A unique exhibit at the Natural History Museum explains how historical findings and discoveries were key to creating movie scripts
In the 18th century, the Italian scientist Luigi Galvani performed experiments that consisted of applying electric shocks to frog legs. When he died, his nephew did the same but with a body of a human; the reaction caused half a body to rise, and with that he wanted to show that somehow the dead could return to life.
This scientific theory inspired Mary Shelley, author of the famous novel "Frankenstein", first taken to the big screen in 1931.
This is what the exhibition "Natural History of Horror" is about, which opened in the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History and shows in a curious and picturesque way how several scientific discoveries and findings inspired some of the most iconic Hollywood films the last century.
"The Natural History Museum is, of course, about nature, but also about history and culture," said Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga, president and director of the NHM, on the opening day. "So, although we study nature and science and worship our dinosaurs, we also study the history and specifically the history of Los Angeles."
The institution took hold of its extensive collection and put together this small but significant exhibition that includes sequences of “terror” tapes, posters, utensils that were used in films, scientific artifacts and a couple of interactive stations.
The utensils of the films that make up this show – "Frankenstein", "Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)," Dracula "(1931) and" The Mummy "(1932) – were donated by Universal Studios from 1935, and Among what can be seen are the wives used by the monster created by Dr. Frankenstein, the rubber bat that becomes Dracula and a copy of the silicone suit with the original mask of the lagoon monster, a character that was inspired in a fossilized fish that existed 400 million years ago.
"It is a unique situation to share the history of culture and science," said Bettison-Varga; "And how these monsters were inspired by nature and in the physical world."
Some of the most striking of the show are the bandages that actor Boris Karloff used in “The Mummy” because it took eight hours to apply the makeup, which consisted of several layers of a kind of mud and cotton soaked in a chemical solution; It also included 150 feet of bandages.
What inspired the tape? The discovery, a few years before, of the tomb of Tutankhamun, a historical event that caused a sensation in the world. This section is completed with a mummified bird and other objects of ancient Egypt owned by the museum.
The content of "Natural History of Horror" is available in English and Spanish.
In detail:
That: ‘Natural History of Horror’
When: ends on April 19; every day from 9 am to 5 pm
Where: Natural History Museum, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles
How: tickets $ 15
Reports: http://www.nhm.org/horror
