Tod Slaughter

[peter johnson]

Perusing my local record store, I came across some DVDs with crudely drawn covers for only $3.
One was a double-feature:  Murder in The Red Barn (1935) and The Face at the Window (1939), starring a guy I'd never heard of, one Tod Slaughter.
Well, first of all, what a name, eh?  And inside was a huge booklet, giving a history of the films and a history of this guy, Slaughter.
I highly recommend Googling this guy, if you haven't already done so.  There's a wealth of info. on him on the old internet, and he really is a unique character.
All of Slaughter's films were produced and directed by a guy named George King, who seems to have a wicked sense of Melodrama and humor, as well as a commitment to the film standards of William Beaudine, eg:  One shot should do it.
I'm not one for writing lengthy reviews, but I'm not ruining anything by saying that Slaughter would seem to be going for a sort of Richard III by way of Snidely Whiplash in his performances.  I really can't think of another actor quite like him.
Apparently he was tremendously popular in England in the '30's and '40's.  As one reviewer points out, you've never seen a more reluctant digging scene in your life as the one in Red Barn, wherein he's being forced to dig up the body of one of his freshly killed victims.
Personally, I plan to find and savor every single Tod Slaughter film available out there.  I suggest you do the same . . .
Makes William Shatner look like Buster Keaton . . .
"There, God!  There she lies dead!  See if you can move her again!!" -- the incomparable Tod Slaughter, spitting venom at God, in Murder in the Red Barn.
peter johnson/denny crane