjected to poetic essays on the greatness of their jobs which are, truth be known, of much greater significance to society as a whole.The moral of the story: the entertainment industry needs to get over itself, do its job and go home. The single benefit of this production is that the films highlighted can be looked at as more detailed trailers, even though the films represented are quite a bit overstated. Let movies entertain you and forget the idea that experts need to teach you how to enjoy them.
View MoreStrange how sometimes one does not always see what others see. That is the germ of the artist.Scorcese clearly delves deeply into the world of Val Lewton, practically an unknown artist in the golden era of the movies which was sadly unlauded sufficiently during his law.We see what so many of us probably didn't see or were not able to analyze as adeptly as Scorcese in Lewton's work. Certainly, these are not the grade A pictures we all know about, but Scorcese thrusts them into their well-deserved prominence by explaining how really fabulous Lewton's falsely relegated B-pictures they were. Sure they were low budget - but WHAT Lewton did was nothing short of miracles of mood, suspense and mystery, contrast and hue and the deep character development which exists within a movie and not necessarily a protagonist. We are shown, and it is explained just how Lewton worked his magic with shoestring budgets.I've seen some of these movies, but never in this way...and after this, I will always bring with me the wonderful aura of the prodigious talent of Val Lewton.
View MoreNew Documentary produced and narrated by Martin Scorsese on the life and work on the films of Val Lewton. It premiered tonight on Turner Classic Movies and has occasioned the reissue of the box set of the Lewton RKO horror films on DVD. To be honest I don't think this is really a documentary so much as its film essay on the Lewton produced films and his life. There is no nitty gritty about the making of the films (the fact that one of his films occasioned the last screen teaming of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi is not mentioned). If one wants details one has to look to the documentary that was originally released with the DVD set, Shadows in the Dark:The Val Lewton Legacy. Here Scorsese talks about the deeper meanings of the films Lewton over saw and how they affected the people who saw them.Its clear that Scorsese is in love with the poetry of the movies, and its nice to have him as a guide into their recesses, indeed watching the film I picked up a good many details that I had never noticed before. It also reveals symbols and character types that reoccur in his movies. Its an examination of how Lewton's melancholy nature produced some very dark and troubling films, films which echo to this day. I liked the film a great deal but I'm not in love with it. While I learned some new things I didn't learn enough (I think the earlier Shadows in the Dark is slightly better, but that may be purely a matter of personal taste).Its very good but there is something that keeps me from saying its great. Is it worth seeing, absolutely, it will reveal many things to you about the films that you probably never noticed. Ultimately it will make you want to see all the films again, which is a pretty good thing if you ask me
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