Watching old, old movies part 10

This has been on hiatus for almost 2½ years! I'm going through this list and here are my previous entries.

28. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
I've wanted to see this one since I watched the 25th anniversary of the musical back in 2011. I read the novel before I watched this and this is a lot more truthful to the original novel than the musicals are. I enjoyed seeing the parallells between the musical and this movie (as well as the novel) but I especially liked seeing the references to the novel, like the Phantom's underground mansion and how he snorkled his way through the underground lake. Ofc being used to the musical the movie had a lot less oomph because there's no epic music, but the story is still the same and just like every time I watch the musical I just feel so sorry for the Phantom. He is what the cruel world made him. In 1925 when this movie was released the legend is that the women were warned to keep smelling salts with them because they were expected to faint at the face reveal. It's also said that Lon Chaney did the make-up for the Phantom by himself. This is a masterpiece.

29. The Innocents (1961)
Finally a haunted house that is haunted! I had never heard of this movie before, but it was a really good one. First thing it does is making me laugh because the uncle's attitude towards the children is so relatable. I loved the whole Victorian setting and I marvelled at the clothes of the governess and Flora. The story has two layers; the first one could be interpreted as an ordinary haunted house tale and the governess is trying to save the children from the ghosts possessing them; the other is a tale of a governess slowly losing her mind as it becomes obvious right at the end that she's the only one who can see the ghosts. I love the ambiguity! The first three quarters of the movie go by pretty slowly as the suspension builds up (I was pretty bored with it in the first half) but then it becomes oh so good. The final scene was a wtf moment for me.

30. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
First old-timey movie I see starring both legends Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee :3 And more will come. This is basically a remake of the Frankenstein movie from 1931, but with a little more refined storytelling. As with every Frankenstein movie I've seen it bothers me how different the monster is compared to how he is in the novel. In the novel the monster is sentient and quite intelligent, the only screen adaptations of the monster that I've so far found to mimic this have been in Penny Dreadful and Van Helsing. The conclusion of this movie is very final as both the monster and his creator are killed and disposed of.