In the early Sixties, I wouldn't know who John Brahm was, but the name Boris Karloff meant something. The anthology series, Thriller managed to push the boundaries of horror on television. I was too young to see most of the the series, but it was enough to know that it existed, and to read about it in "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine. One fateful night, I was staying at my cousin's house where the rules regarding television watching were a bit more relaxed. The episode, "A Wig for Miss Devore" was about an actress who wore the cursed wig of a historical figure she was portraying in a movie. Whenever the actress, Sheila Devore, removed the wig, always off the set, she became a frightening killer. The killings were all filmed from the point of view of Miss Devore. It wasn't until the end of the episode that the audience sees how hideous the actress was once the wig came off. I have remembered this episode of Thriller for forty-five years (!), but only now made the connection with the director.

The Fox horror films are linked stylistically and thematically. The fog machines work overtime to disguise the limited sets. There is a traveling shot near the beginning of The Undying Monster which I recognize as being shot on a set for a John Ford film, with only minor alterations. All three films use point of view shots of the killer, a device Brahm continued to use in his television work. The Undying Monster and Hangover Square both are about men who are unaware of their dual natures. As all three films take place at the beginning of the Twentieth Century in England, Scotland Yard comes to the rescue. The choice of actresses may have been mandated by Darryl F. Zanuck, but we have three dark haired 20th Century foxes - Heather Angel, Merle Oberon and Linda Darnell, the latter two demonstrating the importance of clean underwear. More seriously, the films demonstrate why a better availability of Brahm's films is needed.

Clearly Alfred Hitchock had no problem with Brahm's remake of The Lodger as Brahm directed episodes for Hitchcock's television series. It seems possible that Hitchcock was spellbound by Hangover Square, the camera traveling past the musicians and diving into a close up of Laird Cregar's hands at the piano, or more tellingly, the tight shot of duplicitous Linda Darnell embraced by Cregar while the music of Bernard Herrmann swells with romantic longing.

The Lodger has several shots of Cregar lunging towards the camera. There seemed to be a desire on the part of Brahm to make as close to a 3-D film as possible with objects and people coming straight towards the audience, and to play with the illusion of depth as much as possible. It would be interesting to compare Brahm's work in the Forties with his one foray into 3-D filmmaking, The Mad Magician, starring Vincent Price.

Even under the collective heading of "Fox Horror Classics", this DVD set has aided in the re-evaluation of John Brahm. The comparatively larger budgets may have made a difference as well, as the films compare favorably to the Val Lewton produced films and the Universal horror films made during those same years. While John Brahm made fewer films, and fewer personal films, than some of his contemporaries, he showed that when the opportunity arose even with work for hire on television, that he had not lost his flair for horror that served him and his audience so well in the Forties.