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Boris Karloff: The Man Behind The Monster is now Streaming on Apple, Amazon Prime, Vudu, and Microsoft. Read Cate Marquis’ We Are Movie Geeks review of the movie Here

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Beginning just before his debut as Frankenstein’s creation, “Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster” compellingly explores the life and legacy of a cinema legend, presenting a perceptive history of the genre he personified. His films were long derided as hokum and attacked by censors. But his phenomenal popularity and pervasive influence endures, inspiring some of our greatest actors and directors into the 21st Century – among them Guillermo Del Toro, Ron Perlman, Roger Corman & John Landis all of whom and many more contribute their personal insights and anecdotes.

Boris Karloff: The Man Behind The Monster features interviews with Guillermo Del Toro, John Landis, Roger Corman, Ron Perlman, Sara Karloff, Peter Bogdanovich, Christopher Plummer, Stefanie Powers, Lee Grant,...

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By Hank Reineke

There’s a telling moment at the dénouement of Thomas Hamilton’s and Ron MacCloskey’s affectionate documentary Boris Karloff: The Man behind the Monster. Sara Karloff, the now eighty-two year old daughter of the beloved actor, opines that her father’s lasting cinematic legacy is due, in part, to the tenaciousness of his devoted fan base. It’s a demographic that we soon discover consists of a number of amazingly creative people: folks whose loyalty to and enthusiasm for Karloff’s work has not wavered over the decades. Sara’s contention is inarguably true. As this ninety-nine minute Voltage Films/Abramorama documentary (presented by Shout! Studios) unspools – crisply narrated by Paul Ryan and featuring commentary by preeminent Karloff scholar and “Biographical Consultant” Stephen Jacobs - we discover the actor’s admirer’s bridge several generations of fans and filmmakers.

Straightforward to a fault, Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster crystallizes the horror icon’s enduring legacy. From his complicated childhood to late-career resurrection, director Thomas Hamilton assembles an impressive crew of talking heads to dive into the brilliance of the man born William Henry Pratt in England.

Narrated by Paul Ryan (sporting a voice worthy of the film’s subject matter), this documentary does as promised. Hamilton wisely puts the history of Karloff’s star-making roles in Universal’s Frankenstein and The Mummy at the top of the picture, then digs into his origins. A rough upbringing included a father who was a “devil of a man,” an Anglo-Indian ancestry that was met with prejudiced ridicule by his peers, and an accident between his brother and neighbor that ended in tragedy. Early on, Karloff was looking for a means of escape. Eventually, he found it in performance.

In Universal’s Frankenstein, Boris Karloff’s breakthrough role as the Monster kickstarted his ascension into one of cinema’s greatest horror icons. The upcoming documentary Boris Karloff: The Man Behind The Monster will celebrate his legacy. Directed by Thomas Hamilton, the documentary seeks to unlock the mystery at the heart of Boris Karloff, digging into the late actor’s life and […]...