Zombies on Broadway (1945)
Zombie Comedy
A Bela Lugosi comedy in which two inept press agents are ordered to obtain a zombie for the opening of a club
Films of 1945
A Thousand and One Nights (1945)
Arabian Nights Adventure
Part of the fad during the 1940s for swashbuckling Arabian Nights adventures, this tells the story of Aladdin and is more embracing of the fantasy elements than most of the other films of this period
Tarzan and the Amazons (1945)
Jungle Hero
The ninth of the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films. All but the first two Weissmuller films slip into the utterly banal and formulaic. The novelty this time is Tarzan encountering a city inhabited all by all women
Strange Holiday (1945)
Nazi Takeover of the US
Arch Oboler makes a film in which Claude Rains returns from a holiday to find a Nazi government has overtaken the USA
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Eternally Youthful Libertine
Adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s novel about an unaging libertine starring Hurd Hatfield. This is regarded as a classic but reads as fairly melodramatic and tame today
Manhunt of Mystery Island (1945)
Serial/Resurrected Pirate Villain
A fifteen chapter serial about a villain who uses an atomic device to transform into a dead pirate captain. Filled with some wonderfully exciting action set-pieces and cliffhangers
The Man in Half Moon Street (1945)
Scientist with an Immortality Serum
Effort from the heyday of mad science cinema about a scientist who has perfected an immortality treatment. Better budgeted than most of the other cheapies of the era and better written, although suffers from a slow talkiness
Isle of the Dead (1945)
Plague Outbreak/Possible Vampire Creature
One of the classic psychological horror films from producer Val Lewton. This is a slightly less effective Lewton work featuring Boris Karloff on a plague-ridden island unsure if a vampire creature is responsible
House of Dracula (1945)
Universal Monster Bash
The third of Universal’s monster bashes, a successor to the previous House of Frankenstein. These Universal crossovers felt contrived in their reasons to bring the monsters together but this works better than the others
Hangover Square (1945)
Mad Composer
Big man Laird Cregar gained a sudden fame as the killer in The Lodger and was quickly repackaged as another psychopathic killer in this vehicle where he plays a mentally disturbed composer
The Enchanted Cottage (1945)
Romantic Fantasy/Transformation
An old-fashioned weepie melodrama about a cottage that allows a disfigured soldier and a plain woman to find love where the magic there allows them to see the other as perfect
Dick Tracy (1945)
Comic-Book Detective
Feature film version of the popular comic-book detective that led to three sequels. Here the stylised look of the comic-book comes out resembling a regular crime drama but the film is not uninteresting
Dead of Night (1945)
Horror Anthology
Celebrated British horror anthology, which tells five ghost stories and tales of the supernatural. All are strong stories with The Ventriloquist’s Dummy segment in particular having become regarded as a classic
The Body Snatcher (1945)
Grave Robbers
One of the classic films of producer Val Lewton, a loose adaptation the historical story of the 19th Century body snatchers Burke and Hare. Robert Wise is on fine form as director and Boris Karloff gives one of his best performances.
Blithe Spirit (1945)
Ghost Drawing Room Comedy
An early David Lean film, an adaptation of a Noel Coward play, a drawing room comedy in which a medium conjures a man’s late wife amid much malarkey and mayhem
And Then There Were None (1945)
Agatha Christie Murder Mystery
Agatha Christie created the slasher film (sort of). This murder mystery (usually known by several less politically correct names) with a series of murders on an isolated island holds the kernel of what became the slasher template. This was the first film adaptation.