the mad monster

1942



The Mad Monster is a horror film featuring a mad scientist and a werewolf as the main characters. The film, shot in black and white, was originated by Producers Releasing Corporation, a Poverty Row studio best known by the initials P.R.C. Directed by Sam Newfield and written by Fred Myton, the film, Poverty Row's only Werewolf movie, stars George Zucco, Glen Strange and Anne Nagel.

This film is available online as a free download.

dead men walk

1943



Dead Men Walk is a black-and-white horror film produced by Sigmund Neufeld for Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). It is an original story and screenplay by Fred Myton, starring George Zucco, Mary Carlisle, Nedrick Young and Dwight Frye, directed by Sam Newfield.

Throughout the 1940s, Zucco apparently took every role that was offered him, playing mad scientists, master criminals, and occasional red herrings in films ranging from Universal's The Mad Ghoul (1943) to PRC's Fog Island (1945). He played the fanatical Egyptian priest Anhodeb in 1940's The Mummy's Hand, and, though supposedly killed in that film, showed up none the worse for wear in the 1942 sequel The Mummy's Tomb. His quirkiest horror role was as a gas station attendant who doubled as a kidnapper and voodoo drum-thumper in Monogram's incredible Voodoo Man (1944).

This film is available online as a free download.

fog island

1945



An early low-budget spin on Ten Little Indians, this cheap but entertaining PRC production features a cast of familiar B-movie faces, particularly George Zucco and Lionel Atwill. Zucco plays a man wrongfully imprisoned after being framed for his wife's murder by one of his colleagues. After his release, he joins forces with a mad inventor to carry out his long-awaited plans of revenge, inviting a group of his former associates to a remote island mansion, which is enveloped in a thick perpetual fog and rigged with numerous lethal booby-traps, in an effort to reveal and destroy the guilty party. Somewhat cheap-looking but boasting some remarkable special effects, this film is worth a look for its great pairing of hammy Atwill and Zucco.

Fog Island is available online as a free download.