Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Joseph Reynolds secretly owns the boarding house he rents a room from while conducting mysterious business with his partner, Ram Singh, and carrying out an affair both with the mistress of the house and the maid. When he is found brutally stabbed in his room, all the house's tenants become murder suspects. Who's in it? The movie stars Frieda Inescort , Paul Cavanagh , Heather Angel, Bruce Lester and Miles Mander. Review: I came across Shadows on the Stairs a couple days ago and, mostly because it was being compared to Sherlock Holmes, I decided to take the time to watch it. I wasn't able to get through the whole movie in one sitting, but I did finally manage to watch the rest of it last night. Unfortunately, it just wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be. To be fair, the film does have a decent start to it. It quickly, but effectively, introduces the viewer to the victim (Cavanagh) and all the people who would later be suspects in his murder. The myster...

Synopsis: Lady Jane Ainsley hunts down vampire Armand Tesla in London during World War I and successfully stakes him, freeing his werewolf assistant from his curse. Twenty-four years later, with London under threat of bombing because of a new World War, Scotland Yard, not believing her vampire explanation, wants to charge her with murder. However, before that can happen, a bomb reopens Tesla's tomb and workers remove the stake, freeing him to regain control over his former assistant and seek revenge against the woman who defeated him. Who's in it? The movie stars Bela Lugosi ,  Frieda Inescort , Nina Foch, Roland Varno and Miles Mander. Review: My wife needed to take my daughter to a friend's house this evening (about a two-hour drive there and back) so, since I had some free time while waiting for her to safely return, I filled it with a movie. As far as I'm concerned, you can't go wrong with a Bela Lugosi vampire movie, so I ended up watching The Return of the ...

Synopsis: While traveling by train with his new bride, Jane, Paul Webster receives a telegram and, without explanation, gets off the train at the next stop and disappears. Jane begins a search for her husband and eventually finds a clue that leads her to a plantation in the Louisiana bayou. When she resists the owner's efforts to get her to leave, she eventually learns Paul was part of a medical experiment that healed his injuries from a plane crash but also has him slowly turning into a reptile. Who's in it? The movie stars Beverly Garland , George Macready , Frieda Inescort , Richard Crane and Lon Chaney, Jr. Review: I came across this movie a few days ago and, while I had some doubts about it, wound up adding it to my library. I decided to watch it before heading into the office this morning and the film ended up exceeding my expectations. I think the thing I liked most about this film was the mystery surrounding Paul (Crane) and his disappearance. Based on the movie...