A couple of things here. Italian horror cinema has always been known for its gore, especially when you consider the films that came out in the late ’70s and ’80s. From the works of Deodato, D’Amato, Lenzi, Fulci, Bava, Soavi, and the list goes on and on. So why am I surprised to see this Italian short film, called Il caso Valdemar, made way back in 1936? Directed by Gianni Hoepli & Ublado Magnaghi, it was based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, first published in 1845. What I didn’t expect was the amount of gore for that time. When Corman adapted this story in his film Tales of Terror (1962), which Vincent Price melting at the end, was pretty cool, but seeing this done 26 years before is just amazing. This is a silent film, though there is some written Italian in the form of letters or notes. But the ending, though pretty dark, is just incredible that they came up with those effects that long ago.

Secondly, it amazes me each and every time that no matter how long I’ve been a fan and student of the horror film genre, that one can still learn new things. I always like to point this out to fans that are newer to the genre and that might feel a little intimidated by what some older and more experienced fans might know or all the films they have seen. Honestly, the way you need to think of it is that we are all on the same path, just that some have been on it a little longer. I don’t see a point where someone is going to be where they’ve seen it all. There will always be new things to discover, even if they came out decades ago. The goal should be to always to continue to discover more, whether it be new films or old ones, the excitement will be the same.