This Week in Fright Film History August 20 - 26, 2017

The Seventh Victim (1943) starring Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, Kim Hunter (in her first film), and Hugh Beaumont, directed by Mark Robson was released August 21,1943.

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949) a comedy/ horror film starring Abbott and Costello and Boris Karloff was released on August 22, 1949. The full onscreen title is Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff.

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The Student of Prague (1913), with a run time of 1 hour 25 minutes, is hailed as the first true feature length film in history. The film premiered on August 22, 1913. It is reported the some of the audience members actually screamed when the student’s image steps out of the mirror. Although this effect was achieved with the ever so common double exposure technique that effect had never been seen by the movie going audience at that time and it did make quite an impression.

Lon Chaney, known for his roles in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and London After Midnight (1927) died on August 26, 1930 from bronchial lung cancer, he was 47 years old.

The Head of Janus (1920) a German horror silent film directed by F. W. Murnau and written by Hans Janowitz . The film was an unauthorized adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the German authorities did not recognize the source material due to the changes in the names of the characters. The director F.W. Murnau is best known for his film Nosferatu (1922) which was unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The film was released on August 26 ,1920

The Abominable Snowman (1957) was directed by Val Guest and released by Hammer Film Productions on August 26, 1957. The film is based on a 1955 BBC television play, The Creature, written by Nigel Kneale, who also wrote the screenplay adaptation for the film. The Abominable Snowman (1957) was released in the United States under the title of The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas.