Having become acquainted with most of the classic Universal horror films at a very early age, it's rather surprising that it has taken me much longer to get to the lesser entries in the cycle. Thankfully, the Universal Monster Legacy and the Bela Lugosi Collections have introduced me to some elusive titles but, still, there are a few which, perhaps because of their obvious inferiority, are still sadly missing and the film under review here is just one of them
First things first: while Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill never quite enjoyed the (well-deserved) renown Boris Karloff got from his horror performances - and let's not forget that both of them were somewhat on the skids at the time this film was made due to private scandals - I wasn't expecting to see them appearing in such thankless roles, especially since their names were shown above the title in the credits! I guess anyone who engages Lugosi as a butler deserves all he gets (it's also amusing to me that despite living in America for almost 30 years, Lugosi never managed to drop his very thick Hungarian accent which, I suppose, is one of his charms) and Atwill is an impatient surgeon who's mercilessly picked on by one of his colleagues (for no reason I could clearly discern) and whose untimely departure from the "old dark house" of the movie brings about his death with more than half the film yet to unfold! Lugosi, apparently, also gets his in the film's fiery climax or does he? For being the nominal star of the film, the carelessness with which his fate is (or rather not) dealt with is disappointing to say the least.
For the rest, the film introduces too many characters too quickly so that it wasn't until some time into the picture that I was able to make heads or tails of who was engaged to do what in the creepy mansion. Some of these characters were engaging, especially Nils Ashter's spiritualist, Leif Erickson's boorish chauffeur, Robert Homans' investigating constable and Don Porter's whodunnit writer but some of the others (like Fay Helm's disturbed Margaret, Doris Lloyd's scheming housekeeper and, fatally, Ralph Morgan's crippled master of the house) were boring or downright annoying. Then, the sheer regularity of the murders (which happen literally moments apart at times) gives it a repetitive quality which does the film no favors, especially since none of the houseguests ever seem to be aware of anything remotely wrong happening in the very next room!
Still, for all that, the film is never less than entertaining and I can see it improving with further viewings; after all, it is crammed full of that typical Universal fog-laden ambiance which, for obvious reasons not least the usage of the same title background and parts of the music score reminds one of THE WOLF MAN (1941) and other Universal horror fare of the period. Besides, even if the film is not able to capitalize fully on it, its premise of mentally growing artificial limbs is an intriguing one and, again, not too dissimilar from the one explored in DOCTOR X (1932).
First things first: while Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill never quite enjoyed the (well-deserved) renown Boris Karloff got from his horror performances - and let's not forget that both of them were somewhat on the skids at the time this film was made due to private scandals - I wasn't expecting to see them appearing in such thankless roles, especially since their names were shown above the title in the credits! I guess anyone who engages Lugosi as a butler deserves all he gets (it's also amusing to me that despite living in America for almost 30 years, Lugosi never managed to drop his very thick Hungarian accent which, I suppose, is one of his charms) and Atwill is an impatient surgeon who's mercilessly picked on by one of his colleagues (for no reason I could clearly discern) and whose untimely departure from the "old dark house" of the movie brings about his death with more than half the film yet to unfold! Lugosi, apparently, also gets his in the film's fiery climax or does he? For being the nominal star of the film, the carelessness with which his fate is (or rather not) dealt with is disappointing to say the least.
For the rest, the film introduces too many characters too quickly so that it wasn't until some time into the picture that I was able to make heads or tails of who was engaged to do what in the creepy mansion. Some of these characters were engaging, especially Nils Ashter's spiritualist, Leif Erickson's boorish chauffeur, Robert Homans' investigating constable and Don Porter's whodunnit writer but some of the others (like Fay Helm's disturbed Margaret, Doris Lloyd's scheming housekeeper and, fatally, Ralph Morgan's crippled master of the house) were boring or downright annoying. Then, the sheer regularity of the murders (which happen literally moments apart at times) gives it a repetitive quality which does the film no favors, especially since none of the houseguests ever seem to be aware of anything remotely wrong happening in the very next room!
Still, for all that, the film is never less than entertaining and I can see it improving with further viewings; after all, it is crammed full of that typical Universal fog-laden ambiance which, for obvious reasons not least the usage of the same title background and parts of the music score reminds one of THE WOLF MAN (1941) and other Universal horror fare of the period. Besides, even if the film is not able to capitalize fully on it, its premise of mentally growing artificial limbs is an intriguing one and, again, not too dissimilar from the one explored in DOCTOR X (1932).