Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows

Given the fact that Val Lewton's name is familiar only to film buffs—especially classic horror film aficionados—this welcome documentary may be of limited appeal. Lewton's most celebrated films—Cat People, The Curse of the Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, and The Body Snatcher—were popular successes in their day (Cat People is said to have saved the struggling RKO Studio), but today are most likely to only run on the Turner Classic Movie network (which originally broadcast this program). Writer-director Kent Jones' Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows, narrated with a true believer's passion by Martin Scorsese (who also produced), sheds light on Lewton, whose "poor, simple, lucky little films" had a style all their own, creating worlds that were familiar, but strange, in which horror mingled with everyday life. The Lewton touch evoked terror not with gratuitous or graphic shocks, but by the ingenious use of sounds and evocation of mood (as in the classic swimming pool scene in Cat People—it's what the audiences cannot see that is most frightening). Although Lewton left behind no audio recordings, home movies, or filmed interviews (his words are read by actor Elias Koteas), Jones' profile still goes beyond a simple career retrospective to etch a vivid portrait of an auteur whose films resonated with recurring haunting themes and autobiographical touches. Combining solid talking head interviews (with King of the B-movies Roger Corman, Lewton's friend and principle director Jacques Tourneur, and Lewton's son, among others) and thoughtfully selected clips, this illuminating documentary is recommended (and also available as a bonus DVD in The Val Lewton Horror Collection six-disc boxed set, priced at $59.98). Aud: C, P. (D. Liebenson)