How Boris Karloff achieved his shocking look in The Haunted Strangler
Here's how they pulled off the dual role in the 1958 British horror film!
Hollywood's most unique-looking star
Boris Karloff was a very distinctive-looking man. His ancestry ensured his appearance was different from that of most leading men in Hollywood, as there were few other actors of Anglo-Indian descent working in the industry. His brow was most peculiar, protruding from his face in a way that threatened to cloak his features in shadow. Adorned with bushy eyebrows, Karloff just didn't look like anyone else in movies.
The man who made the makeup that made the man
While Karloff never needed anything to look different from his Hollywood peers, some roles called for makeup to accentuate his features. Famously, in Frankenstein, Karloff collaborated with the head of Universal's makeup department, Jack Pierce, to create the iconic look of that movie's monster. The two would be forever associated because of their work, not just in Frankenstein, but also in The Mummy, The Bride of Frankenstein, and The Son of Frankenstein. By their final collaboration, the monster makeup was taking such a toll on Karloff that he turned down offers to appear as the creature in further Frankenstein films. The makeup process was so punishing because of the weight and the time it took to apply it each morning.
Karloff in "The Haunted Strangler"
While Karloff refused to reapply his Frankenstein makeup, he was still forever tied to monsters and spent the rest of his career mostly in monstrous roles. In The Haunted Strangler, Karloff played a writer named James Rankin, who investigates the case of the 'Haymarket Strangler'. When Rankin uncovers the weapon used in the 20-year-old murders, the blade turns him into the murderer. That transformation was one of the trickiest parts of the entire production, especially given the movie's small budget. The team needed to believably take Karloff through this tremendous metamorphosis, and do it all for cheap.
Here's how Boris Karloff becomes the strangler
In Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster— The Authorised Biography, author Stephen Jacobs published a firsthand account of the key makeup moment that made The Haunted Strangler so memorable. Producer John Croydon, in his interview for the book, recalled the collaborative process that changed Karloff from the protagonist into the movie's monster.
"We called Karloff, [director] Robert Day, and the makeup man to Walton Studios to discuss the metamorphosis," said Croydon.
"We talked about monsters, ghouls, and ghosts, and were not getting very far when I noticed a twinkle in Karloff's eye. 'Mind if I try my own?' he asked. 'Go ahead,' I replied.' He turned his back and seemed to be remoulding his features."
Karloff's big reveal
"When he swung back again, we were stunned," said Croydon."He had removed his false right upper and lower molars and drawn his mouth awkwardly sideways, sucked in his lower lip so that the upper teeth overlapped, his cheek drawn inwards. The left eyebrow and lid were lowered, his left hand drawn up and useless, as though he had suffered a major stroke.
"In a thickened tone, unlike his own softly modulated voice, he asked, 'Will this do?' What was there to say? Our psychopathic monster had materialised before our very eyes, and that was how Karloff played the role. It was perfect."
