Boris Karloff Documentary Gets 5-Minute Trailer
Throughout the history of cinema, monsters have taken all shapes and forms, though few actors are [...]
Throughout the history of cinema, monsters have taken all shapes and forms, though few actors are as intrinsically linked with the genre as Boris Karloff, whose career includes playing Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, and a number of other horror roles. To celebrate the actor's accomplishments, the upcoming documentary Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster will chronicle the star's astonishing career, featuring interviews with some of the biggest names in genre cinema. Check out the extended trailer for the new documentary above and stay tuned for details on the release of The Man Behind the Monster, from director Thomas Hamilton.
The new documentary is confirmed to feature interviews with Guillermo Del Toro, John Landis, Joe Dante, Christopher Plummer, Peter Bogdanovich, Ron Perlman, Leonard Maltin, Sir Christopher Frayling, Sara Karloff, Gregory Mank, Roger Corman, Stephanie 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, Renee Glynne, Sharyn Moffett, Neil Pettigrew, Ruth Shiel, Courtlandt Hull, Ron Simon, Jaymz Bee, Thomas Hamilton, Ron MacCloskey, and more.
As if portraying these characters wasn't enough to solidify him in the annals of horror, many audiences would argue that Karloff defined these characters and no performers since have come close to capturing them as effectively as he did. In addition to Frankenstein and The Mummy, Karloff also starred in films like The Old Dark House, The Ghoul, and The Black Cat. Yet another of his famous roles couldn't be further from the horror world, as Karloff narrated the animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 1966.
Recent years have seen Universal Studios attempt to revive their slate of Universal Monsters to largely underwhelming results. Back in 2014, Dracula Untold was meant to set the stage for a series of reboots of their iconic characters, though the film fell short of both financial and critical expectations.
In 2017, the studio officially announced its Dark Universe project, which would be a unified franchise of their famous monsters, which included the announcement that Javier Bardem would become the new Frankenstein's Monster. Unfortunately, the first film in the series, The Mummy, was another disappointment on all fronts, effectively killing the concept in that form. This year's successful The Invisible Man is one of the year's best-reviewed horror films, leading to reports about new takes on Dracula, The Wolf Man, and Bride of Frankenstein being developed.
Stay tuned for details on Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster.
Are you looking forward to the documentary? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!