Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy (Video 2005)

Documentary about the great 1940s horror movie producer Val Lewton, featured on the 2005 DVD release "The Val Lewton Horror Collection."

Director:

Constantine Nasr

Writers:

Steve Haberman, Constantine Nasr

Stars:

James Cromwell, William Friedkin, Steve Jones

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Cromwell	...	Narrator (voice)
William Friedkin	...	Himself
Steve Jones	...	Himself - film historian
Steve Haberman	...	Himself
Joe Dante	...	Himself
Guillermo del Toro	...	Himself
Kim Newman	...	Himself
Val E. Lewton	...	Himself - Son of Val Lewton
Drew Casper	...	Himself
Rick Jewell	...	Himself - Author of 'The RKO Story'
Harlan Ellison	...	Himself
Ramsey Campbell	...	Himself
George A. Romero	...	Himself
John Landis	...	Himself
Mick Garris	...	Himself

Storyline

Documentary about the great 1940s horror movie producer Val Lewton, featured on the 2005 DVD release "The Val Lewton Horror Collection."

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Plot Keywords:

horror filmmaking | film clips | film director | rko pictures | interview | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 October 2005 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Wave Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

53 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Features Citizen Kane (1941)

User Reviews

Excellent overview of the RKO films of Val Lewton

With a collection of Hollywood horror big guns talking about the films they love, this documentary on the life and career of Val Lewton is bound to make make you want to dive into his best known horror films.

Focusing on the nine horror films that Letwton made for RKO this film is as much about what is scary and the horror film's changing face as it is about its subject. Lewton, he produced the films and had input on the scripts, pretty much changed the face of horror as we know it. Gone were the monsters we could see, killed mostly due to budgetary considerations, and in their place we were given monsters of the mind, with horrors we never saw, only imagined. The films ended up being scarier as a result because the monster could be what ever we imagined it to be and not a man in a suit. Lewton's work foreshadowed the films of the 1960's including Hitchcock's Psycho.

This is a breezy 53 minutes that really only suffers in that you don't want it to end. Packaged as part of a DVD box set of the films, I'm hard pressed as when to say you should watch the film, before you dive into the films or after. I don't think it matters so long as you see it.