Voodoo Man

I found this film to be an enjoyable little effort from monogram I really liked the pairing of Lugosi and Zucco as the villians and also having John Carradine as an evil assistant....pretty much the standard fare you,ll get from most all Monogram films of this genre..but if you enjoy a simple little horror film like I do,this is a great one for a rainy day or a dark night...

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.

Monogram's "The Voodoo Man", which not only features George Zucco in his most demeaning, humiliating role as a voodoo priest (Ramboona never fails) but also has John Carradine as an imbecile and Bela Lugosi as a mad scientist of a sort. Bela turns in a pretty good performance as the demented doctor trying to instill life into his amazingly well preserved dead wife through the use of voodoo and some nubile Monogram starlets. Carradine is in there pitching in an embarrassing role. Zucco, as the voodoo priest, is required to wear an absurd costume and chant gibberish in most of his scenes. Being the old pro that he was, he manages to turn in a credible performance. If you are willing to look past the hokum, this isn't a bad way to pass an idle hour.

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.

I'm glad that I purchased "Voodoo Man". It is a pleasant way to pass an hour for fans of 1940's horror films. It is weird and strange, but has a certain beauty to it as well. I believe that it's the best of the horror films that Bela Lugosi made for Monogram during that time. Lugosi is a devoted husband to a wife that has been dead (although, still beautiful and looking as if she were in a trance) for 22 years. He has two of his helpers kidnap young women motorists off of a deserted road so that the young women's life forces can be transferred (via Voodoo) into his dead wife in order to bring her back to life. One pretty young motorist is missed by her cousin and soon the sheriff and his deputy pay a visit to Lugosi's home. Lugosi has a whole basement full of lovely young ladies who are entranced and standing behind glass doors in large cabinets. Will the missing cousin be rescued and the other young ladies be set free? Watch "Voodoo Man" to find out. The DVD that I bought through Sinister Cinema.com has the vintage trailer for "Voodoo Man" as a bonus feature.