Scream Scene Podcast

It's a fun but dumb spoopy film with Bela Lugosi in THE DEVIL BAT (Yarborough 1940)! It's a surprising hit with your deadicated hosts, despite being produced by the Producers Releasing Corporation, the cheapest poverty row studio there ever was.

Starring Bela Lugosi, Suzanne Kaaren, Dave O'Brien, Guy Usher, and Donald Kerr, plus a very early appearance of Arthur Q Bryan, the voice of Elmer Fudd!

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 11:04; Discussion 14:51; Ranking 24:12

Where's the line between thriller and horror? Your deadicated hosts try to figure it out after watching THE DOOR WITH SEVEN LOCKS (Lee 1940), released in the US as CHAMBER OF HORRORS! Premiering right when London endured the Blitz, this pulp thriller features Leslie Banks, Lilli Palmer, Roomily Lunge, Gina Malo, and Richard Bird.

Plus, a special Halloween announcement for our Patrons of the Night! To join us on patreon, visit patreon.com/screamscenepodcast

Context Setting 00:00; Synopsis 30:23; Discussion 43:24; Ranking 56:05

Your deadicated hosts encounter another Boris Karloff mad scientist flick, this time from Monogram Pictures, directed by William Nigh and written by Curt Siodmak. It's THE APE (1940)!

We discuss/rant about Hollywood's obsession with apes and ape-like creatures, and rave over the different ape-suit actors from the '40s, including Ray "Crash" Corrigan, featured in this film.

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 23:26; Discussion 32:17; Ranking 46:36

Your deadicated hosts return to Universal Pictures for the reboot THE MUMMY'S HAND (1940), featuring Tom Tyler as toilet paper boy Kharis (not Boris Karloff), Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, Wallace Ford, and George Zucco. This is the missing link between the 1932 and 1999 mummy movies, but is there any substance underneath its wraps?

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 28:56; Discussion 40:17; Ranking 57:48

Your deadicated hosts cover another sci fi horror flick starring Boris Karloff from director Nick Grinde: BEFORE I HANG (1940) features a unique take on the tried-and-true formula, but how much of it is original versus leftovers from other horror tropes?

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 9:13; Discussion 18:40; Ranking 31:44

Your deadicated hosts watch a Columbia Pictures film directed by Nick Grinde starring Boris Karloff as a mad scientist playing with the forces of life and death. Wait... haven't we seen this one already? It's 1940's THE MAN WITH NINE LIVES!

A scientist's chilling experiments with frozen therapy go horribly awry in this sci fi horror starring Boris Karloff, Roger Pryor, and Jo Ann Sayers. We struggle with basic math and the implications of the ends justifying the means in this latest Columbia picture.

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 12:10; Discussion 23:53; Ranking 45:53

Do we uncover a hidden gem, or do we need an eye exam? Our hindsight is 20/20 with this episode on 1940's DR CYCLOPS from Paramount Pictures! Starring Albert Dekker, Thomas Coley, Janice Logan, Charles Halton, and Victor Kilian.

Hear what our first three-tone technicolour horror film has in common with THE MUMMY, KING KONG, and others!

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 24:55; Discussion 31:13; Ranking 50:16

Your deadicated hosts cover the history of race films in the segregated US for this episode on SON OF INGAGI (1940)! Will this first all African American cast horror film thrill us, or rehash old tropes? Take a listen to find out!

The film stars Laura Bowman, Alfred Grant, Daisy Bufford, Spencer Williams, and other African American actors unfortunately lost to time. Directed by Richard Kahn and written by Spencer Williams, does SON OF INGAGI have anything -- really -- to do with the 1930 exploitation film INGAGI? It's a quagmire of questions your hosts answer in this episode.

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 20:39; Discussion 27:27; Ranking 39:24

What leads an audience member to scream? Director Arthur Lubin struggles with this question in 1940's BLACK FRIDAY, starring Boris Karloff, Stanley Ridges, and Bela Lugosi (sort of). This gangster/mad scientist horror flick montages its way across your screens for this week's Scream Scene!

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 13:24; Discussion 20:05; Ranking 39:07

Introducing the one and only Vincent Price to the show is THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940), directed by Joe May and co-starring Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Nan Grey. As the invisibility returns, will too the madness?

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 25:14; Discussion 33:08; Ranking 48:26