Horror Channel honours classic cinema with THE VINTAGE VAULT

May brings THE VINTAGE VAULT, a journey in genre cinema history from Horror Channel. Every Sunday night will feature a double-bill of classic sci-fi and horror films to provide chills and lessons in equal measure.

We begin on Sunday May 1^st with the screen debut of Claude Rains in THE INVISIBLE MAN, immediately followed by BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, with Boris Karloff returning as the monster in this celebrated sequel to the 1931 classic. Sunday May 8^th brings us Christy Cabanne’s masterpiece THE MUMMY’S HAND and FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN, where icons Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr. go head-to-head as the titular monsters.

On Sunday May 15^th our screens are invaded by aliens and spiders with the invasion classic IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE and pulp-horror favourite TARANTULA (featuring Clint Eastwood). On Sunday May 22^nd things get watery with REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, sequel to Universal’s fabulously successful The Creature from the Black Lagoon, followed mutant octopus-rampaging IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA. Sunday May 29^th unleashes the saucer-invading caper EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS by Fred F. Sears, before rounding off the month with subterranean monster thriller THE MOLE PEOPLE.

Full film details in transmission order:

Sun 1 May @ 21:00 – THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933)

Claude Rains is a mysterious doctor who has uncovered the secret of invisibility. Obscured by bandages and dark glasses, Rains attempts to hide himself and his discovery in a small English village. But the drug comes with the side effect of homicidal tendencies as Rains commits increasingly horrific acts. Based on the classic novel by H.G. Wells’ novel and directed by master of the macabre James Whale, THE INVISIBLE MAN fuelled a host of sequels and a 2019 remake, and innovated special effects that are still imitated today.

Sun 1 May @ 22:25 – BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)

Celebrated as one of the finest sequels ever made, this classic finds Mary Shelley’s monster alive and well and forcing Baron Frankenstein to create a mate. Film legend Boris Karloff returns to his most iconic role and Elsa Lanchester co-stars as his horrifying and horrified lady love.

Sun 8 May @ 21:00 – THE MUMMY’S HAND (1940)

Steve Banning (Dick Foran) and Babe Jenson (Wallace Ford) are two archaeologists down on their luck and finances, when they uncover the legendary (and cursed) sarcophagus of Princess Ananka. When expedition members start dying, it becomes clear that this tomb has a guardian, in the form of an eternal mummy named Kharis! Banning and Jenson will need all their wits and courage to survive this undying horror from beneath the sands. 

Sat 8 May @ 22:20 – FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN (1943)

Before Alien VS Predator, before Godzilla VS Kong, two iconic monsters fight for dominance when the Wolfman (Lon Chaney reprising his role), in desperate need of a cure for his lycanthropy, looks to the infamous Dr Frankenstein. However, his mission brings him to direct conflict with Frankenstein’s monster, played by Bela Lugosi. Who will be triumphant? 

Sunday 15 May @ 21:00 – IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953) 

Amateur astronomer John Putnam (Richard Carlson) and his fiancée, schoolteacher Ellen Fields (Barbara Rush), watch the skies with what appears to be a meteor crashes into the desert. As townspeople, including Ellen, start to disappear, only to be replaced by alien ‘duplicates’, fear and paranoia sweeps through the towns and the threat of violence rises. Based on a story by Ray Bradbury.

Sunday 15 May @ 22:35 – TARANTULA (1955)

While researching the effects of a new synthetic nutrient a scientist unleashes a giant spider in the American Southwest. This classic science fiction film features screen legend Clint Eastwood in an early role, and stars John Agar, Mara Corday and Leo G. Carroll. Directed by Jack Arnold. 

Sun 22 May @ 21:00 REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1954)

Despite the dangers, oceanographers (John Bromfield and Robert B. Williams) capture the Gill-Man and display him for the world. Compassionate ichthyologists John Agar and Lori Nelson are able to teach the imprisoned creature a few words of English. However, the creature is quick to go on a rampage, killing captors and abducting the heroine. This horror classic features intense underwater photography and incredible practical effects.

Sunday 22 May @ 22:35 – IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1956)

Commander Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey) is on a routine mission when his submarine encounters an unknown creature. This giant octopus from the deepest reaches of Mindanao Deep has been awakened by nuclear testing. Radioactive and monstrously huge, the leviathan rampages toward the North American Pacific Coast.

Sunday 29 May @ 21:00 – EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956)

Their solar system is doomed, and the UFOs seek to conquer Earth! The only hope for humanity is to the bitter end. Special effects are by Ray Harryhausen.

Sunday 29 May @ 22:40 – THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956)

A Middle Eastern expedition led by John Bentley (John Agar) searches for a lost tribe of Sumerians. When he and his cohorts follow a tunnel deep below the surface of the earth, they encounter a tyrannical tribe of albino Sumerians, who have enslaved the semi-human Mole People. Wary of the dangerous ideas that the scientists bring with them, the subterranean High Priest demand that the outsiders be eliminated.

Vincent The Vintage Vault