Jewish fairy tales and stories

It Is the B-picture as fairy tale. This sort of picture doesn't want to score political points but to scare the hell out of us by crossing certain taboo lines. So if my idea about art is correct (it giveth more than it receiveth), this sort of film is of value to the audience by helping it to better understand what those taboos and fears are, and why it feels so uneasy about them. A good example of this second type of horror picture is RKO's The Body Snatcher (1945) , liberally adapted-and that's putting it kindly-from a Robert Louis Stevenson story and starring Karloff and Lugosi. And by the way, the picture was produced by our friend Val Lewton. As an example of the art, The Body Snatcher is one of the forties' best. And as an example of this second artistic "purpose"-that of breaking taboos-it positively shines. I think we'd all agree that one of the great fears which all of us must deal with on a purely personal level is the fear of dying; without good old death to fall back on, the horror movies would be in bad shape ...»