1930s Screen Play

Writers: Austin McNichols, Billy Bizub, Chris Ayers and Jackson Dockery
Genre: Horror
Studio: Universal Studios
Director: James Whale
Actor: Boris Karloff, Henry Travers and Deana Durbin
Made in Color: No
Make Up Artist: Jack Pierce

The Bat

The setting begins in a widowed, failed science professors basement as he searches for the cure for Polio and good fortune. (Boris Karloff) Robert Carmicheal begins his research on bats injecting each with mild doses of polio. Meanwhile the experimental vaccine is being combined with the bats DNA to make a deadly combination. Out of carelessness Robert leaves one of the bat's cages unlocked one night. The very next morning Robert enters his layer one of the bats bites Robert and he begins to pass out. After hours of being out cold Robert wakes up to find the bat lying dead next to him and his daughter (Deana Durbin) Marylin concerned and afraid. Although Robert appears the same he most surely is not. A day passes and Robert is sitting beside Marylin smoking a cigar and watching the local news. On the news is a report of a gruesome murder of the Jeffersons, a family that lives down the block. Sickened by what has happened Robert rushes out the door to see the crime scene and what has happened in their quiet suburban town. At the scene the whole family is being carried out in body bags while the Jefferson's dog (who is still alive) begins barking rapidly at Robert, but is restrained by local law enforcement. After coming home Robert begins his work again in the lab and injects his last bat subject with his blood. That night Marylin hears foot steps in the house, curiously she walks over to Robert's room to check up on him, however, his bed is empty. Marylin reaches for the phone to alert the police when a hand comes and grabs her wrist. Flinching Marylin looks up to find Robert covered in blood with  a knife in the other hand. Fearing for her life she begins to run. After running away Robert begins to chase her into the street it is there Robert is hit by a car and killed. The next morning Marylin is in the police station with (Henry Travers) Police Chief Officer Brady, when asked what research her dad had been doing she mentioned how he was trying to cure polio. Officer Brady then mentions how all the other bats had died except for the one with Roberts blood and had been cured of it's disease.


Does this fit the Hays Code?
No, because of violence and blood it would have to be censored.

Why did you choose this staff/production company?
We chose Universal because it was the number one horror movie producer of its time. We chose director James Whale because he is best know for his four horror films, Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, The invisible man and Bride of Frankenstein. Boris Carloff is a pioneer in horror acting, we chose Deana Durbin because she often played young roles for Universal and Henry Travers because he played many supporting roles for Universal.

Movies in Your Spare Time: Inglorious Bastards Edition

It has been six years since I went to the theater and watched Inglorious Bastards. Walking into the theater I was pretty mellow because I knew my dad and I were going to go out to have a nice dinner after. The seats were comfy and I got my "must have" blue slushy before the movie. As for my expectations on the movie, I was expecting a true historical fiction about a failed attempt on Hitler. Of course I realized at the end that it was a work of fiction. I would probably score the movie as an A+ since action, suspense and gore are what I like to see when watching movies which is why this movie threw me onto the Tarantino fan wagon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isVwqPyxLM8

In this scene the camera angle doesn't change too drastically, however, as the man came out to beat the stubborn soldier the camera angle began to zoom in slowly toward the stoic soldiers face as well as zooming in on one solider crying. As the "Bear Jew" walked out and the German was about to meet his faith I noticed the camera angle had been shot from a low angle to make the American solider look intimidating as well as give us a perspective on the German solider. That being said, to escalade the tension the background music got louder and louder making me feel like I was watching one of my favorite cartoons of Tom and Jerry with the build up of deep background music.


Another film made by Tarantino that seemed to be no different from Inglorious Bastards was Django Unchained. Tarantino seemed to still have been stuck on the topic of racial revenge when planning Django Unchained. Aside from Brad Pit's funny accent whenever he would say "We're killing Nazzzis" I would have to accredit Christopher Waltz and all the talent he had brought to both movies. His charming persona of outsmarting dumb pro-slavery rednecks blends just the right amount of comical relief into his role. To me Tarantino and Waltz are a perfect mix for the twisted, violent and humorous movies they produce together.