I love horror movies. I’ve watched quite a few in my long life. When I discovered an unknown horror movie, The Ritual, I realized this was a great film. I didn’t recognize the director or the cast, but the movie was good. The director is David Bruckner. He has also directed The Nighthouse (2020) and Southbound  (2015).

Okay, I haven’t seen those two films yet, but I have added them to my list. 

Soon after, I came across another good horror movie, Apartment 212, directed by Haylar Garcia. Garcia also produced An American Terror (2017). Finding another director, I haven’t heard of made me realize I am missing out on some delicious horror movies. 

So, since then, I have decided to watch more of these films. One Saturday, scrolling through the TV channels, I happened on MeTV. The show playing was Svengoolie – The Beast with Five Fingers. The host, Svengoolie, reminded me of Elvira – Mistress of the night.

Both Svengoolie and Elvira are campy with their films introductions and roles when introducing the horror movie for that night. I loved Elvira when growing up, and I thought how cool here is Svengooli. He was wearing a red and black cape with a big hat. He painted his face with black paint. 

Tonight’s movie was Beast with Five Fingers, starring Robert Alda, Andrea King, Victor Francen, J. Carroll Nash, and last but not least, Peter Lorre. 

The film, produced in 1946 by Robert Florey, is a black and white movie. A black and white? I can hear the dismay already, but yes, it is black and white. Set in a spooky castle in an Italian town, the lack of color doesn’t detract from the plot.

I had forgotten how dramatic acting was in that era. Then again, that is the norm for horror movies. Something jumps out of the woodwork in every scene and scares the women. They are constantly screaming in this film. 

The plot centers around an elderly disabled concert pianist and the will he changed at the last minute. Francis Ingram suffered a stroke, leaving his right side unuseable. He uses a wheelchair to get around and lives with his nurse Julie. 

In the beginning, he gets his three best friends to agree he is of sound mind. The reason is that he wanted them to sign off on his new will. Francis left all of his worldly possessions to his nurse, Julie.

No one complained about the change. However, when Ingram died falling down the stairs? All hell breaks loose, and now everyone wants the house.

Peter Lorre’s role is a bit freaky. He portrays Hilary Cummins, the personal assistant to Francis Ingram. But Hilary is only interested in Ingram’s vast library. Ingram has a great collection of occult books, and Hilary is fascinated with them.

That fascination borders on obsession, and when Ingram’s nephew Raymond Arlington told Hilary he wouldn’t be getting those books? Hilary’s psyche begins to unravel.

Strange things begin happening at the castle. Arlington’s son, Donald, is strangled. The viewer sees it happening, but all we see is a hand with a ring on the forefinger. The ring Ingram always wore. At night you can hear the piano play by itself, and when investigating the sound, it stops. 

At the center of this activity is Julie. Ingram’s nephew and son fight the will with the help of Ingram’s lawyer. Duprex offers to break the will for 25% of the estate. The Arlingtons agree, and Duprex begins his dastardly plan of breaking the will. 

The next thing viewers see is Duprex cowering in fear as the suspenseful music builds. Then we hear him scream, and he collapses to the floor, dead. What killed Duprex?

That is the crux of the movie and a refreshing change from slasher films. There is no blood and guts in this film. It uses the viewer’s imagination combined with suspenseful music. Yes, the acting is overly dramatic, but it fits the horror genre.

How often have you screamed at the screen when the hero or heroine makes a stupid decision? There have been times I cringed at the plot.

I mean, you drive down a snowy road for miles without stopping? You wouldn’t get me to drive down an unknown road in the snow, especially for hours, and not know where I am going. That is a horror film waiting to happen. So, things haven’t changed much from 1946 to 2022. 

There is a farfetched event that isolates the characters. Once the characters are separated, the monster hunts them. The only bad thing about horror movies is that there is usually no happy ending. 

Sometimes there is, or the story doesn’t end the way you think. Those endings are the ones I love the most because they make me think. In Apartment 212, it was a happy ending with a twist, and I loved it.

The Ritual didn’t have a happy ending, but it makes you think. It was more about the journey than the ending in that movie. In the Beast with Five Fingers, it is about the power of the mind. In their way, these films are a refreshing break from the slashers. 

In my opinion, classic films remind me of how horror is supposed to be. That’s why I love watching horror, not only to be scared but to make me think. To take a break from the normalcy of my world and take a detour through the realm of imagination. 

So, take a break and watch an unknown movie; you never know where an undiscovered gem will take your imagination.