Welcome dear fiends once more to that subterranean home of terrible old horror tat - the Tomb of the Trumps! Now then after the somewhat obscure goings-on of last episode, this week we are back in classic territory - on terror firma as it were! Heh! Heh! Heh!
Now then, do I really have to explain who The Hangman is? Well, on the off chance you don't know, this green faced sadist is actually the great Lon Chaney in the classic 1925 silent version of The Phantom of the Opera! Behold!
Now for me, and indeed for many movie buffs, the Chaney version of Phantom of the Opera is still easily the best screen adaptation of the classic novel by Gaston Leroux. Not only is it the most faithful, but still, nearly a century later, no one has bettered Chaney's own self-created make-up for the disfigured Erik.
However as much as I'd like to sit and gush about the 1925 Phantom - seriously folks, if you've not seen it, do seek it out - we have other business with this card! For as is traditional with these old Horror Top Trumps, there's more than one source being used here in this Hangman tableaux. For yes, his victim is lifted from a still from an old horror flick too. And it's from another classic too! Yes, the Hangman's victim is poor old Dr. Marcus (played by John Carson) in that cult collaboration between Hammer and Brian Clemens Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter (1974)!
Although, that being said, at first I did heavily suspect the Hangman's victim was none other than Christopher Matthews in anopther Hammer flick of the same vintage, Scars of Dracula! However I think that's just down to our Unknown Artist squashing the head a bit and colouring the hair blonde!
However we're still on a classic tip with our next card too... Hang onto your hats... and your noggins too, for it's Headhunter!
Now then despite the fearsome appearance of this card, Headhunter doesn't hail from some forgotten green hell horror flick full of savages and tropical blood rites! Rather like his deck mate Cannibal, this fearful brute is actually based on a pic from a non-horror movie. Yes, Headhunter is actually the genie - played by Rex Ingram - from the classic fantasy flick The Thief of Baghdad, made in 1940 by cinema legends Alexander Korda and Michael Powell.
However once again, our work here is not yet done. For does not that out-of-scale little white noggin ring a distant bell or two? Well, it certainly always looked vaguely familiar to me too. And at first from the somewhat different style of inking used, I suspected that this little white bonce was perhaps a lift from a horror comic. But then, a penny suddenly dropped - the heavy crude lines weren't due to it being a steal from a comic-book, but because it was taken from a blurry old still. And noting the wonky ears, the one quizzically raised eyebrow, and the beaky snooze, there was only one place this could have come from -
Nosferatu (1922)!
Yes, I heavily suspect that Headhunter's trophy is actually based on this still from the classic silent horror masterpiece. And I'm guessing from the heavy lines used by our Unknown Artist, he was working from a poorly printed and/or much magnified picture of the face of Graf Orlock as seen in this famous shot. Hence it's something of a loose likeness I grant you, but there are clear similarities, and too many to be a mere coincidence methinks.
Of course, as usual if you have any better idea, do let me know! Next week we discover an unlikely pairing of a killer monkey and a puddle of goo!
