Friends, the original plan for this afternoon was to present a new episode of the Saturday Frights podcast – due to work and getting that special episode of the Pop Culture Retrorama out however, those plans fell through. Although at the very least we can enjoy this nearly five minute long trailer for the upcoming documentary entitled Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster from Voltage Films. A documentary that appears to be an in-depth and sincere tribute to the actor who helped make the Frankenstein’s Monster an absolute cinematic horror icon – to say nothing of playing the titular character in The Mummy, or acting as narrator as well as providing the voice for the Grinch in the 1966 animated television adaption… plus about 204 other roles in film and television.
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster was directed, produced and co-written by Thomas Hamilton – who also wrote, produced, and helmed the 2016 documentary on The Scarlet Pimpernel and Gone with the Wind‘s Leslie Howard.
As I have shared on this site and on the Saturday Frights podcast many, many times – it was seeing 1931’s Frankenstein at the age of three that set me on the path of becoming a Monster Kid. Karloff’s portrayal of the Frankenstein Monster did not scare me in the least – far from it – thanks to the actor’s moving performance I clearly saw the fear and pain of the ‘monster’… his gentle soul.
A gentle soul is by all accounts the perfect description of Boris Karloff – through the years I’ve never heard or read of someone having anything bad to say about the actor. In fact I would say that the sheer number of filmmakers and entertainers that are featured in Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster is a testament to his life and legacy. From the information provided on the YouTube channel:
“Featuring Guillermo Del Toro, John Landis, Joe Dante, Christopher Plummer, Peter Bogdanovich, Ron Perlman, Leonard Maltin, Sir Christopher Frayling, Sara Karloff, Gregory Mank, Roger Corman, Stefanie Powers, Ian Ogilvy, Norman Jewison, Orson Bean, Kevin Brownlow, Caroline Munro, Stephen Jacobs, Dick Miller, Peter Asher, Virginia Bates, Nehemiah Persoff, David J Skal, Donald F Glut, Derek Malcolm, Bernie Coleman, Lee Grant, Rick Goldschmidt, Stuart Hersh, Miles Kreuger, Valerie Yaros, H.M.Wynant, Diane Aubry, Anthony Pratt, Renée Glynne, Sharyn Moffett, Neil Pettigrew, Ruth Shiel, Courtlandt Hull, Ron Simon, Jaymz Bee, Thomas Hamilton, Ron MacCloskey and more… Available in early 2021”
In closing this article I want to thank John Squires of Bloody Disgusting for the heads up on the trailer as well as the documentary itself. In addition you can visit the Facebook page for Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Mystery to keep up to date on the latest news concerning the release date, etc.
+ There are no comments
Add yours