Rent Behind the Mask / Black Moon (1934)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Two bone-chilling tales from the vaults of Columbia Pictures, starring a host of the classic horror genre's most celebrated names...
Behind the Mask (1932)
A federal agent goes undercover to infiltrate a drug smuggling operation headed by a mysterious Mr. X (Edward Van Sloan), a criminal mastermind whose identity is unknown even to his henchmen. Mr. X is also running a bogus hospital where victims are killed on the operating table, and their coffins stuffed with narcotics. The drug-filled coffins are then buried in a cemetery.
Black Moon (1934)A young girl who lives on a tropical island loses her parents to a voodoo sacrifice, but although she manages to escape the island, a curse is put on her. Years later, as an adult, she feels a strong compulsion to return to the island to confront her past. Her husband, her daughter, and her nanny go with her, but once back on the island, the woman finds herself elevated by the locals to the stature of a voodoo goddess, and she begins her inevitable descent into madness, with disastrous results for her family. - Actors:
- Jack Holt, Fay Wray, Dorothy Burgess, Cora Sue Collins, Arnold Korff, Clarence Muse, Lumsden Hare, Grace Chapman, Laurence Criner, Ruby Dandridge, William R. Dunn, Edna Franklin, Robert Frazier, Theresa Harris, Anna Lee Johnson, Henry Kolker, Pierre Lutere, Billy McClain, Charles R. Moore, Vera Morrison
- Directors:
- Roy William Neill, John Francis Dillon
- Producers:
- Everett Riskin, Harry Cohn
- Writers:
- Clements Ripley, Wells Root, Jo Swerling
- Aka:
- The Man Who Dared (Secret Service) / Black Moon
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Horror, Romance, Thrillers
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 28/10/2024
- Run Time:
- 138 minutes
- Languages:
- English Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B&W and Tinted
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Audio commentary on 'Behind the Mask' with filmmaker and film historian Daniel Kremer (2024)
- Audio commentary on 'Black Moon' with critics and authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman (2024)
- A Gentleman of Leisure (2024, 11 mins): author and academic Sheldon Hall assesses the career of Jack Holt, the forgotten star of 'Behind the Mask' and 'Black Moon'
- The BEHP Interview with Constance Cummings (1997, 69 mins): archival audio recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, of the 'Behind the Mask' actor in conversation with Roy Fowler
- 'Behind the Mask' image gallery
- 'Black Moon' image gallery
- World premiere of 'Behind the Mask' on Blu-ray
- UK premiere of 'Black Moon' on Blu-ray
More like Behind the Mask / Black Moon
Reviews (1) of Behind the Mask / Black Moon
on Black Moon. - Behind the Mask / Black Moon review by Steve
Spooky voodoo shocker inspired by popular US news articles of the 1930s which claimed to expose sinister witchcraft on the Caribbean islands. Dorothy Burgess plays a Spanish woman brought up among these superstitions. She marries a New York businessman (Jack Holt), but continually feels the pull of her origins.
Only she now has a family. Fay Wray comes back to the old plantation with them, mainly because she is a horror star. She doesn’t even get to scream. Roy William Neill directs with his usual feel for atmosphere, with the colour tints, the shadows and the sound of the drums…
Some of this will now set off alarms for its portrayal of race. On the other hand, the white colonials are defined as brutal oppressors and the voodoo a justifiable means of resistance. Though not the murders. Its release was squeezed in just before the enforcement of the Production Code in 1934…
And there is a fair amount of precode exotica. So we see Burgess’ hot voodoo dance in a sexy tribal two-piece. She haunts the whole film from her supporting role. This is for those of us who prefer their ’30s horror without monsters, but with a little psychological deviance.