Death from a Distance

Death from a Distance features a murder at a planetarium. As most of the film's action takes place in the one large room, it's probably a good thing that the room contains a large telescope and a ceiling painted with stars, a setting unique enough to remain somewhat viewable for 70 minutes. The lead characters are not as unique—Russell Hopton is the police detective investigating, Lola Lane the girl reporter getting in his way. Hopton and Lane do their best to put some life into their roles, but the bits of witty banter they are given are somewhat few and far between.

The other characters fare little better. Most lively is Lee Kohlmar as Professor Einfeld, who is supposedly one of the three greatest scientists in the world and is therefore rather unkempt and absent-minded but ultimately sharp enough to aid in solving the mystery. There are, of course, also a dumb assistant detective, a couple of scientists with shady pasts, and a curator. (By the way, Einfeld also speaks in a European accent and has a messy shock of hair. Ein-what?)

The murder device is cleverly conceived, I have to say. However, the detective work and the uncovering of clues are all somewhat hazy. Ultimately, Death from a Distance lacks snap, but the mystery is at least deep enough to keep us watching until the end.

During a lecture at a planetarium one of the people in the audience is killed. The police are called and with the help of, or possibly despite the interference of a female reporter the killer is eventually unmasked.

If nothing else this film has a unique location which is played up a great deal as the film milks it for all its worth. What is worth is plenty since this is a snappy mystery with great dialog and a decent mystery. The acting is good and the cast is made up of troopers who you've probably seen in countless other films.

This is one of those movie that's worth seeking out and worth buying. Alpha Video is putting it out shortly in a cheap edition and I'll be picking up copies for friends who like the really good mysteries. Keep an eye on Amazon, you won't be disappointed.

Yes, this is an absolute alien mystery thriller, the over the best of bland director Frank Strayer, whose films are not that widely known and even less shown. VAMPIRE BAT was rather famous for thirties horror films buffs, but that's all. Some of talkies Strayer's movies are in the public domain now, in terms of copyrights elements, even available on some DVD retailers but I am sure no one watches them. This one is a mystery, as I have told, yarn, as there there thousands of them in those decades, before TV industry takes it for its own purpose. I am not a great fan of those most of the time boring plots, but this one is very amusing, intriguing, unusual.

The film's title implies that death strikes from afar, and in a clever way, it does...

This low-budget little whodunit will NEVER be aired on TV, so you will have to find a rental, or more likely, buy a copy to see how this ingenious little murder is worked out.

I won't spoil it for anyone by telling you that the victim is in the audience of a planetarium, and naturally-- so is the murderer! The police are called in, and the entire story is acted out pretty much on that one set.

Filmed on one of the lowest budgets possible, "Death From A Distance" will still keep you watching, and guessing, right to the surprise ending.

Not bad, to say the least. To B-movie mystery buffs, I say: Buy it, if you can find it, and enjoy.

The sound and picture are just terrible! This badly needs a restoration, but at this point, probably unlikely. During a presentation on the night sky, someone in the audience is knocked off. Russ hopton is detective mallory, from the police, questioning everyone. Kay palmer (lola lane) is from the local rag to invest-y-gate. And of course, none of the witnesses agree on a description of the suspect. The coppers and the reporters all run in circles for a while. I call shenanigans on the story and ending. It's all too silly and unlikely.if the sound and picture quality weren't so awful, this probably would have been parodied on mystery science theater! Even the captions aren't synched up... sometimes they are ahead, and sometimes behind. The most interesting thing here is that someone's last name is "griffith".. and this came out the same year that the griffith observatory opened in los angeles! Directed by frank strayer. Story by john kraft. Hopton offed himself ten years after this film, at age 45.