Halloween is my time to indulge in vintage horror, be it Cat People (1943), Curse of the Cat People, The 7th Victim, Viy, I Walked with a Zombie, White Zombie or the million other titles my fingers are too tired to type. Yesterday I watched The Mask of Fu Manchu, a 1932 Boris Karloff/Myrna Loy MGM picture noted for its extreme pre-code sadism and Xenophobia. Apparently the film was considered so offensive that it was edited down 40 years after its release and only recently has been restored to its full offensive nature - which amounts to restoring a lot of Asia bashing.
These types of restorations - reinserting the racially insensitive - are becoming rather popular nowadays.
Is this a good thing? A way to address our past?
Some I've talked to have expressed that there is a need to have this material out there, but it must be presented in the proper context. If it's out there, can it ever be assured that it will be presented in its proper context?
What is its proper context?
Do films like All This And Rabbit Stew need to be returned to the public for mass consumption?
Since they've been returned already, is this sort of debate moot?
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