El mago de la muerte

The third Boris Karloff "mad doctor" film is an interesting if surprisingly rather dull affair; the star is always worth watching, however, and his role here certainly offers him plenty to sink his teeth into: he starts the film as an old man about to be hanged for a mercy killing, is then rejuvenated through a serum he develops while in prison (the kindly warden having consented to Karloff continuing his experiments there until the time of his execution comes) and finally turns into a strangler (the unfortunate side-effect of the drug which contained the blood cells of a murderer)!

Though the supporting cast features several familiar faces, they're all somewhat underused: Evelyn Keyes and Bruce Bennett are certainly among the higher-prolife actors to fill the 'romantic interest' roles in this type of film, but they're just about the most thankless I've ever seen (especially Bennett who has barely 5 minutes of screen time)! Edward van Sloan's presence was especially welcome (having memorably faced-off with Karloff twice before) but, again, his prison doctor here is nowhere near as juicy as his iconic roles in Dracula (1931), FRANKENSTEIN (1931), THE MUMMY (1932) and DRACULA'S DAUGHTER (1936)! Pedro de Cordoba, on the other hand, is quite poignant as Karloff's pianist friend whose career is fading due to his advancing age; of course, Boris is willing to help him out in this regard, but his new-found and uncontrollable murderous instincts prevail! A measure of amusement is also gleaned from noticing the recurring presence of such actors as Roger Pryor, Don Beddoe and Charles Trowbridge in roles which were pretty much reprises of ones they had played in the earlier Columbia Karloffs!

On the debit side, the low budget especially shows here in the film's rather dismal sets - the other three of Karloff's serious horror efforts for Columbia made good use of the star's gadget-filled house (THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG [1939]), frozen underground lab (THE MAN WITH NINE LIVES [1940]) and Karloff's imposing cliff-top mansion (THE DEVIL COMMANDS [1941]); besides, the rather clinical experiments become repetitive and the film talky, which is further exacerbated by the regrettable fact that throughout there are few action/horror highlights per se.

As far as the film's DVD presentation goes, I found it to be disappointingly lackluster: while the print itself is adequate, there are no scene selections for any of the films in this set (which also proves to be the case with Universal's Karloff collection and the "Inner Sanctum" Set!) nor, for that matter, proper menu screens - have the studios become stingy or what?!

Basically "Before I Hang" is very simplistic and inconspicuous thriller story, but it is almost evidently brought to a much higher level solely thanks to the always-reliable performance and natural class of the iconic Boris Karloff. I wrote it before and I'll write it forevermore in my reviews: this man was simply amazing! With is moody voice, he could narrate the content of a phone book for all I care, because I would still hang on his lips. His charm and charisma make every movie atmospheric and his grimaces when he transforms from a seemingly gentle elderly person into a cold-blooded murderer (as masterfully demonstrated a couple of times in "Before I Hang") are utmost petrifying! Mr. Karloff truly was – and still is – horror personified! So, that concludes my ode to this brilliant actor, and on to the film itself. "Before I Hang" is actually another loose interpretation of the classic novel "Les Mains d'Orlac" by Maurice Renard. The novel first got turned into a film in 1924 already, in the German expressionist masterpiece "Orlacs Hände" starring Conrad Veidt, and several more times since, including two films starring Peter Lorre ("Mad Love", "The Beast with Five Fingers") and another one starring Christopher Lee in 1960 ("The Hands of Orlac"). Although the source material isn't specifically credited here, it's clear that Renard's novel also provides the basic plot idea. The movie opens with a beautiful and long Boris Karloff plea in court. He's physician Dr. John Garth, sentenced to death by hanging because he attempted to cure a man but failed. Awaiting his execution, Dr. Garth continues his experiments with the consent of the prison director and the help of the resident doctor, and he uses himself as guinea pig when he injects the serum into his own veins. Dr. Garth's execution gets overruled after all, but he begins to notice that the serum rejuvenates him. Unfortunately, however, he used the blood of a convicted murderer to finalize his serum and this bad blood is now slowly turning him into a merciless strangler as well. Classic Karloff material, in other words, with numerous fantastic monologues and a handful of eerie moments. Short (barely 60 minutes), intense and to the point; where would (mad) science be without Boris Karloff?

Dr. John Garth (Boris Karloff) is convicted of a mercy killing and sentenced to hang. With the time he has left, he is allowed to continue his experiments in prison. He creates a serum that reverses aging and tries it out on himself. But side effects of the serum turn him into a homicidal maniac. Karloff is terrific in a role very similar to many others he had played before and always perfectly. He was so good at creating sympathetic performances out of characters that other actors would have played in broad strokes. Nice supporting cast that includes the always good Edward Van Sloan, Evelyn Keyes, Bruce Bennett, Don Beddoe, and the underrated Pedro de Cordoba. You might not recognize some of those names but it's a solid cast for a 'B' picture. Not the best of Karloff's mad scientist films but highly enjoyable anyway. Definitely give it a shot.

I am not exactly a connoisseur of Karloff, but this film makes me want to find out more about the great master--his performance in this was truly endearing, not to mention gripping.

Furthermore, this movie should be be required viewing for modern film-makers, because it really is a masterpiece of succinctness. Not a single frame of film is wasted! The movie only lasts for 62 minutes (although I'm sure the version I saw, early one morning, lasted a good ten minutes less than that!) and yet it crams more plot into that small timescale than a great many drawn-out 3 hour epics! And yet, the real genius of the work is that it does not for a single moment seem *rushed*. Everything flows smoothly right up to the final curtain, and you are left with the feeling of having watched a "full-length" feature--a truly astonishing achievement! I glanced at my watch at about the halfway stage , not out of impatience, but out of sheer wonder at how on earth everything was going to be wrapped up to a neat conclusion within only 25 minutes or so!

This film, more than any other that I can recall, bridges the gap between the frenetic single-reeler comedies of the 20s (which crammed a hell of a lot in, at the expense of a more welcome relaxed pace), and the modern day feature. If there really was five full minutes of piano-playing in this, I can't say that it perturbed me in any way whatsoever--it merely helped to set the melancholy mood of the piece. And that five minutes of a one hour film can be dedicated solely to mood setting, without generating any feeling of slow-down, is something really quite remarkable.

A great genius *can* make a 4 hour film work... but such directors are *extremely* few and far between (e.g. Kurosawa, von Stroheim). All others should learn from the director of this work: the Occam's Razor of feature films.

Of the Karloff Columbia Mad Doctor pictures, my very favorite is "The Man With Nine Lives" with "The Devil Commands" a close second followed by "The Man They Could Not Hang" (which was still quite good). Similarly, "Before I Hang" is a good "B" picture with some good scenes such as the experimentation with the model in order to mix the chemicals and serums correctly. Karloff's "Dr. Jekyll - Mr. Hyde" transformations seem to be very hair-raising indeed.

As usual, Karloff proves he was one of the best mad scientists of classic shudder cinema.

This neat little "B" came with a good supporting cast including Bruce Bennett and Evelyn Keyes.

Worthwhile watching with all of your "B" buddies.

7/10.