Reviews of movies with Boris Karloff.
Friday, February 22nd 2008
Grade: C+
Synopsis: A headstrong woman (Anna Lee) runs afoul of the corrupt master (Boris Karloff) of an insane asylum.
Bedlam is a solid thriller from producer Val Lewton, featuring a great performance from Boris Karloff.
Karloff owns the movie with his portrayal of the corrupt but believable Master Sims. Rather than go over the top, Karloff gives us an ambitious man who’s very much the product of his environment, yet still evil to the core.
Opposite Karloff, Anna Lee is a much harder sell. For a Lord’s protégé, she comes off as very haughty and headstrong, qualities that would likely have seen her cast out of society. This is especially relevant when you contrast her character against Karloff’s, who, in many ways, is a byproduct of that very same society. Karloff’s character exists because it’s the only way a man like him could amass such power and influence, whereas the power and influence afforded Lee’s character hardly seems plausible and flies in the face of the script’s very message. MORE »
Posted at 2:33 PM in Movie Reviews and Boris Karloff.
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Wednesday, January 23rd 2008
Grade: C-
Synopsis: A cold-hearted doctor and his promising protégé find themselves increasingly beholden to the murderous cabman (Boris Karloff) who provides them with cadavers.
The Body Snatcher is a well-produced thriller that, unfortunately, lacks any real edge.
Karloff is great in the titular role, a dark, amoral man whose greatest pleasure is blackmailing a respected surgeon. His performance single-handedly makes the film worth watching.
The rest of the cast is serviceable. Henry Daniell and Russell Wade work well as a heartless doctor and promising student, respectively and Bela Lugosi has a throw-away role in what would be his final on-screen pairing with Karloff. MORE »
Posted at 5:22 PM in Movie Reviews, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.
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Wednesday, January 2nd 2008
Grade: D+
Synopsis: A scientist (Boris Karloff) becomes obsessed with the idea of communicating with his dead wife.
The Devil Commands is a solid, if forgettable, mad-scientist flick that could have been something special.
Director Edward Dmytryk (who would direct Murder, My Sweet (1944) just three years later) does a wonderful job creating atmosphere… for the most part. The decision to use what appear to be modified diving helmets as props is regrettable, as the result is laughable and drags down what are otherwise some solid production values.
Still, Karloff is great in the lead, and the script has potential. The first half of the film works very well, leading up to a great scene where Karloff’s character debunks a phony medium. Then the film seems to run out of steam, as the traditional mad scientist formula takes over, replete with a nosey sheriff and an angry mob of townspeople. Dmytryk and Karloff do what they can, but compared to the first half, this feels like a letdown. Fortunately, the 65-minute running time means it’s all over pretty quick. MORE »
Posted at 5:08 PM in Movie Reviews and Boris Karloff.
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Wednesday, December 19th 2007
Grade: D+
Synopsis: Richard III (Basil Rathbone) murders his way to the throne of England with the help of his executioner, Mord (Boris Karloff).
Tower of London tries to be a bit of everything, but really succeeds at nothing.
First, it tries to be a political drama, yet the plot is so by the numbers, there’s little in the way of intrigue. Further, Basil Rathbone’s Richard III is fairly dry, lacking the edge necessary to make him truly menacing. Perhaps this was a concession to Karloff’s character, but whatever the cause, it hurts the film.
Tower of London also tries to be a gothic horror. To some extent, it succeeds here, largely due to the presence of Boris Karloff, whose hulking executioner is a more than suitable boogeyman. His performance, combined with the dungeon sets, gives the film a nice atmosphere. MORE »
Posted at 8:09 PM in Movie Reviews, Boris Karloff and Vincent Price.
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Monday, November 12th 2007
Grade: C+
Synopsis: A scientist (Edmund Gwenn) revives a man (Boris Karloff) framed and executed by a group of racketeers for a crime he didn’t commit.
The Walking Dead is a surprisingly workable combination of the gangster and horror genres buoyed by a great performance from Boris Karloff.
As the lead, Karloff is both sympathetic and menacing. Although the script gives him little to do after being revived, Karloff none-the-less manages to command a strong presence.
But it’s that aforementioned problem of Karloff having little to do once he’s revived that hurts the film. From that point on, Karloff does little more than shamble toward the men who set him up. These men, so terrified by Karloff’s shambling, inevitably end up offing themselves as they try to escape. While it’s clearly meant to be a form of poetic justice, it comes across as lazy writing. MORE »
Posted at 6:33 PM in Movie Reviews and Boris Karloff.
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