An American drama written directed by and starring Ed Wood, also starring Bela Lugosi.
A cop goes to a doctor to discuss a cross-dresser's suicide. The doctor tells the story, with interruptions by Bela Lugosi and figurative scenes depicting the character's indecision.
This is claimed to be one of the worst films ever and I think it'as idealogically as well as cinematographically one of the worst I've seen. Much of it is unrelated scenes with pointless music. That's enough to earn a bad review here. What irks me is that it's all about men dressing as women and how bad that is. One woman was complaining about her brother stretching sweaters, but never thought to just tell him to get his own. There is a voice-over of men discussing why they don't understand trasvestites with footage of a factory (porobably a steel mill). It's really cobbled together and lacks the "women dressing as men" scenes which may have made it coherent. Also, the "problem" of men dressing as women is them not being accepted by other people. With all of the other problems in this world, a whole movie had to be made about some people's choice in clothing? The Bela Lugosi angle reeks of Haxan (1922) and demonizing any rejection of religion, but somehow making it all that much more appealing at the same time. (image) This is supposed to be funny, but was made before hippies existed. I don't get the goal of this or why it was thought to be a good decision to make. It ended up a pile of crap and I rate it shit. Do not watch!
An American horror directed by Victor Halperin, starring Bela Lugosi.
Invited by a wealthy friend, a man and his fiancee go to Haiti for a pre-honeymoon. Before the marriage can take place, the woman is turned into a zombie by a magician at the request of the "friend". This wealthy man wants the woman for himself, but is disappointed with the results. A pipe smoking priest who never carries matches helps the would-be groom to retrieve his fiancee.
I've heard of films getting mixed reviews before, but this one demonstrates that far better than others. Some people think it's atmospheric, while others say the acting sucks and it was sloppily made. Both are true. There was some good camera-work that included wide angles of cool scenes (picture). The sound was wretched, as demonstrated by the bloodcurdling screams of a bird and annoying native chants. I liked how the rich sub-villain gets what he asked for, but has buyer's remorse over the girl being in a zombified state that is useless to him. Bela Lugosi's "zombie grip" was unimpressive and overemphasized. Overall, it was a crappy movie with some shots that looked alright. I rate it poor.
An American comedy horror directed by Allan Dwan, starring Bela Lugosi, The Ritz Brothers and Patsy Kelly.
A murderer called "The Gorilla" announces that he is going to kill a rich man who lives in a mansion. A team of 3 detectives is called in to solve the case. Unfortunately, there is also a real gorilla in the house as well.
This was really bad. The plot was very stock and the audio/video quality was quite low. There were some alright characters in Bela Lugosi, the stupid detectives and the maid. That loudmouth maid was the only good part of the film to me. I think Patsy Kelly was all kinds of ooh la la. I found the physical humor to be very lowbrow. Since one attractive character can't make a crappy movie good, I rate this bad. The picture is Patsy Kelly so you don't have to watch the movie to see who I'm talking about.
An American mystery directed by Christy Cabanne, starring Bela Lugosi, George Zucco and Nat Pendleton.
A woman is on "The Table" in a morgue and the story of her death is told in flashback. She is living in a house with a doctor, his son, their security guard, maid and a guest magician who brings a dwarf/midget. There is talk of identifying folks in a picture and the soon-to-be-dead woman being kept in the house against her will.
This was Bela Lugosi's only color film and color is the only thing that differentiates it from his other films. The plot was slightly more complex, but at the same time quite boring. The large number of characters prevented any of them from being developed or gaining any depth. I believe that the rentacop wanting coffee was the deepest character with the most development. The audio and video were actually decent, with everything being relatively audible and visible. My opinion is that Bela played his type-cast role quite well, being the one trick pony that he was. I rate this bad. It would be a good idea to avoid watching this.
An American film directed by Victor Halperin, starring Bela Lugosi's eyes.
A team of westerners go to Cambodia to find out about zombie making.
What a load of horse shit! This was boring, stupid and pointless. The plot was not communicated clearly and the characters left much to be desired. The editing and general production value was extremely sloppy, with dead air, pops and hiss making up much of the audio content. I'm getting really tired of poorly made films from the '30s and '40s. I rate this shit. All copies should be destroyed.
An American comedy mystery directed by Frank McDonald, starring Bela Lugosi, Jack Haley and Jean Parker.
When a rich man dies, his relatives gather at his house to read his will. They are obligated to stay until the correct tomb can be built or not get money. A life insurance salesman shows up and gets drawn into their escapades as well.
I had to turn this off at about the hour mark because it was stupid, pointless and badly produced. The video was underexposed and the plot and characters were annoying. Nothing more need be said. In accordance with my turnoff policy, I rate this shit.
An American horror mystery directed by Joseph H. Lewis, starring Bela Lugosi.
A rich man has a house where people keep getting murdered. His brother comes to visit and solve the crimes.
Boring. Everything was very standard for the early '40s and it failed to hold my attention. Bela Lugosi seemed type-cast into his role, but played it well. Seeing how this role was so similar to his role in Dracula, he was type-cast correctly. Restating the obvious, but you wouldn't beleive how boring this was. I rate it bad. Don't watch.
An American mystery directed by William Nigh, starring Bela Lugosi.
After a dinner party, guests from that party begin to be murdered. The host is hiding in his room and has a strange visitor in his house. The host's niece finds this situation and asks a detective to help her.
William Nigh and Bela Lugosi team up to create a steaming pile of bullshit. The plot was predictable and the characters shallow. The editing was sloppy and the audio was muffled. Above all that, it was BORING! The only thing to note is the pre-war use of the word "Jap" when referring to the Japanese and the fact that the supposed Japanese people shown were white guys (picture). I rate this bad because it's not worth watching.
An American comedic mystery directed by Edwin L. Marin, starring Bela Lugosi, David Manners and Adrienne Ames.
An actor is killed on the set of a film. While the police are trying to solve the murder case, a man who works at the film studio teams up with a studio security guard to solve the case as well.
I've come to dislike Bela Lugosi, as most of the films containing him suck pretty bad. This one had some sloppy editing, but was otherwise technically sound. The characters were easy to identify and keep track of, the plot was clearly presented and the pacing kept things moving. There were also a few creative camera angles. It wasn't painful to watch, but with sloppy editing like that, I have to take points off. I rate it poor and would probably not recommend it.
An American mystery directed by Wallace Fox, starring Bela Lugosi.
After several brides die at their weddings and their corpses are stolen in transit to the funeral home, a newspaper journalist investigates the story. All of the brides were wearing a special flower that is traced to a scientist.
This was a dismal attempt at filmmaking. The acting was sub-par and the editing left much to be desired. The audio and video were a little less than standard for the time and there wasn't much style to speak of. The journalist character was alright, but the rest were extras and I found the plot unamusing. Generally, it just wasn't worth watching. I rate it bad.
An American mystery film directed by Clifford Sanforth, starring Bela Lugosi.
On the night that an inventor is demonstrating his new television transmission invention, he is murdered. A police chief must find the murderer among those in attendance at the demonstration.
What a snoozer! This was so boring that it hurt to watch. The loud dead air whoosh, crackle and hiss didn't help matters. With a talking movie this boring and bad audio, nothing else really matters. I rate it shit because I turned it off at 44/54 minutes. Don't watch it.
An American horror by George Waggner, starring Lon Chaney, Claude Rains and Bela Lugosi.A man is trying to court an engaged woman and they go to a gypsy fortune teller. When the woman's friend leaves the fortune teller, she is attacked by a wolf. The man kills the wolf, getting bitten in the process. A man is found where the wolf was killed and the main character turns into a werewolf.This was so hokey, as expected. The werewolf makeup involved the actor waking on tip-toe to simulate wolf feet and they just glued a bunch of hair on him. The plot was basic like the style and the characters were 2 dimensional. I'm rating it poor because it's not that great a film.
