This Week in Fright Film History February 23 to March 1, 2014

The Walking Dead (1936) was directed by Michael Curtiz and starred Boris Karloff, Ricardo Cortez and Edmund Gwenn.  In the 1936 Warner Bros. release, Karloff plays a man who is wrongly executed then brought back to life by a scientist. Filming began on November 23 (Boris Karloff's 48th birthday) and lasted 18 days, finishing December 23 1935. The film was released on February 29, 1936

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) was based on Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel of the same name was released on March 1, 1945. The film is directed by Albert Lewin and stars George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield and Angela Lansbury best known for her lead role in the 1980s TV series “Murder, She Wrote”. The film won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black- and- White.  Angela Lansbury was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting but lost the Oscar to Anne Revere.

Voodoo Woman (1957) directed by Edward L. Cahn and released by American International Pictures on March 1, 1957. This film is regarded as one of the worst films in cinema history. In fact this film was so bad it almost caused a break-up between the producer Alex Gordon and his fiancée Ruth Alexander. When Gordon took her to see the film at its Burbank premiere, Ruth hand back his engagement ring when the film was over, telling him that he should be making prestigious high class art films and not trash like Voodoo Woman (1957).