As always, I must note that this is my favorite month of the year, partly because it’s the month when we finally get a bit of a cool-down here in Arizona, but also because it’s the month of Halloween. So in honor of Monster Month...
Monster-of-the-Week: …let’s acknowledge the quintessential monster, the Monster, arguably the image which the word “monster” conjures up for many modern people; the Frankenstein Monster popularized by the great Boris Karloff in James Whale’s 1931 Universal film, under the makeup of the great Jack Pierce: flat-skulled, hulking, greenish-gray skinned, with electrode bolts in his neck:
For Phoenix folk who have never seen this truly classic, haunting performance at the heart of this really fine piece of moviemaking, you can catch the Universal Frankenstein at Filmbar in Phoenix this coming Sunday at 2 p.m, where it’s part of the FilmBar Frightmare Series, a monthlong program of scary pictures: Other titles include Psycho, The Lost Boys, An American Werewolf in London and Young Frankenstein, and there’s also a Halloween-day extravaganza featuring local horror host Dr. Diabolic, Dario Argento’s Dracula and the wacky Horror Remix. October!
