Halloween season simply
isn’t Halloween season without a regular dose of classic Universal horror (1923-1963). Every day
this October, I’ll be giving you a steady IV drip of it by counting down Psychobabble’s 31 Favorite Universal
Horrors!
#26. Murders in the
Zoo (1933- dir. A. Edward Sutherland)
Possibly the film that allowed Lionel Atwill to make the most
of his real life perviness, Murders in
the Zoo is far stronger than its silly title implies. Atwill is a grabby
creep who sews up the lips of the dude who’s been cuckholding him, spends a lot
of time graphically groping his wife (Kathleen Burke of Island of Lost Souls), and sics zoo animals on everyone who crosses
him. It’s nasty, pre-code stuff, but Charles Ruggles’s comic relief bullshit
may be the most truly horrifying thing in this grotesque zoo.
