The Screen Chills Companion, 1931–1939: Films of the Golden Age of Hollywood Horror

After the success of Dracula and Frankenstein, Universal Studios expected that their third literary horror adaptation was a sure thing. Instead, press coverage reported audiences hooting at the “hokum” of Murders in the Rue Morgue and faintly praised the “technically fine” camera work. Part of the fun of Fellner’s (Encyclopedia of Hammer Films) 1930s horror film survey is the inclusion of contemporary reviews that are as lively (and overwrought) as the studio marketing material, which is also included for each of the more than 70 films highlighted here. Proceeding chronologically through an era where the studio system could churn out 60-minute talkies rapidly, Fellner revisits old dark houses, voodoo swamps, haunted castles, and more. He also delves into each title’s production, reception, and subsequent impact (if any; apologies to the ephemeral Beast of Borneo). There’s also a fascinating late-decade horror drought he explores, where the only horror-ish title released in two years was the inexplicably conceived Sh! The Octopus (1937).