Sunday, September 04, 2011

Movie review – “Night Monster” (1942) **

Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill are top billed but shamefully under-used in this old dark house mystery. There's a southern setting, a killer running loose, various suspects, a mansion near a swamp, and characters including a mystery writer (Don Porter) who gets involved for fun, a dodgy chauffeur, nasty maids, rich cripples, spooky butlers (Lugosi), shady doctors, rich women who might be insane, lecherous young men, Eastern mystics. Plenty of stuff going on (decently paced murders, a climax out of Rebecca), and it's got that great Universal atmosphere - I just wish Lugosi had a bigger part.

No comments: