James Whale – Stream On Demand

The 1936 ‘Show Boat’ with Irene Dunne and Paul Robeson on HBO Max

!Featured, adapted from the stage, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Criterion, drama, DVD, HBO Max, Hollywood Classic, Musical, National Film Registry, SVOD 04/14/2022 Sean Axmaker

James Whale directs the second and best screen adaptation of the classic musical of a floating paddlewheel playhouse in the 19th century Deep South.

Gloria Stuart stars with Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Raymond Massey, and Ernest Thesiger in James Whale's classic horror comedy

James Whale’s ‘The Old Dark House’ on Shudder and free on Kanopy and Hoopla

!Featured, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Criterion Channel, Cult Movies, DVD, Free, Halloween, Hoopla, horror, Kanopy, pre-code, Shudder, SVOD 10/29/2021 Sean Axmaker 2 Comments

Whale followed up his iconic horror classic ‘Frankenstein’ with this strange, sly, and sardonic project, part haunted house terror and part spoof, executed with baroque style.

Claude Rains is the original ‘The Invisible Man’ on Peacock and Criterion Channel

!Featured, based on a novel, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Criterion Channel, Cult Movies, DVD, Halloween, Hollywood Classic, horror, literary adaptation, National Film Registry, Peacock, SVOD 10/10/2021 Sean Axmaker

James Whale directs the first adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel, bringing a mix of humor, horror, and madness to the story.

Universal Horrors: the birth of American horror cinema and the original cinematic shared universe

!Featured, Articles, based on a novel, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Cult Movies, DVD, fantasy, Halloween, Hollywood Classic, horror, Peacock, SVOD 10/08/2021 Sean Axmaker

Decades before the Marvel Comics movie universe was born, Frankenstein and Dracula and the Wolf Man crossed paths, teamed up, and battled one another.

‘The Bride of Frankenstein’ – a delirious sequel on Peacock and Criterion Channel

!Featured, Academy Award nominee, based on a novel, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Cult Movies, DVD, Essential Viewing, fantasy, Halloween, Hollywood Classic, horror, National Film Registry, Peacock, pre-code, SVOD, thriller 10/07/2020 Sean Axmaker

Boris Karloff wrings even more pathos from his plight as the misunderstood monster and Elsa Lanchester’s hissing, birdlike performance as the bride made her an instant icon.

The original ‘Frankenstein’ on Peacock

!Featured, based on a novel, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Cult Movies, DVD, Essential Viewing, Halloween, Hollywood Classic, National Film Registry, Peacock, pre-code, Science Fiction, SVOD, thriller 10/05/2020 Sean Axmaker

“It’s alive! Alive! In the name of God now I know what it’s like to be God!” James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931) is the granddaddy of modern monster movies. Universal was looking to a follow up to the tremendous success of Dracula when it assigned sophomore director Whale to helm an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s famous novel […]

Ian McKellen is plays cult director James Whale in Bill Condon's Oscar-winning 'Gods and Monsters.'

‘Gods and Monsters’ on VOD and Blu-ray/DVD

!Featured, Academy Award, American Independent Cinema, based on a true story, Blu-ray, drama, DVD, Film Independent Spirit Awards, Have You Seen...?, historical, movies about movies, SVOD 05/30/2020 Sean Axmaker

Gods and Monsters (1998), Bill Condon’s first collaboration with Ian McKellen (the star of his Sherlock Holmes-in-retirement drama Mr. Holmes), is also a speculation on the final days of an aging artist whose failing memory haunts him. This one happens to be a real-life figure: James Whale, the debonair, openly gay British director who came […]

Blu-ray: Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection

Blu-ray, Blu-ray review, horror 10/27/2018 Sean Axmaker 2 Comments

Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection (Universal, Blu-ray) Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy have traversed the trail from horror icon to camp figure and back again and sparked the imaginations of readers and moviegoers for decades. Yet call forth the images nestled in the public consciousness and you’ll find that the […]