Isle of the Dead (1942)

Isle of the Dead (1942) is an RKO Radio Pictures Val Lewton and Mark Robson Arnold Böcklin-inspired Boris Karloff historical Balkans War supernatural creeper mystery horror with Ellen Drew, Alan Napier, written by frequent Lewton collaborator Ardel Wray, it was the second of three films Lewton made with Karloff, and the fourth of five pictures Robson directed for Lewton.

The dead do not rest on Mark Robson's island. In Isle of the Dead (1945), what begins as a contemplation on the duties of command and the sanctity of reason unravels into a vision of mental collapse, buried trauma, and spiritual unease. 

The film, produced by Val Lewton and directed by Robson, engages its viewers in a paradox: its imagery evokes stillness, isolation, stasis, and yet its emotional and thematic resonances never cease to convulse. 

Bedlam (1946)

Bedlam (1946) is a historical shocker exploitation psychological thriller horror noir based on the drawings of William Hogarth and telling of exhibitionism, cruelty and vintage style madness, sympathy and bedlamites of yore in fig, pose, phantasy and framed with filmic license aplenty, talking much of the madness, and mildly exhibiting the standards of the earliest and most genteel modes of exploitation as cinema.

No monstrous modes of action herein but something that seems to prefigure the British Hammer films of the later 1950s and the 1960s, with a village horror kind of vaudevillian villain most mild torture and cruelty, with visions of captivity dominating the viewers delivered palette of ideas.

The Body Snatcher (1945)

The Body Snatcher (1945) is a dark and gloomy atmospheric chiller classic old school creepy horror gothic dramatisation of the body snatching habits of early 19th century Scotland.

Presumably one could tune in as many have done in order to see Lugosi and Karloff playing a scene together, which certainly happens within and is worth the wait.

Elsewhere Scotland provides some proper atmosphere and the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle are re-created well given the restraints of a typical studio.

There are a few other Scottish travesties to enjoy, and one of the rarest within The Body Snatcher (1945) is the murdering of the dog Greyfriar's Bobby, much beloved of every soul in both Hollywood, and in Scotland. To see wee Bobbie smashed and disposed of with a shovel is an awesome and horrific sight.

Lured (1947)

Lured (1947) is a moody mystery female seeker hero investigatory London-set serial killer thriller outré film noir, made by Douglas Sirk and perhaps as far as the Sirk toes get into the fascinating dark and complicated world of noir drama.

In its way, Douglas Sirk’s lurid Lured (1947), an example of the lurid noir, reimagines hard enough upon Robert Siodmak’s 1939 film Pièges, that it must surely be classed as a remake, capturing the essence of a film noir thriller with an impressive cast and smoke machine moddiness and soundstage London-effect cinematography. 

The plot follows and does trail the female seeker hero type Sandra Carpenter (Lucille Ball), a sassy American dancer in London who is roped into a police investigation as a decoy for a serial killer targeting women through newspaper ads. 

Black Friday (1940)

Black Friday (1940) is a brain transplant crime movie from the nascent moments of horror cinema as an as of yet undefined genre, and it is a film that shared some thematic and technical elements with the emerging film noir style.

With no monster as such to boast of and little in the way of a full mad scientist trope Black Friday does imply the crime genre full on in its fantastic progress to a sane conclusion.

Excuses for maddened acting and raw death row fun combine realities which could only in essence be explored in 1940, with no fully developed tropes fully recovered and broadcast in the cinemas, trope combination produced no end of experimental forays into what could have been.

The brain transplant movie genre emerged during a period no doubt of fascination with medical advancements and the exploration of the human psyche in cinema. 

Smart Money (1931)

Smart Money (1931) is a Pre-Code Proto-Noir comedy caper starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney, playing larger than life the all-American obsession with gambling.

This overbearing national pastime which had flourished via the stock tickers of the 1920s, resulting in the almighty and catastrophic crash of that same decade, is here presented in every popular form available, including horse racing, quiet gambling with dice in the back room and it appears the front room of the quiet small town barber Nick Venizelos, played by Edward G. Robinson.

Nick is a swell fellow and a charmer, and considered a champion gambler by all who know him. The back room seems like a swell place too, where the wisecracking cracks all night long and Nick and the others laugh it up no end, often at the uncomfortable expense of their African American 'boy' 'Snake Eyes' — played by an uncredited John Larkin.