UGLY MUGS

Lon Chaney in A BLIND BARGAIN.

Last weekend I posted an interview with Peter Lorre from 1935. He had just begun his acting career in America and would become known for his eerie and eccentric roles in MAD LOVE (1935), THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK (1941), THE BEAST WITH 5 FINGERS (1946), and the Corman Poe films such as TALES OF TERROR (1962) and THE RAVEN (1963). He also played supporting roles opposite Humphrey Bogart in two of the most famous films ever made, CASABLANCA and THE MALTESE FALCON.

Born Laszlo Lowenstein on 26 June 1904 in the Carpathian Mountains of Hungary to wealthy parents, they moved to Vienna when he was young, where he ran away from home and then fell into acting. After a film career of over 100 film appearances, Lorre passed away from a stroke on 23 March 1964 in Los Angeles.

Lorre was at his best when acting in comedy roles. But it was his peculiar features and "Falstaff physique" that fascinated and sometimes even terrifying movie-goers. A little noir underlighting and Lorre was as menacing as anybody. One could say, in colloquial parlance, he had an "ugly mug". Other actors were possessed of naturally-unpleasant looks, like Rondo Hatten, whose features were a result of the hormone-mutating disease, acromegaly.

Many more movie monster characters were made-up, defaced and deformed by makeup artists to reflect horrible burns, scars and "surgical mistakes" by insane "doctors". They were the "ugly mugs" that provided the scares in many horror films.

Shown today is a gallery of a number of these creepy countenances that have been depicted in monster movies over the years.

ASYPHX

CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS

CURSE OF THE FLY

DARK INTRUDER

DR. BLOOD'S COFFIN.

DR. X

FACE AT THE WINDOW

NIGHT WALKER

HANDS OF THE RIPPER

THE HORRIBLE DR. HITCHCOCK

MUTATIONS