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Corridors
of Blood
Monsters
and Madmen Collection
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U.K.
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1958
Directed by Robert Day
Starring
Boris Karloff
Francis Matthews
Christopher Lee
B&W
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87 Minutes
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Not Rated
Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC |
4-disc set)
Criterion Collection
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8
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
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•
One of the films in the Monsters
and Madmen Collection
• DVD Rating is for
entire set
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London,
1840: Dr. Thomas Bolton (Boris Karloff) experiments
with drugs in an attempt to develop a surgical
anesthetic...
Following
the success of The
Haunted Strangler, producer Richard Gordon
exercised an option in his contract with Boris
Karloff to make another picture, subject to the
actor's approval. A Technicolor, Cinemascope remake
of Dracula
was bandied about before the project was squashed
by Universal, then partnering with Hammer Films
to make the first of their many Dracula projects,
Horror
of Dracula (1958). Eventually, it was decided
to go for a mixture of history, melodrama and
barnstorming horror —
the end result, released in England as Doctor
Of The Seven Dials but held up due to legal
problems for several years in the U.S., where
it came out in 1963 as Corridors
of Blood, would mark an improvement on
the previous Karloff/Gordon collaboration.
The
story uses a great deal of historical information
as its basis, even if it changes the names and
locales for the benefit of dramatic license. Karloff
is cast as a well-meaning scientist in the mold
of his characters in such earlier horror thrillers
as The
Invisible Ray (1936) or The
Man with Nine Lives (1940), the difference
being that this time his work has a very realistic
goal. A sort of composite of Drs. James Watt and
Joseph Lister, he toils selflessly to develop
a pain-free method of surgery. His experiments
turn him into a drug addict, and lead him to dealing
with a pair of "resurrectionists" loosely patterned
on the infamous duo of Burke and Hare. Here the
duo, renamed as Black Ben (Francis De Wolff) and
Resurrection Joe (Christopher Lee), assist the
doctor before attempting to blackmail him, leading
to the usual consequences in a melodrama of this
nature. The story itself follows a fairly traditional
trajectory, but director Robert Day gives the
production the gloss and attention to detail that
makes it seem far more lavish than it really was.
It has been said that some of the larger crowd
scenes were stock shots from David Lean's Oliver
Twist, but there are no shortcuts in evidence
in the finished product. As in The
Haunted Strangler, Day falters a bit where
padding is concerned —
there's a little too much 'colorful' activity
in the Seven Dials pub, for example —
but he otherwise proves to be intelligent and
judicious in his use of camera setups and story
construction.
In addition
to the slick production values, the film is well
served by its cast. Karloff underplays the drug
addiction angle, opting for pathos in place of
melodramatic histrionics, and he's all the more
effective because of it. He is never minimalized
as a far-fetched madman, and knowing that much
of what he endures was also endured by the real
life figures he was modeled on gives the film
a touch of verisimilitude. The supporting cast
is peppered with familiar faces. Christopher Lee
impresses as the mostly silent graverobber; with
his imposing height and slim build he makes for
an almost expressionistic presence, darting in
and out of the shadows like a spectre of death.
The film was shot shortly after Lee first found
recognition as the Creature in The
Curse of Frankenstein, and his big break as
Dracula in Hammer's Horror
of Dracula was right around the corner;
it's a great joy to see him sharing the screen
with Karloff, and he certainly holds his own against
the legendary icon. Francis Matthews (Revenge
of Frankenstein, Dracula
- Prince of Darkness) adds a great deal to
his stock role as Karloff's concerned son —
he infuses the character with intelligence and
charm, and is largely able to keep the intrusive
romantic subplot from becoming a nuisance. Francis
De Wolff (Hammer's Hound
of the Baskervilles) is also impressive as
Black Ben, the bear-like owner of the Seven Dials
who assists Resurrection Joe with his 'livelihood',
while Nigel Green (Play
Dirty, Countess
Dracula), Adrienne Corri (Vampire
Circus, A Clockwork
Orange), Finlay Currie (Great
Expectations) and others do solid work
in their character parts.
Corridors
of Blood remains Karloff's most impressive
film of the period —
a nicely detailed, intelligently produced amalgam
of history and horror that sometimes falls in
between the two stools but remains interesting
and engaging throughout.
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Criterion's
release of Corridors Of
Blood, as part of their Monsters and
Madmen collection, is a gem. The film is presented
in its intended full-frame aspect ratio. The source
material is in very good shape, with only occasional
signs of wear and tear. The mono soundtrack is
clear and forceful — dialogue is always easy to
discern, and Buxton Orr's full-blooded score has
all the presence it demands. Extras include a
commentary track with Richard Gordon, moderated
by Tom Weaver; notes on the film's censorship
troubles (including battered glimpses of some
material trimmed from all prints); a featurette
that includes interviews with Day and surviving
cast members (excluding Christopher Lee); an audio
interview with actress Yvonne Romain ("Rosa");
a trailer, still gallery and liner notes.
The
commentary is particularly satisfying, though
one regrets that Tom Weaver (an avowed Hammer
"hater") felt it necessary to goad Gordon into
making some disparaging comments about Christopher
Lee — true to form, Gordon has nothing but nice
things to say about the man's acting, but is less
charitable about the man himself; Weaver takes
advantage of the opportunity to mock Lee's anger
over being cut out of the last Lord
of the Rings movie. It's a catty misstep,
and one that doesn't add anything to one's enjoyment
of the supplements. 4/17/07
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| NOTE
The 4-disc Monsters and Madmen
Collection also contains The
Haunted Strangler and the '50s sci-fi chestnuts
The
Atomic Submarine and First
Man Into Space, along with additional commentaries
and featurettes. |
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