If you ever want to drive somebody temporarily crazy, try speaking to them in the loudest or deepest voice whisper, that you can muster. It's especially effective if they have a slight hangover and is more effective than nails down a chalkboard. That's the effect of Lon Chaney Jr. in the series of psychological thrillers that Universal made six of in the mid 1940's. Back then, they were considered creative in the technical achievements they helped advance, practically film noir like, but the plots are over the top, melodramatic and often silly. This entry starts off with promise but then quickly becomes a twisted example of hatred and bigotry.
One note Chaney is a college professor who marries the exotic Anne Gwynne much to the chagrin of the bitchy Evelyn Bankers. This could have been called "Voodoo Woman" (to play on a double bill with Monogram's "Voodoo Man", released the same year), for that is the subject of this entry. It's a fairly decent programmer featuring a great supporting cast (aming them Ralph Morgan, Elisabeth Risdon and Elizabeth Russell) as the uppity college faculty and their spouses who are polite on the surface towards Gwynne but consider her "weird". I find it funny that co-eds have crushes on Chaney, and some of the college kids look as if they should have graduated years before.
As the intrigue grows over Gwynne's presence on campus (including a sudden death where another character starts repeating to Chaney and Gwynne over and over, "Murderer!"), the script just melts down into silly serial like antics. Chaney discovers Gwynne with her voodoo gadgets and this leads to an apparent subterfuge against the new bride. As Chaney continues to whisper (while hitting a punching bag and visualizes jungle drums), the plot takes wilder twists, with Elizabeth Russell (the nasty aged wife in "The Corpse Vanishes") ranting and raving at Gwynne and acting quite ridiculous. This just becomes laughable by the last two reels, and from there descends quickly down. The civilized women prove themselves to be far weirder than Gwynne, completely missing the point of the title.
One note Chaney is a college professor who marries the exotic Anne Gwynne much to the chagrin of the bitchy Evelyn Bankers. This could have been called "Voodoo Woman" (to play on a double bill with Monogram's "Voodoo Man", released the same year), for that is the subject of this entry. It's a fairly decent programmer featuring a great supporting cast (aming them Ralph Morgan, Elisabeth Risdon and Elizabeth Russell) as the uppity college faculty and their spouses who are polite on the surface towards Gwynne but consider her "weird". I find it funny that co-eds have crushes on Chaney, and some of the college kids look as if they should have graduated years before.
As the intrigue grows over Gwynne's presence on campus (including a sudden death where another character starts repeating to Chaney and Gwynne over and over, "Murderer!"), the script just melts down into silly serial like antics. Chaney discovers Gwynne with her voodoo gadgets and this leads to an apparent subterfuge against the new bride. As Chaney continues to whisper (while hitting a punching bag and visualizes jungle drums), the plot takes wilder twists, with Elizabeth Russell (the nasty aged wife in "The Corpse Vanishes") ranting and raving at Gwynne and acting quite ridiculous. This just becomes laughable by the last two reels, and from there descends quickly down. The civilized women prove themselves to be far weirder than Gwynne, completely missing the point of the title.