disappointment media
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About

BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER -- A Portrait of the Epitome of Monster Royalty

9/16/2021

0 Comments

 
Review by Dan Skip Allen
Picture
Universal Pictures has had its fair share of movie franchises over the years. The Fast and the Furious and Jurassic Park series are two of the most popular franchises in their history. But decades before these franchises came out, Universal was famous for its classic monsters such as Dracula, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and Gil-Man (The Creature From the Black Lagoon). But Frankenstein is considered their most popular monster, and one of the reasons why is Boris Karloff's performance.

Karloff's career is that of a varied actor with many ups and downs in it. The ups of course are the Frankenstein films and a few of the other horror films he's famous for such as The Black Cat and the narration of the animated classic The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. That said, he also did a lot of television work and a bunch of other campy low-rent horror films he had various smaller roles in. 

Karloff had a very long career and many people in the business were inspired by him and his career as well as some of the weird and off-the-wall characters he portrayed. The film has some notable people such as Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), film critic Leonard Maltin, Joe Dante (The Howling), and John Landis (An American Werewolf in London). They were all waxing poetic about Karloff and his career.

Karloff had an interesting relationship with Bela Lugosi (Dracula) They were always going for the same types of roles. This made people believe they had a rivalry with one another. The thing is they worked together a few times and we're actually friends off-camera. This is one of those things that gets blown out of proportion over the years. The real feud Karloff had was with his Frankenstein director James Whale.
Picture
Some of their feud was depicted in the 1998 film Gods and Monsters, but this film really goes into more of the problems the two had with one another. Whale put Karloff through the wringer on Frankenstein films because of some comments he made about how Whale was on set. In one instance, Whale forced Karloff to carry a real man up a flight of steps many times, resulting in the beginning of Karloff's chronic back problems.

His back issues would lead to the end of his career. He had to start wearing a brace on his leg as well. This hampered his career near the end. He was a constant professional, though. His personal life was a bit different, though having married five times, he could hardly make a woman happy because of his constant work ethic. He did have one daughter though, Sara Karloff, who takes care of her father's legacy.

Great docs have to bring the viewer into the life or subject they are depicting on screen. This one does just that. It talks about Karloff's career in-depth and the talking heads go into much more detail about this legendary actor. The filmmakers effectively depict this man and his storied career and all its ups and downs. I was very enthralled by so much of the detail the film goes into. This was a very fascinating look into this man's long life.

Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster hits theaters on September 17.

Rating: 4/5
               
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019

    Authors

    All
    Adam Donato
    Alan French
    Allison Brown
    Borja Izuzquiz
    Camden Ferrell
    Cole Groth
    Daniel Lima
    Dan Skip Allen
    Erin M. Brady
    Jonathan Berk
    Joseph Fayed
    Josh Batchelder
    Paris Jade
    Rafael Motamayor
    Sarah Williams
    Sean Boelman
    Tatiana Miranda

disappointment media

Dedicated to unique and diverse perspectives on cinema!
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About