The Phantom Creeps

In the 30's and the 40's,universal(like republic pictures)produced many serials(action films viewed in chapters)dealing with superheroes,outer space,mad scientists and war, In this 12 chapter serial released by universal in 1939, bela lugosi(famous for playing vampires,mad doctors and monsters)plays doctor zorka,a mad doctor who has discovered an atomic meteorite,he harnesses its power,he then decides to sell it to spies,when a reporter(dorothy arnold) and a government agent(robert kent)set out to stop doctor zorka from destroying the world with the meteorite,they must battle spies,doctor zorka's explosive mechanical spiders and a giant robot through 12 chapters to save the world!an impressive serial,an incredible performance from lugosi and the supporting cast,and plenty of special effects,also seen in this serial is edward van sloan(who plays jarvis the spy chief) who starred along with bela lugosi in universals dracula(1931)!

it's worth watching

"The Phantom Creeps" was Bela Lugosi's last serial. It was produced by Universal where he achieved some of his greatest successes. As such and with the resources of the studio, I expected a better product. Instead what we get is a routine "mad scientist" serial filled with stock footage and obvious gaffs. As an example when Lugosi is supposed to be bombing the Federal Building, what we clearly see is a burning dirigible.

Anyway, the story has mad scientist Dr. Zorka (Lugosi) in possession of a piece of a meteorite which contains powers which enable him to create an 8 foot all powerful robot, an invisibility belt with which he can become invisible and move about unseen, the ability to induce suspended animation in his enemies by loosing tacky looking mechanical spiders upon them and God knows what else. Assisting him is his treacherous assistant Monk (Jack C. Smith) who is held under Zorka's control.

Opposing him are G-Men Bob West (Robert Kent) and Jim Daly (Regis Toomey), reporter Jean Drew (Dorothy Arnold) and Zorka's former partner Dr. Mallory (Edwin Stanley) who try to get hold of Zorka's box containing the meteorite fragment.

Also in the hunt are "spies" Jarvis (Edward Van Sloan) and Rankin (Anthony Averill). Zorka had originally intended on selling his invention to the highest bidder but when his wife is killed he goes mad and decides to take over the world himself.

Needless to say the "box" changes hands among the three adversaries over the course of the serial's 12 chapters until things are all tied up in Chapter 12.

Lugosi is way over the top as Zorka and with firmer direction might have saved this serial. Edward Van Sloan had appeared as Van Helsing with Lugosi in 1931's "Dracula". Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Also appearing in small roles are Eddie Acuff, Roy Barcroft, Lane Chandler, Edmund Cobb, Charles King, Forrest Taylor, stinting Tom Steele and Dave Sharpe and as a road foreman in Chapter 11 Lee J. Cobb.

This serial is really fun. I love the emoting of Bela Lugosi. He wants to rule the universe and, doggone it, nothing is going to stop him. There are many pitfalls along the way. One is the usual incompetent sidekick who can't follow orders worth a darn. Another is his inability to keep a low profile. He is always putting himself out there where someone is able to spoil his efforts. There are spies and government agents. His valuable meteor is stolen a couple of times but he quickly gets it back. There is one touching scene where he causes the death of his wife, but he quickly blames the government for her death. As with all serials, there are a series of cliffhanging endings to scenes and he always seems to come out unscathed. I have to admit I was actually pulling for him. The government agents are too boring to come out on top. You can't tell the spies from the government agents without a program. There is also this cool robot who suffers from the same infirmity of slow movement that seems to affect mummies in that other genre. It was interesting to see that it was Lugosi's character that caused the Hindenberg to burst into flame. He throws a little explosive dart at it from a plane. Who would have thought. Anyway, it's a lot of fun, it makes little sense, and at the end we feel a little cheated.

As far as horror movies go id have to say this is a b-horror film... though its not really scary in the least. Maybe it's just my liking for Bela Lugosi, but I liked this movie.

And if you like his robot soldier in this movie you can see him again and again in the rob zombie music video "Dragula" dancing strangely in the back ground.

The acting in this movie isn't anything special, neither are the effects, but if you go into a 1939 low budget movie looking for either of those things then you should step back and take a look at why you even bother.

Enjoyed this Classic Bela Lugosi film which was probably shown to audiences every Saturday in the afternoon and evenings along with two (2)other feature "B" movies, cartoons and a newsreel all for the cost of .35 cents in 1939 and probably less money than that amount. This film was a head of its time, with a great Sci-Fi story and robot to go along with the entire horror. There is plenty of action, airplane crashes, jumping out of planes and bombs going off and one crazy looking robot. Dorothy Arnold appeared in this film as a reporter for a newspaper who was always popping up at the wrong time. Dorothy was very attractive and with a sexy figure who was once married to Joe DiMaggio, the famous baseball player who later married Marilyn Monroe. Bela Lugosi gave an outstanding performance and was making films like three or four in one month. Enjoy a great Horror/Sci-Fi Oldie.