Movie Review: The Wolf Man vs Frankenstein

Since I reviewed The Wolf Man for my last movie review, I decided it would be fitting to revisit the 1943 sequel titled Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.  In this movie, we get a crossover between two of the main Universal Monsters. It was through crossover movies like this that the universal monsters franchise became the first cinematic universe. Lon Chaney jr. once again stars as Lawrence Talbot, aka the wolf man, who was thought to have been killed at the end of the first movie. however, six years after the wolf man movie took place, when two thieves break into his tomb in the Llanwelly village cemetery at night to steal his jewelry, they remove the coffin lid and wolf bane containing him and he is exposed to the full moon. Then suddenly, while the thieves attempt to steal the jewelry from the body, Lawrence grabs onto one of the men and kills him while the other crook escapes, fleeing the cemetery in terror. Later on, Lawrence is found laying unconscious with his skull fractured by a police officer on the streets of Cardiff. He’s taken to the hospital there where he’s treated for his injury. He recovers rather quickly and the doctor asks for his name. He tells the doctor his name and answers his questions. Later that night, the full moon shines down upon Lawrence through the hospital window and the curse is brought upon him. He escapes his room through the window and runs wild through the streets. A policeman sees him, deciding to follow him out of curiosity. the wolf man then pounces upon the officer, biting him in the jugular and causing him to bleed out (off camera because they couldn’t show that back then). the next morning, when Lawrence is found on the bed with his window opened, he tries to convince the doctor that he turns into a wolf at night and that he killed the policeman. the doctor dismisses these concerns as another policeman walks in and accuses Lawrence of being a fake, claiming that the real Lawrence Talbot died years ago. Lawrence insists that he is in fact who he claims to be, and comes to the realization that he can’t die. He is taken to another section of the hospital after an outburst and is put in a straight jacket while the officer and doctor go to Llanwelly village to find out if this is really Lawrence Talbot they are dealing with. during their visit where they discover that the tomb is empty, Larry bites through his straight jacket and escapes. Intent on finding a cure for his curse, he locates the gypsy woman from the last movie, Maleva, and asks her to help him. She says she can’t help him, but she would guard him like her own son until he could overcome the curse. They then journey across Europe in search of a certain doctor who is said to be able to help those whom other doctors couldn’t. In the village Vaseria, where they expect to meet the doctor named Frankenstein, they discover he is dead. Larry doesn’t give up however, and runs off in the night to try and discover the notes of doctor Frankenstein in order to help himself become normal, or to simply die to end his misery. This leads to a lot of conflict with the local villagers, as well as the doctor who was supposed to treat Larry, now seeking to destroy him or at least help him overcome his strange condition and the descendant of doctor Frankenstein. The film ends with a vicious battle between the wolf man and Frankenstein before they are washed away by a dam that was exploded by a villager.

Overall, I liked this movie. It had the same vibe the wolf man did as it had crazy good sets, eerie atmosphere, and interesting plot lines. Despite this, rotten tomatoes gives the film a 25%. I was disappointed to learn this because this has been a favorite of mine recently. While it isn’t as good as The Wolf Man quality of the monster films of this era (which dropped in quality after its release), it’s still a fun and spooky movie that is perfect for when halloween comes around.

Kryptozoology

Hello everyone, it’s ThatBoiCarter, and today I wanted to do something a little different. Instead of a music and movie review, I decided to change things up this week. For some context, on July sixth I dropped my mixtape “KRYPTOZOOLOGY,” a follow up to my previous mixtape “KRYPTO CHRONIC.” Unlike “KRYPTO CHRONIC,” however, this tape was much more story-oriented instead of just rapping for the sake of rapping. The underlying story can become a bit confusing on some songs, so today I am going to go track by track and do a deeper dive into the storyline and lyrics behind “KRYPTOZOOLOGY”. I created several different characters for this project and each song helps further establish their lore. Throughout this installment of the Kryptid Chronicles, I am going to explain these characters, their motives, and what they stand for.

The first character is griffin, an anti hero type figure who is loosely based on the main antagonist in the 1933 movie “The Invisible Man”. He and his cat French engage in strange experiments on a deserted island, isolating themselves from the rest of the world. Griffin, however, makes his return to the mainland to reunite with his old friend, CK. CK is a pretty normal dude who spends his days writing and rapping. He met griffin during the beginning of high school, but only knew him for a bit before he ran away. They reunite during a cipher in the title track (using the beat “Jumping Coffin by Aesop Rock) and CK asks griffin about the reasons for his strange actions and experiments. He goes further into detail about his plans in the second track, Griffins revenge (produced by MF DOOM “Shallots”). He describes his ambitions of wreaking havoc on those opposed to his plans and talks about his distain for a majority of current mainstream society, such as other suburbanites posing as gangsters and the superficial nature of most popular music. On the next song, CK isolates himself from everyone else while smoking and reflecting on his current place in life. (Beat used- Offline by Cannon Kyle) The song takes inspiration from the introspective lyrics of artists such as Earl Sweatshirt and discusses themes of internal struggle and lacking confidence, as well as using superficial means to escape uncomfortable predicaments in life. The following track, “Welcome to the Cemetery”, takes place at an open mic night where Griffin raps braggadocios over a Madlib beat (Eternal Broadcaster).

Coming with an aggressive lyrical style, he seeks to solidify himself as a real rapper and not just some gimmicky pop act. After this, we get a song from the perspective of Jack Dillinger, a former police detective who ends up opening a private detective firm with the intent of taking on organized crime in the government. The beat used (Crystal Sword, Aes Rock) reflects the dark and moody atmosphere of the 1940s noir-inspired themes. Dillinger’s character is abrasive, angry, and bitter, but he knows right from wrong and seeks to take down those who take advantage of the underdogs in the city, from beat cops abusing power to top ranking politicians in the pockets of mobsters. “War of the worlds” takes place in the distant future where aliens and humans are at war with each other. The lyrics describe the turmoil and chaos of interplanetary warfare from the perspective of the extraterrestrial invaders. Over the dark MF DOOM beat Mullein, the invaders show their disregard for human life and expose desires for colonizing earth after exterminating the populous. After that, Griffin meets up with Cannon, a fellow musician, and together, over the instrumental to Whoa by Earl Sweatshirt, they rap chaotically about causing trouble along with themes of religion and the start of humanity. After this, Griffin rap’s sarcastically over “Offbeat (groove)” by madlib from the perspective of his pet cat, French, after imagining an incident where the kitten gets her paws on a loaded handgun and causes havoc. This lighthearted track is only a minute long and incorporates clever wordplay and sarcastic/over the top lyrics. Following this, we go back to the perspective of CK on the track “maybe tomorrow”, featuring an original beat produced by Steve the landlord. CK finds himself facing writers block and a lack of inspiration while relying excessively on mind altering substances to rediscover his creativity. After this, on the self produced track “sideways”, CK takes a break from trying to figure something out music-wise and reflects on his past creative endeavors in music, as well as his current position and where he is yet to go. He overcomes his lack of confidence and personal struggles to fuel his passion for the art he makes, not letting others critiques bother or discourage him. It’s a track about personal triumph and pursuing what you love without worrying about judgement.

Overall, I had a fun time making this project. This was different than the projects I had done before because I feel like there’s so much more to it than meets the eye (or ear, I should say). I treated this album almost as if I was writing a book, with detailed descriptions of the storylines and characters who were heavily based off of myself (with obvious alterations, of course). In my personal opinion, this is my strongest and most creative project I’ve released yet.

Thank you for reading this installment and please come back next week if you enjoyed the read. Thanks for all the support.

-Carter

Music Review

Float, by Aesop Rock

Now onto the music! I’m already late on writing this so unfortunately it won’t be as long as originally intended, thanks to my negligence. Next weeks will go more in depth, but without further ado let’s get into this week’s pick, the LP “Float”, released on November 5th, 2000 by rapper Aesop Rock on the underground label Mush Records. Aesop Rock has been an artist I’ve only recently been getting into, and i’ve really enjoyed his albums “Labor Days” and “Bazooka Tooth”, both released on Definitive Jux, as well as his newer stuff like “The Impossible Kid”. I am still digging through his discography and haven’t heard every album yet, but I decided to start at “Float” because I thought it was his first full length (I was unaware that he actually dropped his first album in 1997, called “music for Earthworms”, which is unfortunately not available on streaming services.). Overall, while I found it hard to follow at certain points on my initial listens, I did like this project a lot. Aesop’s unorthodox style is one of my favorites in Hip-Hop right up there with MF DOOM (they are my top 2 although I can’t really decide who I think is better). His lyrical skills are impressive, but to some they might come off as confusing. Aesop is an artist that demands you’re full attention in order to understand what he is saying. I often found myself rewinding constantly trying to understand every bar, which proved to be rather difficult at points due to how complex his lyrics are. Although wordy and hard to follow at points, his message is still apparent and I enjoy the topics he raps about, which range from city life, religion, morality, and dealing with the hardships of life. The beats, produced by Aesop, Blockhead and Omega One, are all pretty good, although I wasn’t crazy about the beat on “Garbage” at first and I’m still not crazy about the beat on “Prosperity. The songs I enjoyed the most on this album have to be “Commencement at the Obedience Academy”, which is probably my favorite song on the whole album due to its crazy production and intricate lyrics about conformity, and “Attention Span”, featuring Cannibal Ox member Vast Aire, who does not disappoint on his feature & actually steals the show in my opinion, with lyrics such as: “I told you my poetry sponsors Gillette/Now you standing there wit razors in your head like barrettes”. The other features by Slug and Doseone on the songs “I’ll Be OK” and “Drawbridge” are also very good in my opinion. In conclusion, Aesop Rock’s album “Float” is a worthwhile listen if you are interested in lyrical rap. I give this LP an A-Tier ranking, which is about a 7 or 8 out of 10.

Outro

That is going to conclude this weeks installment of the Kryptid Chronicles, I hope you guys enjoyed. This was fun to make although I got a little stressed because I’m releasing it late due to my own procrastination. I will be more on top of things next week and will get you the third installment on time. Anyways, thanks for reading, and if you haven’t already, go check out “Kryptid Chronicles REBORN #2”, which is out now on my YouTube and SoundCloud. Bye!

Movies

The Mummy

Released on December 22, 1932, “The Mummy” is a supernatural horror thriller directed by Karl Freund. Its release marked the third official installment in the Universal Monsters universe, coming after “Dracula” and “Frankenstein.” While not as memorable as its predecessors, this movie is still a worthwhile watch. It solidified the mummy character as a staple of horror and pop culture. The movie stars Boris Karloff as a long deceased Egyptian priest, Imhotep, brought back to life by supernatural means, and co-stars Zita Johann as Helen, the mummy’s reincarnated lover, and Edward Van Sloan, who plays Dr. Muller, the Egyptian cult expert. The story centers around archaeologist named Joseph Whemple who, with Muller and his assistant Ralph, discover a mummy buried in the Egyptian desert, along with a box contains the scroll of Thoth, said to contain the power to resurrect the dead. After Ralph disobeys orders and reads the scroll while Muller and Whemple are talking outside, Imhotep rises from his coffin. The sight of the living mummy drives Ralph to insanity and the Mummy escapes, taking the scroll with him. Ten years later, Whemple’s son, Frank, and his assistant are ready to head home from Egypt after an expedition, before Imhotep, now assuming the persona of Ardith Bey, an Egyptian historian, approaches them and gives them coordinates to the lost tomb of his long lost lover, Anck-es-en-amon. They discover the mummy of the princess and her valuables and put them into a museum. Meanwhile, Helen Grosvenor, a half Egyptian woman under the care of Dr. Muller, encounters “Ardith” after being found sleepwalking at the Cairo museum and being taken to Whemple’s quarters. While this is going on, it is revealed that Joseph, Frank, and Muller that a guard was found murdered at the museum holding the scroll of Toth, an item not possessed by the museum. When Helen leaves, Imhotep drops the persona of Ardith and insists for the scroll back. He is refused and threatens to use black magic against Whemple before leaving. Trouble ensues after the scroll is taken back by Imhotep, planning to kill and mummify his lover’s reincarnate (Helen) before mummifying her and resurrecting her. I won’t spoil any more, but I will say the ending is slightly underwhelming. It isn’t bad, it just could’ve been more interesting. Other than that, I love this movie. The music is perfect, the set designs are cool, and Karloff’s portrayal of the mummy Imhotep was amazingly well done. The rest of the cast did well, but Karloff steals the show. The movie can be slow at points and definitely shows its age, but after getting past that, it’s a classic monster flick to watch during Halloween season. This movie is going to be “A” Tier, at the very top, because in my book, it could be a contender for “S” tier. That’s gonna wrap up this review, now onto the next one.

Too Late for Tears

I only had time to write one more review for a movie this week, so I decided to pick carefully. This movie, Too Late For Tears, is a noir/crime film from 1949 and is one of my favorite crime movies I’ve seen recently. It centers around a woman named Jane, a superficial, greedy, loathsome woman, and her husband who encounter a bag full of money that gets thrown into their car after a failed blackmail scheme. Jane and her husband, Allen, are conflicted. Allen wants to do the right thing and turn the money into the police, while Jane wants to keep it for her own satisfaction. They leave the cash at a train station compartment and decide to wait before making any decision about it. Then Jane is approached by the man who was supposed to receive the money, Danny Fuller, who presses Jane on its whereabouts. She convinces him that the money had been turned in, but he soon realizes her lies. Trouble ensues when Jane’s want of money causes her to commit horrid, despondent acts out of greed and jealousy, including murdering multiple people. I won’t go into anymore details about the film because you should watch it for yourself, but I will say, the ending is satisfying. The character of Jane is very notable because she is easily among my top five of characters in movies that I hate. She does horrible things to people she is supposed to care about and destroys herself and those around her in the pursuit of money, all the while acting like an innocent damsel in distress. She is manipulative, greedy, mean, and a liar. While much dishonor is done in this film, law and order prevail at the end and Jane is held accountable for her actions. Overall, I really did enjoy this movie. I felt bad for the characters around Jane, even Danny, because they are oblivious to her mischievous plots, but I’m glad all worked out in the end. This movie gets an A-Tier, because it’s not crazily good to innovative but its a cool crime drama with all the grit and violence that is typically seen in the genre. Give this movie a watch if you’d like. (It’s free on Tubi!!)——https://tubitv.com/movies/631321/too-late-for-tears

The Twilight Zone: Episode Review

Mirror Image

This episode from season one is an all-time favorite of mine (although it used to really freak me out when I was younger). This episode follows a young woman, Millicent Barnes, who is by herself at a bus station, waiting for her ride. However, things start to go wrong when she realizes that a look alike of her has been stalking her, trying to take her place. When she goes to ask the baggage clerk what time the bus is coming, he insists that she was up there just a few minutes before, asking the same thing. She also sees baggage that looks exactly like hers and at one point even sees her doppelgänger sitting in her seat, before turning away for a second, only to find the seat empty when she looked again. Overall, this episode is among my favorite in the entire series. The acting is really good, the story is well written, and the overall atmosphere make this a definite “must watch” in the Twilight Zone series. The doppelgänger theme always kinda scared me when I was younger, so I’ve always found this episode especially unnerving. Overall, this episode gets placed in “S” tier and is definitely one of the best.

The Odyssey of Flight #33

This episode, an underrated gem, in my personal opinion, comes from season two. It takes place on a commercial airline flight, Flight #33. Out of nowhere, the pilot starts to feel the speed of the aircraft increasing. When checking the equipment, it is discovered that their craft is gaining a dangerous amount of velocity. The plane is then hit with a loud crash, causing the aircraft and its passengers to travel back in time. They find the city of New York below them to be nothing but prehistoric forestation with dinosaurs roaming the scenery, growling in hostility at the aircraft. I don’t want to spoil more of this episode, but all I will say is it’s been a recent favorite of mine. I’m interested in stories where flights go missing under mysterious circumstances (like the Bermuda Triangle) and I’ve also enjoyed the 1960 movie, “Time Machine.” The story holds up throughout, even though the claymation dinosaurs and special effects don’t. In conclusion, this episode is great, but it isn’t “S” tier, but I would say it’s “A” tier, which is still a good ranking.

ICON II: Lyrics

If your loop is dope, then I might give it a shot

And if it's not then imma sock you with a fist on the spot

Is he really serious? Maybe, probably not

But for the sake of this song, you'll get rocked and those jaws'll drop

This autist honest in like 70 percent of the rhymes

Inside lines, he might embellish from time to time

Carter's still realer then those basic acts

Faking facts, mixing my rage and teenage angst in tracks

Me and Cannon iconic, man there's no faking that

Intermedia the monicker, you might as well face the wrath

Claim this strange, "I can't relate to that!"

Cause my target is the artistic you're not even who I’m aiming at

Your brain's plain, it's as plain as that

Looking at me like "how the heck is he arranging that?"

Bad memory, bad at chemistry, barely got any friends to see

But I'll assure through words that those listening will remember me

Kryptonite, whatever, I’ve got several names

To match each separate persona that lay inside my mind-frame

It’s almost like my names Bates, lifestyle of the insane’s the norm

Like I was born with a brain deformed

Haven’t released in some months but when it rains, it’s pouring

Flood incoming, build an ark when a tapes reported

After three I was impatient, now you kids are just are stalling

And by the fourth, kicking the door in like I’m Christopher Wallace

Three fifteen, two thousand and seven

Now twenty five, seventeen and Bonds stay strong with my brethren

Six tapes or so, then a thirty-minute record, exceptional

At twelve, indulge in shifty plans penning flows so incredible

Brought in an often over-looked book of braggadocio

Not a rush that’s not adrenaline to meet the sixteen quota

Publish cunning uncorrupted, satisfaction is the salary

I’ll sleep with the fishes before I have a mob mentality

A decade and a half, them years came and went fast

When innocence still existed, no lectures bout a dangerous path

Before you made those lacerations to last

When you were living in the memories, not facing the past

Smart talking with a silver tongue, scribble sketches and novels

In compositions meant for math inscriptions, improbable

That i’d give in on a mission, dedicated to direction

Which I was still figuring out, still thinking with apprehension

Then ascended another obsession, first heard DOOM’s pen at play

Schemes in rhymes unseen, it must be my fate to replicate

Now run with Intermedia, bleed if you intervene with us

Talk our schtick and walk with it so y’all best be believing us

What I’m listening to

Hey everyone, it’s ThatBoiCarter here. Today I will be showing y’all some songs that I have been heavily listening to recently, here. There are a variety of different Hip-Hop artists included, from Aesop Rock to JPEGMAFIA. These artists have influenced my music for the past few years, but I have recently been trying to expand my music taste into other genres. I have been trying to get into albums by bands such as The Flaming Lips and Pink Floyd, and have found myself enjoying songs such as Free Radicals and The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song, although I will say Hip-Hop still resonates with me the most. Maybe I’m just bias because i’ve mostly listened to Hip-Hop for the past three years and due to the fact that I’m actively involved in making Hip-Hop music. However, the lyrics to songs such as The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song resonate with me because of the subject matter of greed and capitalism, which is a theme explored by a lot of Hip Hop artists I enjoy such as JPEGMAFIA and EL-P.

The Wolf Man, 1941, starring Lon Chaney Jr. This movie has been one of my favorites for a while. Ever since my first time watching it in full, I was captivated by the eerie scenery and the tragic storyline, concerning a man named Larry Talbot who was bitten by a werewolf and starts to become one every full moon. Although this wasn’t Universal’s first werewolf movie, (Werewolf Of London, 1936) it became their most successful and solidified the Wolf Man among the other popular Universal Monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man, just to name a few. The story begins with Larry Talbot returning to his village in Wales to reunite with his estranged father Sir John Talbot after his brother was killed in a hunting accident. Larry ends up meeting a girl who he falls in love with, despite the fact she’s engaged, named Gwen Conliffe, and while trying to protect one of Gwen’s friends for an attacking wolf, he is bitten and thus cursed to transform into a wolf at night and attack people. This movie is definitely worth the watch if you are interested in old fashioned gothic horror. While some people might find this movie to be outdated and not very frightening, I personally love movies made in black and white, and I think that It gives the film an interesting creepy vibe that matches the gloomy setting and tragic story. The wolf man make up may not be all that impressive by todays standards, but that doesn’t really matter to me. It’s a film made in the 40’s, of course the costume isn’t gonna be all that. It’s good enough for me though, and that’s all that really matters.

The music is eerie and ominous, perfectly matching the foggy moon-lit scenery as the elusive wolf man stalks his prey. Most of the violence isn’t shown but is just inferred, and by most peoples standards, this flick isn’t very scary. Its eerie and spooky, but if you want more intense scares, this movie probably won’t do it for you.