UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 37, Page 3
July 7, 1994
Sci-fi fan; Librarian reviews films for media buffs

     While most people are unwinding from the work day by listening to
music, watching the tube or lounging in the yard, Francis Poole is
often busy keeping an eye on shadowy characters from the underworld.
     "I am a fan of the early Universal horror movies, from
Frankenstein and Dracula in 1931, to the science fiction movies of the
1950s," Poole, an associate librarian in Morris Library, explained.
     Combining his training as a media librarian with his fondness for
films of the genre, Poole reviews movies, videos, fiction and non-
fiction for Dow Jones News/Retrieval and Prodigy, two on-line computer-
accessed information services, as well as for Library Journal and
School Library Journal.
     Recently, an article by Poole on the early Universal horror
films, "Karloff and Lugosi Become Kings of Horror," appeared in Great
Events from History II: Arts and Culture, published by Salem Press.
     The films he reviews are mostly educational, dealing with
academic subjects, ranging from African-American and Native American
history to music, poetry, the arts and foreign language films.
     The reviews are used by librarians and teachers in selecting
media materials for high school, college and adult education courses.
     "My review writing is an avocation," Poole said. "It contributes
to what I do as a librarian."
     Poole's first close encounter with horror films probably occurred
when he was growing up in the Eastern Shore town of Sharptown, Md.
     "When I was 4 or 5, my parents took me to a drive-in movie
theatre to see House of Wax starring Vincent Price," Poole said. "I
was terrified."
     What strikes Poole about the early Universal films is the sense
of atmosphere created by the directors.
     In the 1931 film, Dracula, Poole said that director Tod Browning,
who ironically was a native of Transylvania, matched the strange
presence of Bela Lugosi with the fantastic setting of Dracula's
Transylvanian castle to create what was an instant success when it was
released on Valentine's Day.
     "Dracula and Frankenstein are not perfect horror films," Poole
said, "but the effects they had on the genre are still being felt
today."
     While respectful of the rich legacy handed down by the actors and
directors of the old Universal horror movies, Poole also appreciates
the efforts made by the current generation of directors.
     Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and
David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch are two modern films that Poole
considers noteworthy.
     "I like Coppola because he takes a lot of chances," Poole said.
"I appreciate his vision. The images he creates are quite original."
     Another kind of horror, one man's descent into the hell of
addiction, is the subject of Naked Lunch, a film based on the novel by
beat generation writer William S. Burroughs.
     According to Poole, the almost psychotic state of the main
character, William Lee, is drawn from the addiction experiences of
Burroughs.
     "Naked Lunch was a bold attempt to make a film out of an
impossible novel," Poole said. "It didn't make much money, but
Cronenberg gave it a good shot."
     While Poole has seen many horror films, there are some he's still
hoping to see, such as the 1934 Universal production The Black Cat
starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
     "This was the first appearance by the two actors in the same
film," Poole said.
     Another Lugosi film that Poole is curious about is the 1935 film
Murder by Television, in which Lugosi played a dual role as a good and
evil twin.
     While film critics and reviewers may agree on certain aspects of
a film, usually the reviews tend to be as varied as the people who
write   them.
     "One reviewer may like a film for exactly the same reason that
another does not," Poole said.
     The fun part of reading reviews, according to Poole, is to get
another person's opinion.
     "I do not claim to be an authority on the horror genre," he said,
"but I am an interested observer."
                                                         -Jerry Rhodes