Voodoo Man

Sadly the days when a lone, mad scientist, toiling in the basement of his sinister mansion, could perform miracles over life and death with just a few test tubes and pulsing lights, without thought of glory or patent rights, have been curtailed by the corporate monopoly of science; the simple human desire to revivify the dead, trumped by the thirst for profit. Happily, voodoo has, thus far, eluded the grasping grip of greed (ouch!) and retained its humble individuality.

Voodoo Man returns us to that simpler time when science and magic worked hand in hand. It is another absurd poverty-row horror, filmed in seven days, in case you can't tell, by Bill "One-Shot" Beaudine for Sam Katzman's Monogram Pictures. Lugosi plays Marlowe, another mad scientist with another ailing wife. Indeed this wife is rather more than ailing: for 28 years she has been dead, but not in the sense we understand the word, of course. He tries to reanimate her by transferring to her the life force of abducted female motorists. Marlowe has some impressive technology – an impressive surveillance system, a car disabling ray, and some weird wife maintenance machinery. Still, he isn't one of those finicky skeptics who practice science nowadays. Like the alchemist, he recognizes the potential to improve scientific outcomes by utilizing magic.

This film is sensationally silly especially given the quality of the cast. This may not be Lugosi's most absurd role; unfortunately, the same can't be said for Carradine and Zucco. Carradine plays Toby, Marlowe's jogging, dimwitted henchman, who kidnaps women and doubles as Marlowe's percussion section. His bizarre performance is only over-cast by Zucco who plays Nicholas, gas station proprietor and voodoo priest. Zucco usually brings an air of dignity to the foolish roles he plays but this one is beyond him. While Toby bashes a bongo, Nicholas, in a cheap college gown and "Phyllis Diller wig," chants gibberish at a piece of string in the name of Ramboonya who is, apparently, all powerful. And, to be fair, Nicholas is getting results until meddling relatives and policemen interfere with the ceremonies.

This film has remained too obscure and deserves a far greater audience. Amazing stuff.

A car pulls into a lonely country gas station. Owner George Zucco oozes out to greet the driver, a young woman. "Stranger in this part of the country, aren't you?" he inquires. She should not ask him for directions!

Yes, attractive young female motorists are disappearing, and it's not long before we learn that they are being misdirected onto a detour that will take them to a spooky mansion where Bela Lugosi is practicing—with Zucco's assistance—some very strange magic.

Lugosi has most of the best lines in this goofy but entertaining quickie. For example, his introduction to his wife, who died 22 years ago: "She's dead…only in the sense that you understand that word." (Actually, she's dead in a way I do not understand, since she seems to walk okay but just doesn't have much to say.)

John Carradine is hilarious as a sort of nutty henchman; he is in charge of the hypnotized captives and moves from spot to spot in a sort of hippity-hop trot instead of just walking. Henry Hall is also funny as the local sheriff: "Sheriff's job in this county used to be a cinch," he says. "Now it's a pain in the neck"—meaning, all of these missing motorist reports are really eating up his time. Wanda McKay and Tod Andrews are the attractive if rather bland young couple who are drawn into the mystery.

Zucco spends most of his screen time in a sorcerer's robe decorated with stars and crescents; Lugosi has one that matches. They look…um…silly. But they appear to be having fun—and although this picture is no great shakes and contains no great frights, it is indeed fun.

"Dr. Richard Marlowe" (Bela Lugosi) is intent upon bringing his dead wife "Evelyn" (Ellen Hall) back to life. In order to do that he resorts to voodoo which requires a young woman with similar attributes to transfer her life forces into Evelyn. Those who aren't a perfect match become zombies. At any rate, the loss of several young women in a small country area begins to trigger suspicions which flare up when one of the zombies "Stella Saunders" (Louise Currie) accidentally escapes from the house and is found wandering on the side of the road by the local sheriff. When Dr. Marlowe comes to examine her, he realizes that her best friend, "Betty Benton" (Wanda McKay) is a perfect candidate and decides that he must have her. At any rate, rather than give away any secrets I will just say that lovers of old horror movies will probably really enjoy this one as well. Granted it is clearly dated and the zombies of this era are totally dissimilar to those we typically see today. As such, it doesn't have the action or the gore that most people these days might expect. But I still found it entertaining enough and I recommend it to anyone who might be interested in an old-style zombie film.

Sam Katzman and William Beaudine are two of the immortals of Poverty Row,and Voodoo Man is the literal definition the of the movie that is sooo bad that it's a great picture.Katzman's Banner Productions filmed Voodoo Man in 7 days in October of 1943 for Monogram Studios.What sets this apart is the appearance of Bela Lugosi, George Zucco, and John Carradine in the lead roles and all three are at their rip roarin', hammiest, and over the top best in this little horror opus.Beaudine was the acknowledged master of turning out "Economical" but extremely watchable B movies.

Lugosi is the sinister doctor who is channeling Snidely Whiplash. He would twirl his mustache if he had one and yell"curses, foiled again" at every setback. Zucco is a gas station manager and voodoo high priest who scouts out young ladies and potential victims for the doctor and chants an unrecognizable gibberish in the background much of the time. during the transference ceremony. Carradine portrays Lugosi's dimwitted gofer and bongo drum player. In a lesser actors hands the role would be a total embarrassment but Carridine is able to sell it.The scene where Carridine gets a closeup playing the bongo is so over the top that it is classical. His character really believes in the magic of the ceremony.

Micheal Ames AKA Tod Andrews, Wanda McKay,and Louise Currie do a commendable job with their roles, particularly Currie whose character is forced through the voodoo ceremony then wanders the countryside in a zombie like state while wearing flimsy and very sexy nightgown. McKay was a Paramount contract actress who did a lot of screen work for Monogram during the 1940's.Currie was another talented actress who did a lot of work at the B studios in the 1940's. She had worked with Lugosi before in the Ape Man for Monogram.

The plot of Voodoo Man is less important then getting to watch Lugosi, Zucco, and Carridine go through their paces. They could make reading the ingredients to a can of soup sinister fun!Sam Katzman would would have probably made a feature film of them doing it if he had thought of it. With Beaudine directing of course!

Monogram cheapie (shot in seven days!) starring Bela Lugosi as a doctor who is kidnapping young women to use in voodoo rituals to cure his zombified wife. The things we do for love! Of the many Poverty Row movies Bela made during the 1940s, this is one of the most fun. It helps that in this one Bela has support from fellow horror legends George Zucco and John Carradine. All three contribute greatly to the unintended comedy that makes this such a silly entertaining picture. The hero of the piece is a writer played by Tod Andrews, an actor who played a lot of roles in film and television but who I best remember from an episode of the Andy Griffith Show where he played a jerk. He's kind of a jerk in this, too. There's also some fun character actors playing rubes that add to the humor. Anyway, this is worth a look for fans of Bela or those who like old mad scientist movies. It's nothing that's going to change your life but it might entertain you for an hour. Love that ending.