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| Voodoo Man (1944) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 13 2009, 12:41 PM (1,117 Views) | |
| Laughing Gravy | Mar 13 2009, 12:41 PM Post #1 |
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![]() Voodoo Man (1944) Directed by William Beaudine ITB Shock Theatre #108 I remember when I used to enjoy watching all movies, no matter how lousy they were. That was right before I watched this one, I guess. I fell asleep last night pondering why I thought this goofy-ass film was such a time-waster, and decided it was because, with my current work situation precluding the watching of many films, I should make wiser choices. Oh, plus the salient fact that this movie is Gawd-awful. Here's what I said about this film years ago: I so badly wanted to say that Voodoo Man is the absolute nuttiest of all the Monogram films, but hey, in all honesty, having seen The Ape Man - in which Bela Lugosi turns himself into a gorilla that looks a lot like an Hungarian Abraham Lincoln and has a sister that speaks perfect English - this film can do no more than place. Still, the SECOND nuttiest Monogram film is still arguably the second nuttiest movie ANYBODY ever made. George Zucco - that impeccable-speeched, gentrified, high-class, professorial fellow - plays the local gas station attendant, in a part obviously intended for George "Goober" Lindsay. Nobody told Mr. Zucco that he was playing an ethol jockey, by the way, and he dresses as if he thought he was portraying the Dean of Harvard School of Law. Hang on, it gets screwier - the darn film just started. Turns out Goober Zucco's main function is to steer women traveling alone down a dark highway, at the end of which awaits John Carradine, who plays a retarded handyman, and Pat McKee, who plays his assistant. Yep, that's right. Pat's resume includes a stint as "Assistant Retarded Handyman". Anyway, John & Pat capture young women for their boss, who must be and is Bela Lugosi. Bela's wife has been dead for 22 years, and for that whole time Mr. Lugosi (who wears a ridiculous goatee in this film that makes him look just like... well, like Bela Lugosi in a ridiculous goatee) has been keeping her essence alive by stealing the souls of young women. Now, in the absence of their souls, they wear white diaphanous gowns and become brainless zombies who spend most of their time in Bela's basement, standing in separate telephone booths and waiting to be pawed by Mr. Carradine when the boss isn't looking. Meanwhile, in another movie, or just a very distant part of this one, a movie producer at "Banner Motion Pictures" (and I am sorely disappointed that Sam Katzman, who produced Voodoo Man for his Banner Productions, didn't cast himself) assigns a young screenwriter to investigate the disappearances of the girls as background for the studio's next horror film. En route, the writer runs into Louise Currie, and she's the next kidnapping victim, and the writer is supposed to be marrying Louise's cousin, and... oh, the hell with the plot. Here's a list of some of the other things to note about this movie: (1) Bela Lugosi uses a Tesla coil to conk out car motors 300 yards away. Amazing properties Tesla coils have in Monogram movies and Frankenstein pictures. (2) Every once in a while, for no apparent reason, Goober Zucco bellows, "RAMBOONA IS ALL POWERFUL!" and Lugosi looks sad and nods his head. The actor obviously had no idea what "ramboona" meant, along with about 50,000 other English words, and was faking it. (3) From time to time, Bela and Goober wear robes with giant symbols stitched into them (there's a number "7" on Bela's sleeve; was Lugosi a fan of Mickey Mantle, one wonders). (4) During the soul-stealing sequences, John Carradine plays the bongos while Goober Zucco chants inane gibberish, at one point clearly saying "Oh my goshkies." (5) During those same sequences, Bela Lugosi moans, "Soul to soul... Body to body... Emotion to emotion...." He sounds like the Hungarian equivalent of Barry White. (6) The local sheriff's response to the plethora of young women who have gone missing in his district: "This is getting a little monotonous". (7) The writer's response when he discovers the basement is full of zombies: "Zombies are a scenario writer's nightmare! I know - I wrote one once!" In the end, everything works out, Mrs. Lugosi stays dead, and the writer gets to elope with his cousin, sorry, with Louise's cousin. He writes the script, which he calls Voodoo Man, and delivers it to the producer. He suggest that *ahem* Bela Lugosi would be perfect for the lead. "Is it any good?" the producer asks. We'll let YOU folks answer that one. Okay, we're back to 2015. Additional Million-dollar Dialog: Screenwriter: "You know, this is screwier than any one I've ever written, and I've written some screwy ones, believe me!" Legend Films released this on DVD along with a not-very-funny version with wisecracks from some of the people who used to be on Mystery Science Theater; the original version is included, and nothing is colorized. The print is pretty good. Edited by Laughing Gravy, Apr 1 2015, 04:53 AM.
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| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| AndyFish | Aug 14 2009, 10:20 AM Post #2 |
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Movie Watcha Foist Class
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I just got this one too but I haven't watched it yet-- looking forward to it. Anything with Lugosi is watchable-- even the Corpse Vanishes or Scared to Death-- whichever one has the talking corpse. |
| www.andytfish.com | |
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| Zodiac | Aug 14 2009, 04:13 PM Post #3 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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I just watched this last week. Wow, I had to stay awake because the first time I started I fell asleep and I thought my wife changed the movie LOL John Carradine banging those bongos was a trip! |
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| Vornoff | Aug 15 2009, 07:37 AM Post #4 |
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Charter Member
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Nicely done, L.G. You do have a way with words, so much so that I instantly wanted to watch this masterpiece of Lugosian horror. Checking my database to see what wonderful version I had of it, I see I have an ancient Beta tape, taped more than 20 years ago, no doubt, and it was from our local CBS affiliate KPIX, probably in the middle of the night, back in those halcyon days when all sorts of wonderful things could be had late at night. So, I checked on-line & found the only commercial dvd version I could come up with was in a set put out by Passport called The Bela Lugosi Box - 15 Frightful Films with an average quality that could be called execrable at best. So what's the source of your dvd, huh? |
| "Doctor of nothing!" | |
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| Zodiac | Aug 15 2009, 11:50 AM Post #5 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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I got mine from Martin Grams- decent print- www.otrdvd.com- it is not listed, but you can contact Martin through his web site |
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| Laughing Gravy | Aug 15 2009, 05:19 PM Post #6 |
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I have never seen anything better than a mediocre print of this film, one of the few "Monogram Nines" with Lugosi that is not in the public domain. |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| rodney | Oct 4 2009, 05:54 PM Post #7 |
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Charter Member
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Martin and I operate in tandem together, so I have this as well. |
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| Zodiac | Oct 5 2009, 07:21 AM Post #8 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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My apologies Rodney- Martin told me that and I forgot to give you credit as a source as well. Another senior moment. |
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| rodney | Oct 6 2009, 12:46 PM Post #9 |
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Charter Member
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It's alright. I'm not mad at you! |
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| Zodiac | Oct 6 2009, 03:55 PM Post #10 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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Rodney, do you or Martin have any master catalog on the movies you have available? |
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| shelbyvinje | Oct 7 2009, 02:52 PM Post #11 |
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Lee Meriwether fan
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Actually, VOODOO MAN is also available from 16mm print from Sinister Cinema. They also have their logo in the corner. I bought mine from Rodney and it is great. And of the nine Monogram Lugosi films, it was the only one that had the copyright renewed, but that has since expired. It is in the public domain. I visit the Washington D.C. Copyright Office once a month to search for copyrights and renewals, so unless the Copyright Office is wrong (which it can), the copyright expired. |
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| shelbyvinje | Oct 7 2009, 02:54 PM Post #12 |
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Lee Meriwether fan
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I was going to e-mail and ask Rodney, but I figured to ask. Are you going to FOTR in Newark, NJ this month? I know Martin will be there as he's scheduled to do the presentation on THE GREEN HORNET. I remember Rodney was there a few years ago. |
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| rodney | Oct 8 2009, 04:22 AM Post #13 |
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Charter Member
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I was at FOTR maybe 4 years ago? But I will not be there this year. |
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| Laughing Gravy | Apr 1 2015, 04:54 AM Post #14 |
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Horror films didn't die out in the mid-1940s, they were murdered by movies like this one. Anyway, I re-worked my old review. Just for you. |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| rodney | Apr 2 2015, 09:10 AM Post #15 |
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Charter Member
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This review is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. |
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