The American Scream fascinates with home-haunting obsessions

By Doug Gibson

Documentary film-maker Michael Paul Stephenson of Magic Stone Productions, who had a fantastic debut with "Best Worst Movie," the documentary that explored the cult obsession with the film he starred in, "Troll 2," mostly through the eyes of dentist cum actor George Hardy, has made another impressive documentary that explores obsessions, fandom, persistence and sacrifice. "The American Scream" takes an inside, personal look at home-haunting enthusiasts, focusing on three families in the neighborhoods of Fairhaven, Mass., a mostly working- middle-class community where the houses possess far more age, and character, than generic big houses found in the suburbs.

The neighborhoods, with starter and family homes stitched tight together in streets teeming with children, are ideal for home haunts and trick-or-treating. Most of our neighborhoods have at least one home a street decorated well for Halloween, but Victor Bariteau, IT man for a financial firm by dad, takes his home-haunting beyond what most of us could even imagine. Blessed with a wife, Tina, who puts up with his year-round obsession, and two daughters, one of whom is a chip off dad's block, he literally spends thousands of dollars and what seems like 20 to 40 hours a week preparing for, with great detail, a haunted home spook alley that appears to have as much thought put into it as a professional haunted house.

Within and outside the Bariteau house, virtually all extra space, as well as a healthy chunk of essential space, is devoted to props and preparation for a one-night show for Fairhaven residents that will yield no revenue, but tons of satisfaction for Victor. He's a dogged eccentric that the viewer can't help liking. A survivor of a mother who raised him as a Branch Davidian (his family left before Waco), Victor was denied a childhood with Halloween, or birthdays, or most other holidays. In one scene, his childlike delight in finding a real, "used" coffin for only $200 captures the positive vibes he gets. Watching how eagerly he cultivates one daughter's shared interest in his haunts, one gets the impression she also represents the friends he was rarely allowed to have as a child. In one strong scene, he cites community involvement as a key reason for loving Halloween. It's a tribute to Victor's personality and dedication that he literally has a small company of friends who volunteer long hours to help create the haunt. At one point, Victor, with pride, mentions that his kids are celebrities in their schools as a result of his labors.

And that applies to his wife, Tina. It must be a rare woman who can accept such a full-time hobby obsession of her husband's despite the budget, time and clutter concerns that comes with it. At one point, she matter-of-factly defends her acceptance when she tells director Stephenson that he could be wasting the money on "season football tickets." There's a reason why Victor was so fortunate in choosing a wife. Tina can see that the home-haunting makes her husband a better man, a better father and a better spouse. There's a powerful scene where Victor, suffering from what pros call "haunt-stress" just prior to Halloween, loses his cool for just a moment. Tina is upset but barely shows it. Victor, as a loving spouse does, senses it, quickly hugs his wife and apologizes.

The other families featured in Fairhaven are also very interesting. Stephenson is very skilled at capturing how haunt-housing makes the obsessed haunted decorators, spook alley playwrights, performers and designers better people, better loved by by family and friends, and respected in the city. Home-haunters Matt Brodeur and his dad Dick are two eccentric, woefully out of shape oddballs who literally provide sustenance to each other through their share obsession of house haunting, as well as another sideline, working shows as clowns, often as pirate clowns. As one close friend tells the filmmakers, Matt the son takes care of dad, a retired engineer who appears to be suffering badly from diabetes. At the same time, Dick the dad provides a home for his son as well as the means and the location to oversee their shared home-haunting obsession-hobby. Watching the two work together, with their gripes, quirks, successes and squabbles, is both amusing and touching. They are equals, more Ernie and Bert than father and son, and as close as two old lifelong friends can be. Both thrive off the other. One of the best scenes captures the pair, in hectic fashion, trying to put together a seesaw that lifts ghoul dolls -- attached to the seats -- up and down.

The third family is headed by home haunter Manny Souza, a beefy municipal worker who is ably assisted by his wife, Lori and what seems like an army of relatives complete with many kids. Souza is a gruff teddy bear; a strong scene is a trek to a farmer with many kids to collect a pickup truck full of corn stalks to use in his family's spook alley. The stalk-gathering is overseen, with gruff thoroughness, by Manny.

Souza, as well as the Brodeurs, are not as deeply invested in home haunts as Victor Bariteau. There's a scene where Victor talks very wistfully of how only his responsibilities of keeping a roof over his family's heads, as well as financial security, keeps him from a dream of of graduating from home-haunting to the pay-for-scares of a real haunted house. He so desperately wants to take that next step.

 Souza, who is mildly critical of Bariteau for being too obsessed with Halloween, does admit to having once cared more about his hobby. A heart attack stemmed the frenetic-ness of his passionate activity, and he describes, with tears of gratitude, how moved he was by how his family and friends picked up the slack so the Souza house would not miss Halloween the year of his illness.

Stephenson moves the 90-minute plus film through the month of October, with day-until-Halloween listed on the screen. It pays off with an effective holiday climax. The viewers, by now very interested in how the home haunt spook alleys will be, are not disappointed. The atmosphere in the Bariteau house is equal to an opening night, with last-minute preps and fixes, eager, nervous performers, and long lines of trick-or-treaters already waiting.

However, as interesting as the haunts are the personal stories of the Bariteau, Brodeur and Souza families, their interactions and the familial support systems within these unique persons. There is also a bit of pathos, as Victor is facing imminent layoff due to work exports, Manny's heart attack has made him more aware of his mortality, and the earthly bond that sustains the Brodeurs may not last long due to dad's poor health.

Home-haunting is not a term I was too familiar with, but Stephenson's "The American Scream" leaves me wanting to get another spook alley fix. IMDB info is here. The movie's website is here. The film will air on Chiller TV on Oct. 28.

In the spirit of this year's election season, 'The Dark Horse'

The Dark Horse, 1932, 75 minutes, B&W, First National Pictures, directed by Alfred E. Green. Starring Guy Kibbee as Zachary Hicks, Warren William as Hal S. Blake, Bette Davis as Kay Russell, Vivienne Osborne as Maybelle Blake, Hal's ex-wife, Berton Churchill as William A. Underwood and Frank McHugh as Joe. Rating: 7 stars out of 10.

By Doug Gibson

A quick note: "The Dark Horse" is one of those wonderful 1930s programmers that would sit neglected in a film library (or perhaps sit seldom seen in a Bette Davis film collection DVD) if it wasn't for Turner Classic Movies. Film-lovers are in debt to TMC, which daily offers an invaluable history lesson of cinema with its offerings.

Now, on to "The Dark Horse." This is a delightful satire of politics that proves that, even 76 years ago, we weren't fooled by the absurdities of the political arena. Veteran actor Guy Kibbee plays, Zachary Hicks, a bumbling fool of a man who is accidentally nominated by his "Progressive" Party to be governor of an unnamed state after the two front-runners are deadlocked.

A party secretary, Kay Russell, (a very young Bette Davis) recommends that a fast-talking, charming cad of a man Hal S. Blake (forgotten leading man Warren William) be bailed out of jail -- where's he sitting due to unpaid child support -- to run Hicks' campaign. Blake does a masterful job, all while trying to stay one step ahead of his scheming, vindictive ex-wife (Vivienne Osborne) and romancing wary secretary Russell.

The key to the film, though, is the dumbness and naivete of 50sh Hays, thrust out of nowhere. Kibbee is perfect in the role. He provides understated humor in his misunderstanding of situations and constant "yes ... and maybe no" to any question. William's political operative is uncannyingly on-target, you could almost picture him spinning on cable news shows today. Davis hasn't much to do but viewers can sense her screen presence that would lead her to stardom. A fun, fast-paced film that still has relevance today, it's well worth watching when it's on TCM. Watch the trailer here.

Notes: Kibbee was a very much in demand character actor and B-film starrer in the 30s and early 40s. He is best known as the corrupt governor controlled by Jim Taylor in Frank Capra's 1939 classic "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." He also starred in the only sound version of Sinclair Lewis' tale "Babbitt." Kibbee is great as Babbitt in that seldom-seen 1934 film, which aired recently on TCM. Frank McHugh, who played William's political sidekick, is best known as Father Tim Dowd in the 1944 Bing Crosby classic "Going My Way."

Bela Lugosi in The Raven

By Doug Gibson

Simply put, "The Raven" (1935) is a masterpiece. And credit for its perfection belongs to star Bela Lugosi, who is magnificent as the brilliant, deranged, courtly and insane Dr. Richard Vollin, who is so obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe that he has built real Poe-inspired torture devices in his dungeon.

Lugosi's Vollin is implored upon to save the life of a beautiful dancer, Jean Thatcher. Once he restores her to health, he fall in lust with her and wants her for himself. Rebuffed by Thatcher's father, he hatches a plan to invite the dancer, her father, her fiance, and others to be tortured and murdered. In his feverish mind, Vollin believes that by killing, he can be released from his Poe obsessions.

Vollin's unwilling helper is Edmond Bateman, a murderer on the lam who bewails his ugly face. He begs Vollin to bring beauty to his countenance. Instead, Vollin makes him uglier and then promises to fix his ugliness after he kills his guests.

Lugosi is juat brilliant. He's gentlemanly and manic, polite and cruel,  courteous and a raving lunatic. The short, 61-minute film is tightly directed by Lew Landers. It is an example of Universal's cruelty to Lugosi that he received only half as much as Karloff earned, although Lugosi's Vollin is the real star, the real villain. In this film, Lugosi proved that he could play the essential mad scientist, obsessed, insane, unfeeling, sadistic, perverted and, of course, brutal and murderous. In fact, Lugosi and Karloff play almost the same type of roles they would play in The Body Snatchers a decade later, with Karloff the weaker one in The Raven.

This is a film that should not be missed by any horror film fan. Watch this fan-produced trailer that I found on YouTube below.

House of Dracula -- Universal kitsch

By Doug Gibson

1945's "House of Dracula," (you can see the trailer above) was Universal's final "serious" film using the trio of monsters it had achieved fame with the past 14 years, to wit the Frankenstein monster, Count Dracula and the Wolfman. Unlike the films that formed the genesis of these monsters, "House of Dracula" contains none of the drama, pathos, emotion, creativity, plots and scripts that enhanced the originals. "House of Dracula" is a silly, kitschy film, very derivative as well as outlandish at times. It's a comic book tale with all three of the monsters, as well as a mad scientist who resembles Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

That's not to say "House of Dracula" is a poor film. It's actually a well-directed, economical, lean Universal B  60 minutes-plus time-waster that is well directed by Erle C. Kenton. It serves as a reminder that even the most formulaic big-studio production always outshone similar cheaper efforts from the Monograms and PRCs of that era. The film begins with Count Dracula (John Carradine) visiting the European castle of Dr. Franz Edelmann. Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) is working on developing a mold that can cure almost any disease. He hopes to use it to correct the malady of his hunchbacked assistant, Nina, played by Jane Adams.

The film starts to get immediately. Dracula, traveling under a fake name, is not searching for necks to bite. What he really wants is a cure; he wants to stop being Dracula. Because he's a humane man, Edelmann, even after learning that he's Dracula, decides to try to help him. After noticing that Dracula's blood contains a strange parasite, Edelmann shares his blood with Dracula.

This is a ridiculous plot twist for any purist, and although many have criticized Universal for not casting Bela Lugosi as Dracula in this film, it's probably a plus that he was passed over. Lugosi's Dracula could never be the passive, somber, ambling Dracula that Carradine portrays in the film. The idea of Lugosi's Dracula pleading for blood tests would have turned a silly but somber film into a farce. Lugosi is simply too good for such nonsense. To Carradine's credit, he creates his own Dracula; like his previous turn as the Count in "House of Frankenstein," he keeps things low-key and looks a bit like a quietly eccentric clergyman. Playing Dracula in that manner makes Carradine's transformation to cruel bloodsucker more effective. After being attracted to another one of Edelmann's assistants, comely Miliza Morell, played by Martha O'Driscoll, Dracula is none-too-pleased when Edelmann interferes. In as strange sequence, Dracula gains control over the doctor on the transfusion table, infects his blood, and -- after a half-hearted attempt to kidnap Miliza, returns to his casket, where he humbly submits to eternal death.

While the Dracula tale has been unfolding, Lon Chaney Jr., as the eternally depresses Lawrence Talbot the Wolf Man, as meandered to the castle. The good-hearted Edelmann has diagnosed his werewolf malady as the result of pressure in the cranium, and Talbot eagerly submits to treatment with hopes that his curse can be cured. At one low point, Talbot attempts suicide by jumping off a cliff into the sea. The coast hides several sea caves, and lo and behold the Frankenstein monster (Glenn Strange) is discovered unconscious in one!

While Lugosi would have a poor choice for this film's Dracula, he would have been an ideal picks as the saintly Dr. Edelmann, eventually turned into a mad killer by blood contamination. After all, Karloff had played a mad scientist in House of Frankenstein with Strange taking over the monster, so Lugosi could have easily endured Carradine. However, Bela was on the outs with Universal, so Stevens got the role.

To be fair, Onslow Stevens does an OK job as the doc. He shows fine acting skills, particularly when he attempts to fight his evil side from overpowering his virtue. Perhaps the most chilling moment occurs when the bad Dr. Edelmann, too impulsive to have ant control, murders the virtuous, sympathetic hunchback nurse Nina, a woman the doctor truly cares about. It's a shocking death, and effective in its horror aspect, since Nina's character is developed enough for the audience to truly care about her.

There are villagers in this film, including Lionel Atwill, who hasn;t much to do as the inspector, and slimy, repulsive character actor Skelton Knaggs, who lends a sinister air as a villager bent on revenge after his brother is killed by bad Edelmann. As for "bad Edelmann," he's determined to resurrect the monster, and it's up to the (now cured!?) Talbot and nurse Miliza -- who appears to have the hots for each other -- to try and stop the bad doc. (This was filmed in an era where Chaney was slowly starting to lose his looks -- due to his alcoholism -- but he still handsome enough to get the girl)

Despite my criticism of "House of Dracula" as kitsch, it's fun kitsch and a horror fan who has enjoyed "Frankenstein," "Dracula" and other vintage horror won;t be disappointed with it. In fact, you'll probably want to watch it several times. I have.