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SMC Pod #189: The Val Lewton RKO horror unit of the 1940's & Jacques Tourneur
RKO needed money fast in 1943 and they brought on David O Selznick protege Val Lewton to head a unit devoted to cheapie horror movies. The rules-use their titles like Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The Leopard Man-then figure out the rest. Lewton miraculously created a cycle of incredible atmospheric literate horror movies, several masterfully directed by genre master Jacques Tourneur, that helped revive the career of Boris Karloff, introduce subtexts like repressed sexuality, acceptance of death, compulsion, and influence many artists like Martin Scorsese and Harlan Ellison. Secret…
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