Grade: D-
Synopsis: A reporter tracks a scientist (Bela Lugosi) who, aided by his dwarf henchman, kidnaps and murders virgin brides to keep his aging wife alive and young.
The Corpse Vanishes opens with atmosphere to spare courtesy a great early shot of a star Bela Lugosi leering out of the back of a darkened hearse. It’s a great visual, and it’s easy to imagine this scene inspiring Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm (1979), which portends good things for the film to follow. Unfortunately, these hopes turn out to be totally unfounded, as the film is quickly dragged down by wooden acting and a plot that’s both recycled and yet, at times, incomprehensible. MORE »
Posted 389 days ago in Movie Reviews and Bela Lugosi. No responses
Grade: B
Synopsis: In Haiti, a wealthy man turns to a mysterious mill owner (Bela Lugosi) to help him win a woman away from her fiancé.
White Zombie is an effective horror film bolstered by a good performance from lead Bela Lugosi and a refreshingly edgy pre-code script.
Lugosi is great as ‘Murder’ Legendre, a ruthless mill owner who uses zombies for cheap labor. His piercing gaze and imposing stature combine to create a truly memorable villain, one who’s always icy cool and calculating. A sentiment best illustrated in a scene where he’s asked what would happen if his zombies ever regained their souls. MORE »
Posted 409 days ago in Movie Reviews and Bela Lugosi. No responses
Grade: D+
Synopsis: After a nobleman’s murder, a professor (Lionel Barrymore) suspects a vampire (Bela Lugosi).
Mark of the Vampire is director Tod Browning’s disappointing remake of his silent feature London After Midnight (1927). Browning, who directed the classic Dracula (1931), had 20 minutes of footage cut by the studio after the film’s premier. Due to the box office failure of his previous effort, Freaks (1932), Browning couldn’t fight the cuts and thus we’re left with a film full of dangling plot points and gaping plot holes. MORE »
Posted 410 days ago in Movie Reviews and Bela Lugosi. No responses
Grade: D+
Synopsis: Aliens plot to resurrect an army of the dead to prevent mankind’s eventual discovery of a weapon capable of destroying the universe.
Plan 9 from Outer Space is often cited as the worst film of all time, which is untrue. There are plenty of films worse than this one. That’s not to say Plan 9 isn’t bad, it is. It’s just bad like a kindergarten play is bad. MORE »
Posted 584 days ago in Movie Reviews, Bela Lugosi and Vampire Movies. No responses
Grade: D
Synopsis: Mystic magician Chandu (Edmund Lowe) thwarts Roxor (Bela Lugosi) and his death ray.
Chandu the Magician is a character originally made popular in radio serials. Chandu, aka Frank Chandler is the first westerner to master the secrets of the Yogi, and uses his ability to hypnotize people by looking into their eyes to thwart evil. Think Doctor Strange meets The Shadow, but sissier. MORE »
Posted 686 days ago in Movie Reviews and Bela Lugosi. No responses
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