I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, THE LEOPARD MAN, and THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943 VAL LEWTON SPECIAL)

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943) d. Jacques Tourneur
THE LEOPARD MAN (1943) d. Jacques Tourneur
THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943) d. Mark Robson

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From 1942 to 1946, when rust was appearing on the Frankenstein Monster’s neck bolts, Dracula was growing longer in the tooth, and swaddled, swollen mummies were limping along, both literally and figuratively, a savior appeared on the horror horizon, who would provide welcome counter-programming to the usual parade of fur, fangs, and putty. That man was Val Lewton, and his debut production with RKO, 1942’s Cat People, heralded a new style of horror, where less was infinitely more, where shadows grew ripe with menace lurking just beyond the edge of the frame.

THE LEOPARD MAN (1943) Blu-ray Review

The Leopard Man (1943) d. Jacques Tourneur (USA) (66 min)

Produced and directed by the winning team of Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur, this third effort is as atmospheric as their previous The Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie, yet is ultimately more a straight-ahead whodunnit than supernatural horror yarn. Authorities pursue an escaped panther in New Mexico, with suspicion slowly growing that a series of murders are being committed by a human pretending to be a panther.

THE COMEDY OF TERRORS (1963) Blu-ray review

The Comedy of Terrors (1963) d. Jacques Tourneur (USA)

After the success of The Raven, AIP attempted to tap the comic vein a second time but with decidedly diminished returns, both artistically and financially. The premise of a funeral home recycling its one coffin and occasionally helping the town’s populace into them is an amusingly dark one, but despite its terrific veteran cast, the comedy feels much more forced and mean-spirited, with Price’s tyrannical drunken lout snarking at underling Lorre and wife Joyce Jameson (who had memorably appeared opposite the two stars in “The Black Cat” episode of that year’s Tales of Terror).