Scream Scene Podcast

Tod Browning's 1931 Dracula starring Bela Lugosi, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, and Helen Chandler wows the deadicated hosts as this film defines the American horror genre.

Context setting 00:00; summary 40:34; discussion 47:05; ranking 1:21:33

Our deadicated hosts face their first sound picture... Roland West's remake of The Bat... The Bat Whispers (1930)! Starring Chester Morris and Una Merkel, with the history of sound in film, the Great Depression, and more!

Context setting 00:00; summary 28:32; discussion 31:30; ranking 52:54

The deadicated hosts travel to France for Jean Epstein's 1928 La Chute de la maison Usher (The Fall of the House of Usher), where we disappoint our film profs in our description of French Impressionism. We also talk about Edgar Allen Poe!

Context 00:00; summary 28:41; discussion 33:47; ranking 57:45

The deadicated hosts test even their resolve with Henrik Galeen's 1928 "German expressionist horror" film Alraune, starring Brigitte Helm and Paul Wegener.

Context setting 00:00; summary 15:43; discussion 26:37; ranking 36:58

Lon Chaney returns with director Tod Browning and upcoming actress Joan Crawford in 1927's The Unknown! Our deadicated hosts discuss the film's title, the history of American circuses, and whether the film fits in the horror genre.

00:00 context setting; 20:26 summary; 27:23 discussion; 39:40 ranking

It's the film that inspired Universal's horror franchise... Paul Leni's The Cat and The Canary from 1927! Our deadicated hosts talk Leni's boundary-pushing and inventive direction and cinematography, as well as US horror tropes and dental hygiene.

Context setting 00:00; summary 15:49; discussion 31:30; ranking 51:30

Our deadicated hosts return to Germany to review our first remake... Der Student von Prag (1926), directed by Henrik Galeen and starring Conrad Veidt and Werner Krauss. We discuss how the remake, German Expressionism, and even Veidt's acting have evolved since our last viewings!

Context setting 00:00; summary 22:14; discussion 46:10; ranking 1:02:38

From director Rex Ingram, our deadicated hosts review The Magician (1926), starring Alice Terry, Paul Wegener, and Ivan Petrovich. Based off W. Somerset Maugham's novel inspired by the infamous Aleister Crowley.

Context setting 00:00; summary 20:48; discussion 30:48; ranking 53:53

We tackle Roland West's follow up to The Monster... The Bat (1926)! This comedy-horror (thriller?) is based off the 1920 Broadway hit by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood.

What are the differences between a horror and thriller? Does comedy affect whether The Bat is a horror film? Our deadicated hosts discuss this and more in this episode.

Context setting 00:00; summary 21:53; discussion 30:50; ranking 53:29

The deadicated hosts watch the earliest surviving werewolf movie, Wolf Blood: A Tale of the Forest (1925) directed by and starring George Chesebro. Blood transfusions, loup-garou folklore, and Canadian logging operations abound!

Context setting 00:00; summary 14:33; discussion 22:42; ranking 37:50