Lewton/Karloff

 

 (TCM)

ISLE OF THE DEAD-1945-Another great Lewton/Karloff collaboration directed by Mark Robson. 

Hard-nosed and dedicated to his country Gen. Pherides (Karloff; also in THE BODY SNATCHER th same year)) and US reporter Oliver Davis (Mark Cramer) unintentionally visit the home of Swiss doctor Albercht (Jason Robards) who has a strange superstitious housekeeper (Helene Thimig) and some guests: diplomat St. Aubyn (future TV Batman butler Alan Napier), his wife Mary (Katherine Emery; later in THE MAZE (1953)), salesman Andrew Robbins (uncredited Skelton Knaggs) and the enigmatic Thea (Ellen Drew). Everything is ok until Robbins dies, and a doctor (Ernst Duetsch) says he has the plague. Pherides decides everyone must stay. The doctor says it should pass in a few days but Albrecht says it might be a wolf spirit disguised as a human. He and Pherides) make a wager, Albrecht will pray to Hermes for a cure and Pherides can put his faith in science.

 After St. Aubyn dies, his wife confesses to the doctor that she has a morbid obsession with being buried alive. He says he will do everything to make sure this will never happen. But then he dies. Somehow Davis and Thea fall in love. When Mary seems to die, Pherides blames Thea. They put Mary in a crate like coffin and of course she's not dead. Then the general falls ill. Mary escapes her tomb and now mad goes looking for people to kill. Her first victim is the housekeeper. Pherides thinks the killer is Thea. Mary stabs the general, then falls off a cliff. Pherides dies believing the evil spirit has been destroyed. 

Haunting thriller with Karloff leading a good cast. Ellen Drew later starred with Vincent Price in Sam Fuller's THE BARON OF ARIZONA (1950). Jason Robards was in BEDLAM with Karloff the next year.

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Corman/Poe

THE PREMATURE BURIAL-1962-Ray Milland is Guy Carrell, a doctor with a fear of being buried alive and haunted by terrifying dreams. His understanding new wife Emily (Hazel Court) tries to help him. Unfortunately it seems she may have bitten over more than she can chew. A song makes him cranky, he doesn't like flowers and spends most of his time in a mausoleum which he has rigged with gadgets to make sure he's not buried alive. His sister (Heather Angel) hands around suspiciously. His friend Dr. Archer (Richard Ney) tries to help while experimenting with dead frogs. Guy has a strange dream where he's locked in his mausoleum and almost drinks a cup of maggots. Eventually Emily brings Guy back to normalcy and he burns down the mausoleum but there seems to be a plot against him when he suffers a seizure and is buried alive anyway! He's freed from his dirty grave by two grave robbers (one is Dick Miller) and becomes a sunken eyed revenge seeking ghoul who electrocutes his father in law (Alan Napier).

THE PREMATURE BURIAL started out for some reason being made by director Roger Corman for Pathe' studios instead of AIP. (He had already made THE HOUSE OF USHER and THE PIT AND THE PENDULEM for them) He wanted to cast the star of those previous two Poe adaptations, Vincent Price in the lead but he was under contract to AIP so Corman got Academy Award winner Ray Milland to fill in. He does a good job but doesn't have the intensity Price often brought to his roles. Still despite the dumb resolution it's a good entry into the “Poe series”. Charles Beaumont was a co-screenwriter. Corman was busy in '62. He made this, the usually overlooked THE INTRUDER, the kind of remake of TOWER OF LONDON and TALES OF TERROR.

 

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Lured

LURED-1947-Interesting overlooked murder mystery directed by Douglas Sirk (later known for his glossy Hollywood tearjerkers).

Lucille Ball stars as an American dancer in London who's recruited by a Scotland Yard inspector (Charles Coburn) to be a decoy to help capture a killer who meets his victims via personal ads. Costar George Sanders is his usual suave self and a chief suspect. George Zucco is great as the crossword puzzle solving detective who helps out. Boris Karloff has a one scene in a stand out role as a crazy dress designer/red herring! Other suspects include Alan Mowbray, Cedric Hardwick and Joseph Calleia. Alan Napier is Coburn's assistant.

It's a remake of a French film "Pieges" (PERSONAL COLUMN; LURED's original working title) made in 1939 by Roberet Siodmak with Erich Von Stroheim in the Karloff role. Earlier Von Stroheim was Karloff's immediate successor for the role of Jonathan Brewster in ARSENIC AND OLD LACE on Broadway.

For some reason LURED was not easy to find for a long time but TCM has showed it several times in recent years and Kino finally released it on DVD.

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Master Minds

MASTER MINDS-1949-In this entry into the Monogram Bowery Boys series, every time Sach (Huntz Hall) eats candy and gets a toothache he goes into a trance and can predict the future! Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Gabe (Gabriel Dell) exploit his dumb power at a carnival. Meanwhile a mad scientist (Alan Napier) wants Sach's brain for a giant hairy man called Atlas (Glen Strange in Jack Pierce make-up) he's experimenting on! Shades of Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein!

 Creepy Skelton Knaggs is one of Napier's assistants and Jane Adams (who was Vicki Vale in the serial BATMAN AND ROBIN the same year) plays the scientist's nurse who tries to help Sach. The weird part occurs when the two patients have their brains switched and Sach winds up a snarling wild man, while Atlas takes on Sach's stupid mannerisms and (dubbed) voice! The rest of "the boys' return too (Billy Benedict, Benny Bartlett and David Gorcey). Also with Bernard Gorcey as Louie and Minerva Urecal. Jean Yarbrough once again directs. 

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