Although Edwin Maxwell is credited as playing "The Maniac", it is Bela Lugosi himself playing the bulk of the role in the heavy makeup disguise---and his features can easily be recognized in spite of it, thanks to his mesmerizing "Dracula" stare. (There is no match for Edwin's eyes, nor with the rest of his facial features, with the maniac.)
This is almost regarded as a "lost film." It has been very rarely shown in recent decades and, by 2019, Columbia has yet to release it on home video, despite the value of Bela Lugosi's appearance in the cast.
Filmed from March 1-13, 1933, released April 24.
Part of the SON OF SHOCK package of 20 titles released to television in 1958, which followed the original Shock Theater release of 52 features one year earlier. This was also one of the 11 Columbia titles, the other 61 all being Universals.
This is one of a group of features in which Bela Lugosi is given top billing only for marquee value while he has only a supporting role in the film.