Volume 16 • Number 29 Summer 2011 Cover Painting by Daniel R. Horne www.danielhornestudios.com

VIEW FROM THE VAULT ...... 2 Get the latest on what’s happening with Monsters from the Vault from Editor, Jim Clatterbaugh. LETTERS TO THE VAULT ...... 3 See what our readers had to say about the last issue of Monsters from the Vault. THE CURIOUS UNDEAD LIFE OF TOD BROWNING’S DRACULA (1931): ...... 4 A Classic of the Horror Film By Gary D. Rhodes Author Gary D. Rhodes provides a detailed examination of Tod Browning’s Dracula, which featured Bela Lugosi in his first starring role. Gary also examines George Melford’s Spanish language version, which was filmed at night at the same time as Browning’s with the same sets and a Spanish cast. In the years since Melford’s version became readily available to the public, many fans and critics have exclaimed that the Spanish film is superior to Browning’s; however, after reading Gary’s article they Page 4 might have a change of heart. WHAT IF—ALTERNATIVE CASTINGS IN CLASSIC HORROR FILMS ...... 34 By Steven Thornton Imagine Lon Chaney, Sr., as Count Dracula, Bela Lugosi as the Frankenstein Monster, Boris Karloff as the Invisible Man. These and many other possibilities are examined in Steve’s article on what might have been if many of the classic horror films from the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s had been cast differently. ED NELSON TALKS THE BRAIN EATERS ...... 48 Interview by Tom Weaver Ed Nelson lets the readers of Monsters from the Vault in on what it was like to work with and gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the 1958 film The Brain Eaters. FILMS FROM THE VAULT ...... 54 DVD Reviews by Mark Clark Reviews of Roger Corman’s Cult Classics Triple Feature: Sci-Fi Classics (includes Attack of the Crab Monsters [1957], War of the Satellites [1958], and Not of This Earth [1957]); Warner Bros. Horror and Mystery Double Features (includes Find the Blackmailer [1943], The Smiling Ghost [1941], Sh! The Oc- topus [1937], The Hidden Hand [1942], The Mystery House [1938], and The Patient in Room 18 [1938]); The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)/The Skull (1965) Double Feature; and The Icons of Suspense Col- lection: Hammer Films (includes Stop Me Before I Kill! [1960], Cash on Demand [1961], The Snorkel Page 34 [1958], Maniac [1963], Never Take Candy from a Stranger [1960], and These Are the Damned [1963]). BOOKS FROM THE VAULT ...... 60 Book Reviews by Mark Clark and Bryan Senn Reviews of The Weird World of Eerie Publications, The American International Pictures Video Guide, Film Alchemy: The Independent Cinema of Ted V. Mikels, and Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda. ON THE COVER: Painter and sculptor Daniel Horne’s exquisite painting of Bela Lugosi as the im- mortal Count Dracula from Tod Browning’s 1931 filmDracula .

Monsters from the Vault is published two times a year by Monsters from the Vault, P. O. Box 981, Abingdon, Maryland 21009-0981. Visit our Web site at www.monstersfromthevault.com for current subscription rates and back issue availability and pricing. Editorial Contents ©2011 Monsters from the Vault. All characters depicted in this publication by way of illustration or photograph are the exclusive property of their respective owners. All advertising content © by the respective advertis- ers. Monsters from the Vault, other than its own advertising, accepts no responsibility for the content, reliability, or integrity of an advertisement contained herein. Monsters from the Vault is printed in Page 48 the United States by Consolidated Printing Company, Abingdon, Maryland.