'Condemned
' doesn't repeat Strayer's earlier movie about bloodsucking in a peaceful village. The story lines are unlike. This one should of been both more romantic and unnerving. 'The Vampire Bat' wasn't about _vampirism, but about crazy science, an insane scientist, hypnosis, a henchman
. 'Condemned
' is about _vampirism, it has much more drama (which would of required a better cast), no comedy. It brings a natural explanation to _vampirism, and in both movies the _vampirism is related only to bloodsucking, but not to any unholy things whatsoever. Here, there's no copper, but a rival. For those who complain about humor in suspense movies, we are completely spared of it, the chills are straight.
A peaceful village, a cave and its pit . Also, the villagers with torches. The eeriness in both is basically natural: a disease here (and the giant bats are real, though they live in the depths of Africa), the hypnosis in the earlier movie.
The script depends much more on drama (and here, the cast dis-serves it), not at all on comedy, Kristan, as played by R. Morgan, is wholly bland, though doomed, a bland altruist stricken by a disease; Maxine Doyle is banal, and more naughty and knowledgeable than a village ingénue. The cast has Auer, whose role was smaller than advisable; in an earlier movie, also by F. Strayer, he had been the illegitimate son of a wealthy man, and made a good role. The script offers a romantic drama, but Kristan (one of the medicine professors who practiced in peaceful villages) should of been more keenly characterized, while Maxine Doyle looks nothing like her role. When the stepfather Bizet arrives, the professor seems surprised, though he had informed his guest about his plans to marry. And the denouement in the cave comes off as less grand than needed, with the villagers turned suddenly into a sympathetic crowd.
So, in a sense, Frank Strayer did return to his peaceful village, but to shoot an entirely different tale. Here, the names are fancier: Kristan, Bizet . In fact, Strayer tries here a new thing, positively strives not to repeat himself, to acknowledge another template, for a dissimilar plot. The supporting players, mainly Auer, but also the foster father and the girl's father, upstage the leads. The overtones of sexual pathology perhaps required better scenes, according to later criteria; but within the age's code, the dissonances are spelled as explicit as possible (the manservant Zan is a double of the professor, and like a son, signifying the inner deformity; the girl is another double, not inner, not interiorly, but as mirroring his repression and denial).
'Condemned ' is a movie about _vampirism understood as a disease; it also links this illness with morbid sexuality, the girl's bland sentimentality, guessed by both Bizet and the professor's rival, mirror the vampire's unacknowledged _pulsions, and both the professor and his fiancée are trapped in an unhealthy relationship to deny their genuine leanings (wholly morbid, his; entirely sane and ordinary, hers). The paternity plays an important role: Bizet is the professor's foster father, the professor himself is like a foster father to Zan, the oaths of the girl's father prove worthless. So, the seeming paradox is that this movie will at once endear Strayer's fan, and disappoint slightly; as its style is what at once endears, and proves insufficient. The script could of been better, though it's uncanny enough as such; but even with the one given, a better cast was needed, one more glamorous and striking. The earlier movie had been a sure recipe, and meant as such; the later one tries a new territory: gloomy drama, and it needed a dependable cast, and even Auer, underused here, had been better filmed by the very same director.
There's a bit of effective music I recognized from another '30s chiller.
R. Morgan and Maxine Doyle weren't the most enjoyable leads. The professor comes across as not only understandably weakened, but positively repugnant and lecherous. In an earlier Strayer movie, Auer had been much better showcased.
A peaceful village, a cave and its pit . Also, the villagers with torches. The eeriness in both is basically natural: a disease here (and the giant bats are real, though they live in the depths of Africa), the hypnosis in the earlier movie.
The script depends much more on drama (and here, the cast dis-serves it), not at all on comedy, Kristan, as played by R. Morgan, is wholly bland, though doomed, a bland altruist stricken by a disease; Maxine Doyle is banal, and more naughty and knowledgeable than a village ingénue. The cast has Auer, whose role was smaller than advisable; in an earlier movie, also by F. Strayer, he had been the illegitimate son of a wealthy man, and made a good role. The script offers a romantic drama, but Kristan (one of the medicine professors who practiced in peaceful villages) should of been more keenly characterized, while Maxine Doyle looks nothing like her role. When the stepfather Bizet arrives, the professor seems surprised, though he had informed his guest about his plans to marry. And the denouement in the cave comes off as less grand than needed, with the villagers turned suddenly into a sympathetic crowd.
So, in a sense, Frank Strayer did return to his peaceful village, but to shoot an entirely different tale. Here, the names are fancier: Kristan, Bizet . In fact, Strayer tries here a new thing, positively strives not to repeat himself, to acknowledge another template, for a dissimilar plot. The supporting players, mainly Auer, but also the foster father and the girl's father, upstage the leads. The overtones of sexual pathology perhaps required better scenes, according to later criteria; but within the age's code, the dissonances are spelled as explicit as possible (the manservant Zan is a double of the professor, and like a son, signifying the inner deformity; the girl is another double, not inner, not interiorly, but as mirroring his repression and denial).
'Condemned ' is a movie about _vampirism understood as a disease; it also links this illness with morbid sexuality, the girl's bland sentimentality, guessed by both Bizet and the professor's rival, mirror the vampire's unacknowledged _pulsions, and both the professor and his fiancée are trapped in an unhealthy relationship to deny their genuine leanings (wholly morbid, his; entirely sane and ordinary, hers). The paternity plays an important role: Bizet is the professor's foster father, the professor himself is like a foster father to Zan, the oaths of the girl's father prove worthless. So, the seeming paradox is that this movie will at once endear Strayer's fan, and disappoint slightly; as its style is what at once endears, and proves insufficient. The script could of been better, though it's uncanny enough as such; but even with the one given, a better cast was needed, one more glamorous and striking. The earlier movie had been a sure recipe, and meant as such; the later one tries a new territory: gloomy drama, and it needed a dependable cast, and even Auer, underused here, had been better filmed by the very same director.
There's a bit of effective music I recognized from another '30s chiller.
R. Morgan and Maxine Doyle weren't the most enjoyable leads. The professor comes across as not only understandably weakened, but positively repugnant and lecherous. In an earlier Strayer movie, Auer had been much better showcased.