VAL LEWTON & HORROR NOIR

Val Lewton was a producer at RKO in the 1940s.  His B-movie unit was responsible for turning out 9 classic horror movies.  Many consider these to be strongly in the tradition of Film Noir.  The first three were helmed by Jacques Tourneur who directed last week's in-class viewing, "Out of the Past."  The following scene is from the initial outing in this horror/noir cycle, "Cat People."  (The quality of this clip is good enough to be enjoyed on "full screen" mode.

We are watching a Lewton film in class this week, "The Seventh Victim."  Here is a trailer.

Double indemnity

I watched this movie last night and did not find the awesomeness as expressed by so many.  Out of the Past was such a superior movie in so many ways.  I look forward to watching the movies to come especially the one n the horror genre.

Great article and I really enjoyed the first movie, Double Indemnity. I love how Neff always called her "Baby" rather than using her name when speaking to Phyllis.

Also and interesting video below to watch. Long but even only watching a few is worthwhile.

http://www.amazon.com/Film-Noir-Trailers-Behind-Scenes/dp/B005IKYGO8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408627760&sr=8-1&keywords=film+noir+trailers

Notes on Film Noir - Paul Schrader

One of the most famous and influential articles on Film Noir was this one written in the 70s by Paul Schrader, a film director and the writer of "Taxi Driver" among many others.

Notes on Film Noir

Here is also a clip with him briefly discussing the subject.  All six sections of the interview are available on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUhP1o_iXYE

Class starts in a week and this is a good general introduction to the subject.