200 Items Or Less: Re-Animator (1985)

A few thoughts: One of the three great zombie movies of 1985 (AKA one of the best ever years for film), Re-Animator doesn't go as much for comedy as 'Return Of The Living Dead', social/political commentary as 'Day Of The Dead', but instead goes into body horror territory. With its re-purposed 'Psycho' soundtrack, gory violence, neon hypodermics, and an amazing performance by Jeffrey Combs, this Stuart Gordon directed splatter Frankenstein-esque (loose) adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's work is an entertaining and over-the-top horror movie never slows down. Entertaining in some of the most macabre ways, this movie breaks down all sorts of expectations and offers up some awesomely gooey visuals that will make any body horror fan happy. As I've mentioned before on this post as well as others before, I am a pretty big fan of Combs and his performance here, a perfectly exaggerated bit of acting that balances genius with madness in a hilarious and still somewhat grounded way, but there is much more to this movie than just him. It's fantastic all the way through.

200 Items Or Less: Necronomicon (1993)

A few thoughts: Horror anthologies are almost by definition a bit of a mixed bag of half-baked ideas and uneven execution, and seeing as how the 1990s saw a sort of lull in classic horror movies, I definitely went into this one with lowered expectations. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be a huge understatement, because I thought this movie was pretty awesome. Not all of the makeup is the greatest on everyone, but a majority of the effects in key scenes are done really well, with a ton of cool variety in strange and disgusting moments that managed to actually shock and disturb me -- to an extent. With three self-contained segments and one wraparound story involving Jeffrey Combs (playing H.P. Lovecraft), none of these parts is weak at all, and each of them provide a unique and visually awesome story, with melting human bodies, giant shape-shifting octopus monsters, and other cool and creepy concepts. Maybe this isn't a game-changer, but for pure horror entertainment, this is pretty great stuff.

200 Items Or Less: Hocus Pocus (1993)

A few thoughts: Do you remember the '90s, when movies were fun? I do, because I was alive during the '90s, and I remember fun movies of the time. This is not one of those movies. In fact, it's an incredibly dumb and desperate movie that spends a majority of its runtime giving the three witches (played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy) nonstop opportunity for mugging. Every scene is just packed with lousy acting and characters making goofy faces at the camera, because isn't it so funny? I laugh, I laugh at funny faces. I didn't care for this movie much when I was younger, and now that I'm older - even with nostalgia on my side - all I see is a pretty weak movie with a generic story, lousy acting, and tons of non-jokes. I enjoy some of the campy effects, and I've always been fond of movies set around Halloween, but apart from these few surface aspects, this is just a poor movie. I'm sure kids could still enjoy it, and people who 'member the '90s, but for the rest of us who enjoy movies for actually being good...nah.

200 Items Or Less: The Brides Of Dracula (1960)

A few thoughts: The second Hammer Dracula film, and the last one that features Peter Cushing until the '70s. While some people might complain that this one doesn't have Christopher Lee, the amount of great material given to Cushing more than makes up for it. I love Terence Fisher movies, and this one is one of his best, but it still has some goofiness to it -- mainly, the vampire teeth are ridiculous. As far as the production goes, this is one of the best looking of the era. The lighting, cinematography, and set design (Bernard Robinson was the best) are all tremendous, every frame of the movie looking great from beginning to end. While the first Dracula is overall a better film, the visual style of this one might be an improvement. I love the way the story progresses, with characters developing and dying off unexpectedly. It's not the most unpredictable movie around, but the twists it takes are pretty great and the story holds up well. It lacks a great villain like the first movie, but the heroism of Van Helsing makes up for it.

200 Items Or Less: Joe (1970)

A few thoughts: A sharp and angry movie with a message that could easily be misunderstood, this is one of the first ever films produced by Cannon, and an unconventional now-cult film about lower-middle class aggression. It's strange watching a movie like this now, seeing how much and how little has actually changed, but trying to picture something like this coming out now is almost impossible to imagine. This is too biting and controversial in an unconventional sense for modern audiences to fully get it, which is a real shame. Peter Boyle is great as the titular Joe, an angry racist who latches onto a rich man (who accidentally killed a drug dealer) and uses him as an inspiration to take on the system he hates in a more direct way than just sitting in a dingy bar shouting about how the world has gone to the dogs. A strangely assembled film with bizarre cuts and plenty of unexpected turns, but the main point is the showcase for this character. Very dark and violent -- even when there isn't any actual violence.

200 Items Or Less: Death Proof (2007)

A few thoughts: One half of the cult double feature 'Grindhouse', this Tarantino-directed chase/slasher movie about a demented stuntman who gets his jollies by killing women with his pimped-out stunt car is an incredibly uneven experience. The first 40 minutes does nothing but slowly develop characters we don't care about, as they sit around talking with an overly '70s grindhouse aesthetic. That's the first half of the movie, followed by a brief and violent death scene, which then shifts to different characters -- at which point the '70s look burnt film look pretty much disappears. Russell is the consistent in this movie, and even though he doesn't have a *ton* of material, he's pretty much perfect. I love him in his, and the crazy car chase at the end is the other best thing about it. The characters of the second half of the film are much more well-developed and easy to root for, making the chase scene all the more fun to watch. It may have started off slow, but the movie ends with a bang and leaves a strong impression.

200 Items Or Less: House Of Dark Shadows (1970)

A few thoughts: I only ever watched the Dark Shadows soap opera in passing when the re-runs were airing on PBS years back, but I always found myself intrigued by it. A late-'60s gothic soap opera with vampires and time-travel? How could I not be intrigued? So, needless to say, this has been on my watch list for a while. Based loosely on several stories within the soap, this movie follows the re-emergence of Barnabus Collins (who didn't appear in the show until over 200 episodes in), a vampire who ingratiates himself with the living members of the Collins family and tries to woo a potential bride. Storywise, this is still very soapy but much tighter, and infused with some blood and violence to keep things from becoming too melodramatic. Jonathan Frid does a great job as Barnabus, and the rest of the cast are solid, but even more than this lead performance, the movie works thanks to the gothic setting and production design. The final scene in particular looks amazing. This isn't a scary horror movie, but it's an atmospheric one.

200 Items Or Less: Lifeforce (1985)

A few thoughts: A wacked-out sci-fi/horror/fantasy hybrid from Cannon that has me convinced Tobe Hooper had more to do with the creative and visual direction of 'Poltergeist' than most people will give him credit for. This has been on my to-watch list for a long time now, but now that I've seen it, part of me feels like I'll need to watch it again shortly. What a headtrip! I am a huge fan of practical effects, and this movie has some of the gooeist and weirdest gore, dummies, and makeup I've seen -- which is saying something when you consider just how much weird crap I've watched. As for the movie as a whole, there are more than a few bizarre flaws and bland patches, a framework that allows for plenty of opportunities for crazy visuals and cool moments, but doesn't have a ton of meaningful story or character development of any sort. This is something you watch for the style, not so much for conventional (or narrative) reasons. Was it good or bad? I honestly don't know. But it was definitely special, and something I for sure need to see again.

200 Items Or Less - X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

A few thoughts: The third X-Men is one of the worst superhero movies I've ever seen in my entire life. I didn't realize this right away, but as it wore on I found myself continuously assaulted with lousy effects, a misunderstanding of its characters, clunky dialogue, a nonsensical script, and endless mindless action. After the first two movies - which had their fair share of flaws but were still entertaining - it's almost impressive how much this movie messes everything up. With a cast of great characters with cool powers, this movie dumbs everything down and often forgets who the characters are and what they can do with them. The betrayal of characters like Magneto and Wolverine in particular stand out, and many other characters just feel plugged in without any regard for their actual nature. The action is totally brainless, with lousy special effects smashing into each other in clunky scenes that lack any depth or purpose. 90 things are happening at once in this movie and none of it matters or makes sense. This is just an unpleasant mess.

200 Items Or Less - X2: X-Men United (2003)

A few thoughts: An incredibly entertaining and significantly less cheap-looking sequel to X-Men, X2 is pretty much a perfect follow-up to the original, as it expands the characters, introduces others cleverly, and really improves on the action sequences. Though I don't find myself quoting this movie as much as the first one (which I mostly do in a mocking way, but still), this movie does have better dialogue, even if the script is weaker overall. I love the addition of Brian Cox as William Striker, one of my favorite actors in a role that is perfectly suited to his calm, menacing demeanor. But even over the great action and Brian Cox's performance, the real highlight of the movie is a scene involving Magneto's escape from his plastic prison. There are a few logic gaps with this movie, but they're never big enough to matter in the long run. We still get plenty of great scenes, less dumb lines of dialogue, better action, more character development, and just overall higher quality entertainment. A fantastic superhero movie that's aged very well.

200 Items Or Less: X-Men (2000)

A few thoughts: Superhero movies are usually a little too mainstream for me to talk about here (I'm more concerned with genre/cult films), but this being one of the first (and corniest) in the new wave of superhero movies, I'll give it a few sentences. Though this was by no means low budget, the action (both CG and stunt) has aged about as well as something with 1/10 The overall budget of this. Ironically, this is an action movie that works in pretty much every way apart from the action itself. The acting is largely pretty weak, but there are three big exceptions to this; Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Hugh Jackman, the trio of performances/characters that carry the movie -- as well the sequels. It's easy to nitpick aspects of this movie now, but watching it is a blast from the past and a lot more entertaining when you choose to approach it like the '90s Batman sequels. The screenplay is pretty tight, though the dialogue is largely cheesy. I feel I appreciate this one a lot more now than when it first came out. But the sequel is still better.

200 Items Or Less: Dracula A.D. 2015 (2015)

A few thoughts: Being the Hammer horror fan that I am, I was more than pleased at the opportunity to watch this hour-long homage to the classic horror studio's Dracula films. Very clearly low-budget (high frame rate and unpolished editing, lighting, cinematography, etc.), this film is infectious more for its passion than it is particularly good in its own right. Instead of just being a fan recreation of a film, it does try its own thing, which I can appreciate. It may not be an impressive screenplay, but at least it had one that wasn't ripped from a quick Google search. There is an inherent silliness to much of this film, and watching the cast play it straight makes it work all the better. Instead of constantly making terrible jokes, they instead let the visuals and thematic references provide the humor. Recreating scenes and moments from the classic films woven into the story was a nice touch, particularly the finale which apes the ending of the '58 Dracula quite wonderfully. No, this isn't some sort of masterpiece, but I enjoyed it and found it charming.

200 Items Or Less: The Mummy's Hand (1940)

A few thoughts: A slick and entertaining mummy film from Universal that doesn't try to recreate or one-up the 1932 movie (thankfully), but functions independently from it, has its own story, characters, and - perhaps most importantly - a different mummy. The first appearance of Kharis, the overlooked mummy who was the subject of the wonderful 1959 Hammer film, has a familiar set-up involving a group of archeologists looking for a princesses tomb, accidentally uncovering a living mummy who seeks revenge on anyone who disturbs the sleep of his eternal love. Unlike Imhotep (from the '32 and '99 movies), Kharis isn't his own master, functioning as a henchman who kills people off one-by-one like a slasher villain. It's differences like this that keep this movie fresh and fun. Great makeup and post-effects on the mummy, the lighting and sets are good, and the movie runs at just under 70 minutes, so it never overstays its welcome. This is a very entertaining movie that has some decent comic relief and plenty of mummy action.

200 Items Or Less: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)

A few thoughts: There's a stigma attached to remakes, and rightfully so. They're often cash grabs that miss the entire point of the original, ultimately offering a cheapened version of stories that didn't need retold at all. But back in the '70s and '80s we saw a decent number of memorable science fiction/horror remakes that were able to stand on their own feet as well as do justice to the source material. A few notable examples are 'The Thing', 'The Fly', 'Little Shop Of Horrors' (though that's slightly different) and...well, this. Super eerie and filled with memorable scenes and moments, this is much more of a horror movie than the original, and equally as paranoid and visually appealing. The performances are all pretty great, with Nimoy standing out in one of his more notable non-Spock roles. There's a genuine feeling of dread and suspense to this movie, which is escalated by the mistrust and skepticism both the characters and the audience must face in regards to who has been body-snatched. Very cool and very tense.

200 Items Or Less: Rodan (1956)

A few thoughts: After the huge success of Godzilla, Ishiro Honda basically had the rest of his career set out for him, starting this next step with an entirely new monster who would continue to appear in future Toho projects for decades to come. While I appreciate the fact he took a different approach with this movie, it's also pretty clear that he hadn't quite figured out how to make these into fun movies at this point, as Rodan is an incredibly dry movie lacking any humor. Even at only 70 or 80 minutes, this movie drags along at a snail's pace, and honestly, features a much less interesting monster than future installments would offer. What stands out most about this movie is the set design and attempts at creating something new and totally unique from Godzilla. Instead of going for an easy clone, Honda and co. developed this idea in a movie that I feel is much more important than it is watchable. It's short and easy enough to find time to watch, but the pacing is poor and the execution is too humorless to entertain a crowd.

200 Items Or Less - Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2008)

A few thoughts: Being a big fan of body horror, practical effects, and creative monster movies, this movie should have been right up my alley...and it was! Watching this movie, I found myself wondering why Robert Englund had so little success outside of the horror genre. With a performance that ranges from mild-mannered and nebbish to violently manic, he nails this role with comedic physicality and remarkable spryness. As for the titular hero, I was also quite impressed. Not only was Trevor Matthews funny and believable, he also had the unlikely heroism and charm of a franchise character -- comparisons to Ash from Evil Dead are almost a given. I loved the effects in this movie, particularly in the finale that showcases a genuinely unique looking creature, and enough blood, goo, and action to make it well worth the wait. But even though all of the monster slaying was done in the last 15 minutes, I never found myself impatient or bored. Funny, creative, and well-paced, this is one of the more underrated horror movies of the 21st century.

200 Items Or Less: Silver Bullet (1985)

A few thoughts: I always find myself thinking of Stephen King adaptations as more child-friendly, and with a little kid main character (Corey Haim) this movie didn't change that. But it's rated R and is very violent, so I don't know what to think. That pretty much sums up the movie, though, trapped in between childish and adult, but not in a way that ever fully works like 'The Lost Boys'. The cast is pretty solid, with Gary Busey being a particular standout, but it's always nice to see Terry O'Quinn show up, even in smallish roles. The werewolf bits are fun enough, but a tad goofy looking and not particularly amazing. I've seen worse werewolf effects, at least. While the story isn't bad, the script features all the signature King tropes, so fans of his work are likely to enjoy it. But for someone like me - who is largely indifferent towards King - I find it all very typical and generic, but entertaining in a harmless sort of way. There's nothing particularly great about this movie, but it's still worth checking out if you're a lycanthrophile.

200 Items Or Less: Maniac (1934)

A few thoughts: Holy crap, I love the fact that films like this exist. 50 minutes of pure joy and absolute insanity, this is one of those ingeniusly inept and exaggerated movies that is so baffling constructed and ridiculous in every way, it's hard not to laugh. The acting is like if every character were played by Dwight Frye (doing Renfield) and Tod Slaughter, only without any sort of depth. Every few minutes they bring up a wall of text meant to explain various mental illnesses, but with lousy grammar and spelling, and total nonsense science. What instantly threw me off about this movie was how raw it was. Gory, violent, and even features some barenaked boobies, it reached a point where I wouldn't have been surprised had they dropped a few F-bombs. Pre-code movies were so wonderful, weren't they? This movie is a huge pile of dog crap, but oh my was it fun to watch. Totally crazy, and consistently hilarious.

200 Items Or Less: Daybreakers (2010)

A few thoughts: Usually post-apocalyptic vampire/zombie outbreak movies are told from the perspective of the few surviving humans, but this one goes a different route, showing the vampires and the struggle they face when the supply of blood diminishes. It's a promising set-up, but quickly chooses to take the familiar route of focusing on small group of surviving humans...I know, I was pretty bummed about it. Apart from the concept, the visuals are the main appeal of this movie, with a very slick Tony Scott-esque color scheme and some great gore moments. Sadly, the movie misuses its cast, with Willem Dafoe playing one of the weakest roles of his career, some ex-vampire southerner with obnoxiously folksy dialogue. Ethan Hawke is extremely under-written, his love interest(?) is barely even a character herself, but Sam Neill is pretty solid -- he just isn't given much screentime. It's a good looking movie that sabotages itself before it ever has a chance to become something special. Also, the resolution/"cure" is almost remarkably lame.

200 Items Or Less: Rollerball (1975)

A few thoughts: A disappointingly straight-laced dystopian sports drama, Rollerball is neither wild enough to be funny, nor dramatic enough to be taken completely seriously. Since this film came out the same year as 'Death Race 2000' (a longtime favorite of mine), I was expecting a similarly crazy experience, so that probably affected my opinion. I enjoyed the action scenes, shot skillfully around a bloody and incredibly violent sport, and while James Caan does a great job with the dramatic material, at over 2 hours long the movie does wind up wearing itself out. Focusing on the political side of a future centered around this sport, the satirical elements are often quite dry, letting the violence speak for itself. Sadly, even though a good deal of this movie works, it needed about 30 minutes cut from the final product, and was in desperate need of some genuine laughs. Satire and social commentary of this variety often works better when it's presented comedically, but itwas still a solid movie with some good acting.

200 Items Or Less: The Innocents (1961)

A few thoughts: A psychological ghost story based on Henry James' "The Turn Of The Screw", this is one of the most popular horror movies of the 1960s and an amazing acting showcase for Deborah Kerr. The setting and visuals are excellent, a sort of gothic thriller with beautiful cinematography, heavy use of shadows, and all those other wonderful black and white film traits. The other actors in this movie are mostly forgettable, but the little boy is exceptionally bizarre and good, with the sister often screaming her way through scenes in an excruciatingly obnoxious way. It's pretty lopsided having two great performances and one that's almost nothing apart from annoying, but it all works together well. I love how well this movie balances mystery with the supernatural, never fully giving you answers for the questions that will undoubtedly be burning inside of you. Often compared with 'The Haunting', and while I would definitely give that one the edge, this would still make for an excellent double feature and is a very solid horror film on its own.

200 Items Or Less: The Witches (1990)

A few thoughts: A Jim Henson produced fantasy/comedy directed by Nicholas Roeg, starring Angelica Huston? Even though it looked silly, I knew I needed to see that, because it's a truly weird combination. Well, it's very silly, and obviously intended for younger audiences, but that doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed by adults, too. The Henson effects and makeup are exactly what you might expect, and Huston was clearly enjoying herself a ton in this super over-the-top role, but that's sadly pretty much where the positives with this movie end. Most of the performances are pretty weak, particularly the child actors, the script is full of generic kids movie cheesiness, and the music, cinematography, etc. is all incredibly standard for darker youth fantasy. But for movies of this era and genre, you'd be better off just sticking with 'The Neverending Story' or 'Labyrinth'. Those are more competent, imaginative, and visually appealing. Huston is ultimately what works best here, but she's had much better roles than this, so it's by no means essential. Lighthearted disposable fun.

200 Items Or Less: Island Of Terror (1966)

A few thoughts: One of Terence Fisher's later and more unknown films, this is the kind of cheesy sci/fi horror you might expect MST3K to riff on (in fact, they might have), but is plenty enjoyable in its own right. As a movie directed by Fisher and starring Peter Cushing, obviously I was going to watch it eventually, but it was by no means something worth getting terribly excited over. It's pretty simple, centered around a science experiment gone wrong, resulting in a bunch of gooey slug monsters that eat the bones right out of bodies and duplicate every few hours. The creature designs are goofy, but kind of cool, as they're unlike most other movie monsters of the time. If I were to compare it to anything, it would probably be 'The Blob', but a little weirder and sillier. I like how once the characters figure out what's going on, they behave rationally and plan things out like you might expect. It's a little detail, but an important one to make the situation more believable. Nothing mindblowing here, but I enjoyed myself.

Bob's Burgers - Season 1 overview

Bob's Burgers is a wonderful show. For the past 30 years, FOX has had at least 1 good adult cartoon on the air, and for the past 7 seasons, Bob's Burgers has been that show. I talked about this a bit on my top 10 favorite animated shows of the 2010s list, so I won't go into everything I love about the show here. Instead, I'll just be talking a little about each episode like I recently did with season 2 of Adventure Time. I guess I'll do the ratings, too. Here is my rating system for TV episodes:

★✯✯✯✯ - pretty bad
★★✯✯✯ - not so good
★★★✯✯ - pretty average
★★★★✯ - good
★★★★★ - pretty great

Same rules apply as with Adventure Time. I don't really hate any episodes of this show, the ratings are more in comparison with everything else the show has to offer. An average episode of this show is still good and I probably enjoy it a lot, but will just be given the average 3 star rating unless I find it particularly exceptional. So try not to see 1 or 2 star ratings as an insult, I just don't think those episodes are as good as the rest. Got it? Good. Now heeeeeeeeeeere we go!

'Human Flesh'
Episode 1

200 Items Or Less: The Beast Must Die (1974)

A few thoughts: This movie is a weird sort of mess that I can't help but to enjoy just for the sheer silliness of it all. A blend of Agatha Christie-esque mystery, blaxsploitation, and cheesy werewolf bottle drama, this is one of Amicus' bizarre attempts at a William Castle style gimmick, affording the audience a 30-second period to reflect on who they think might be the werewolf. It's every bit as silly as it sounds, and you can tell they were very proud of themselves for the twists the plot provided. Sadly, the movie seriously underutilized Peter Cushing, Michael Gambon, and Charles Gray, three actors fully capable of holding a movie on their own. It would have worked better as more of a comedy or with a little more emphasis on the characters and their interactions, because the action and werewolf scenes were definitely lacking in thrills and entertainment. Usually I find myself enjoying werewolf designs, but this one was just a pretty big dog, which is disappointing. It wasn't a very good movie, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

200 Items Or Less: The Others (2001)

A few thoughts: A horror movie that relies far more on story and atmosphere than on jump-scares or cheap thrills, this one earns my respect as being a drama that functions perfectly well without the need for too much creepiness, but still utilizes its horror elements to full effect. Nicole Kidman delivers her best whisperformance, but to me Fionnula Flanagan is the standout. Between those two performances the movie holds up, but the child acting still isn't the best, so this isn't exactly an amazing ensemble. The sets and attention to period detail are awesome, I love the way it's shot, skillfully maintaining ambiguity throughout through deliberately framed scenes, and the script does a great job at managing the mystery and horror elements along with the dramatic side of the story. This isn't a terrifying movie, but it's a very well-constructed one with incredible production design and an interesting story. Even after at least a dozen viewings, it's still able to get under my skin and impress me with its visual storytelling.

200 Items Or Less: Shadow Of The Vampire (2000)

A few thoughts: Maybe not a "horror" movie, but close enough for me to include it, this is a movie for fans of horror. Particularly people familiar with the legend that the actor playing Count Orlok in the 1922 film Nosferatu was actually a vampire. A curious bit of horror lore, a solid script, and an exaggerated account not of what actually happened, but of what could have happened were that story true. The set design, costumes, and reenactments of scenes from the movie are pretty much spot-on, but what makes this movie float is Willem Dafoe's committed and creepy performance as the vampire. It doesn't just feel like an impression, Dafoe manages to make him into a complete and well-rounded character in a movie that's almost entirely theoretical. Malkovich is solid (but a bit stiff), Cary Elwes is distracting, and I liked Udo Kier here. The script is often far better in theory than in practice, and there are some definite issues with pacing, but the end product is one of those movies that I'm just glad exists. It's odd, but in a good way.

200 Items Or Less: The Howling (1981)

A few thoughts: I've seen this movie twice now and I have come to the conclusion that I will never be able to fully pay attention to it, as it has some terrible pacing issues that practically force me to not focus on it while it's playing. I normally enjoy Joe Dante movies, I love me some werewolves, and the cast is filled with actors I like (John Carradine, Kevin McCarthy, Robert Picardo), but something about this movis is just difficult to me to get invested in. The sets and way it's all shot makes it feel a lot more childish and silly than I think is best for it, and the main character is very unlikable and dull. There are some fun little jokes and bits of irony, but the script is mostly pretty blah, never utilizing these actors to their fullest potential. The werewolf transformations are cool in a goofy sort of way, and you can tell they had a lot of fun with that part of the production, but there are much more effective werewolf movies, both comedically and from a technical perspective... Oh, hi John Landis.

200 Items Or Less: The Man With Nine Lives (1940)

A few thoughts: Another solid and entertaining Boris Karloff movie about a mad scientist obsessed with preserving and saving lives through experimental methods. This one fits in really well with 'The Man They Could Not Hang', but with a much tighter script. I love the setting of this movie, taking place almost entirely in a deep underground cave-like lab adjacent to an icy freezing room, and the way they cleverly use this restricted location to isolate characters from each other for different dynamics. I was impressed by how this movie avoided potholes, throwing in dialogue and actions that streamlined the story and kept the audience from questioning why people were behaving the way they were. Boris Karloff is great here, delivering a familiar performance that's equal parts mad scientist and sympathetic, misunderstood man ahead of his time. That's always been one of his strengths, playing villains who aren't pure evil. It may not be one of the most original movies ever made, but it's very entertaining and incredibly easy to watch.