Night of Terror

This film has a special interest to me because it was the only one with my grandmother, Mary Frey, on screen. It has all of the usual old spooky house elements with lots of screams and surprises. Along with this there are the stock incompetent police, and elements of classic farce. But I think the director had some fun with these elements. Check out the scenes with the grinning skeleton. With all of the special effects now available we can't take this film seriously, but we can laugh at the clichés. One notable flaw is the music which does not go well with some of the scenes. It is way too upbeat when it should be communicating mystery. However, it is very soft so it is not obtrusive.

The séance scene has a little history. According to my father it was filmed during an aftershock of the Long Beach earthquake. But the actors were stage professionals and kept going despite the heavy lights swaying over their heads. The director was so impressed by the intent expressions that he said it was perfect with no retakes needed.

OK, the characters are one dimensional, but that is common in this genre. Lugosi has ample opportunity to use dramatic facial expressions and outbursts. Very small children may find this movie frightening. The only available copy from Sinister Cinema is a fairly good, but soft focus print.

I'm sorry I waited so long to see this film; for years I'd heard how poor it allegedly was, so I made the mistake of steering clear of it for far too long. It's nothing 'great,' but it certainly was fair enough and hit the spot with me for Halloween-time viewing. It's a murder mystery set in a creepy house with a decent share of horrific elements: a Mr. Hyde-like goon with a knife in top hat and cape called The Maniac stalks the grounds; a scientist experiments with suspended animation and getting himself buried alive; the otherworldly Bela Lugosi headlines as a peculiar household servant in a turban who's married to his eerily mystical wife. Add to the mix Wallace Ford (THE MUMMY'S HAND, THE MUMMY'S TOMB, THE APE MAN) and some occasional dashes of humor, and there are far worse ways to spend just over an hour. The wrap-up of this whodunit is satisfying, and there is a secret 'gag' ending that really delivers. ** out of ****

During his career, Bela Lugosi made a ton of cheap B-movies. "Night of Terror" is a bit higher budgeted and a bit less dumb than his usual Bs. Now don't get upset--when I call them dumb, I still like them...but the often have a lot of very silly plot lines and this one is no exception. A maniac is running about stabbing people and pinning articles from newspapers to their bodies. At the same time, a weirdo scientist is working on a secret formula to allow people to stop breathing for long extended periods with no ill effects! Believe it or not, Lugosi doesn't play either role but instead is an odd-ball servant in turban, Degar. Add to that a typical cliché of the age, a hot-shot reporter (Wallace Ford) and a another, the dopey cop, and you have a typical sort of film from the era. It's silly but a bit better written and a bit less silly--though the ending is strange because of its extended exposition to explain half the film! Worth seeing for Lugosi fans or fans of Bs.

This is a classic murder mystery set at a spooky old mansion. Wealthy Richard Rinehart is murdered at his posh estate. There are plenty of kooky and creepy people about who frequent the manor. Bela plays a household servant, a mystic who believes in his wife's ability to foretell the future.

Wallace Ford plays the wise cracking reporter who seems one step ahead of the police. While the police believe an escaped maniac is the killer, Ford probes to learn who will benefit from Rinehart's murder.

One problem I have with the film is the escaped maniac who is about and who is killing people in the area. We are told that he has already murdered 12 people. The police then announce he was last seen around the Rinehart estate. He murders a yard worker at the estate early on and then spends the rest of the film peering in windows and skulking about the estate. It is beyond reason that the maniac is not captured or that the police are not hunting madly for a man who has murdered 13 people. That said, I understand he is present as a red herring and the murderer has used the maniac's present to commit the murder.

In NIGHT OF TERROR, we learn that "The Maniac" killer (Edwin Maxwell) has struck again, and is on the loose! Meanwhile, at the nearby Rinehart estate, the murdering madman slips into the mansion unnoticed. This, while resident scientist, Professor Hornsby (George Meeker) prepares to be buried alive, to prove the efficacy of his new life-restorative formula, and resident mystic, Degar (Bela Lugosi) creeps about the place.

Enter Mary Rinehart, whose father, Richard (Tully Marshall) hopes for wedding bells to ring for she and Hornsby. As the night progresses, more murders take place.

Enter smart aleck reporter, Tom Hartley (Wallace Ford), and a squad car full of cops! As more family members and scientists arrive, the tension grows, and second resident mystic, Sika (Mary Frey) forecasts doom!

A great "old dark house"-type film, this one has a lot of moving parts. There's even a seance! The turban-wearing Lugosi is at his menacing best, while Ford is heroic and humorous by turns.

Thoroughly enjoyable hokum...