Review: Horror Movies, The First 75 Years, Volume 1: The Mummy - David Whitehead

I always think of David Whitehead as a Western author, either under his real name or his pseudonym Ben Bridges, and he’s a top-notch Western writer, too. But he’s also written horror novels and he’s a long-time fan of the genre. How long-time I wasn’t really aware of until I read his recent non-fiction book, HORROR MOVIES: THE FIRST 75 YEARS, VOLUME 1: THE MUMMY.

I’m a horror fan, too, although on a somewhat limited basis. I tend to like the older stuff (no surprise there), including the classic Universal monster movies from the Thirties and Forties. As I’ve mentioned before, I saw a bunch of them on NIGHTMARE, the Saturday night monster movie showcase on one of the local TV stations, hosted in suitably creepy fashion by Bill Camfield as Gorgon. During the week, Camfield was also kid’s show host Icky Twerp, playing cartoons and Three Stooges shorts on SLAM-BANG THEATER. I loved both shows but had no idea Gorgon and Icky were actually the same guy.

I’ve wandered ’way off into the weeds of nostalgia. To get back to David Whitehead’s book, he’s a fan of the same era of horror movies as me, although his expertise extends up to the Hammer Films horror boom in the Fifties and Sixties. I like those movies, too, just not as much as the ones from Universal. Whitehead starts what promises to be a very entertaining series by focusing on movies featuring sinister mummies. I had no idea there was a mummy movie made in 1899, in the dawn of filmmaking. The subgenre really gets underway, though, with 1932’s THE MUMMY, starring Boris Karloff, and its assorted sequels. THE MUMMY is an excellent film, and Whitehead covers its story, cast, production details, and reception in fascinating detail. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this movie, its sequels, and other movies featuring mummies, most of which I’ve never seen. I’ve already made a list of several I intend to try to hunt up.

If you’re a fan of classic horror movies, I can’t recommend this volume highly enough. It’s written in a fast-moving, entertaining style and presents a lot of interesting information but never in a ponderous way. Honestly, it’s easy for a book like this to bog down in minutiae. Whitehead avoids that trap and delivers a fine book of movie history. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the books in this series, which will cover Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, and other classic horror movie characters.

Flame and Thunder - Ben Bridges

Ben Bridges (also known as David Whitehead) has been writing about the adventures of fighting man for hire Carter O'Brien for a long time, and I've read and enjoyed most of those novels. In FLAME AND THUNDER, the latest of these top-notch Western yarns, O'Brien is hired to protect an oil wildcatter who's trying to strike it rich with a drilling rig on the Kansas-Oklahoma border. The wildcatter's lease is about to run out, and if he doesn't bring in a gusher before it does, a gang of outlaws led by the local saloonkeeper will take it over. Those hardcases will resort to anything to keep the well from coming in, including sabotage and murder.

I've always had a fondness for oilfield stories, and this is a very good one. Bridges does a fine job of capturing the rough-and-tumble setting, and as always, he writes some of the best action scenes in the business and populates his tale with interesting characters. The big battle at the end is spectacular, and the final showdown between O'Brien and the leader of the villains is very satisfying. I really enjoyed FLAME AND THUNDER, and if you're a reader of traditional Western novels, you probably will, too.