Before I Hang

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.

Boris Karloff, typecast in the horror genre, was one of our most underrated film actors. Here is a typical film of his middle career that showcases his versatile skills, equally strong as the benign, elderly scientist and his murderous, strangling younger self. This b-picture packs a lot of atmosphere and suspense into it's hour running time. Any shortcomings cannot be blamed on anyone but the screenwriter, Robert D. Andrews, who was just trying to keep things moving- not such a bad thing, actually. Nick Grinde does an excellent job making the most out of the script and witness Karloff's fireside confession for an example of the film's above average cinematography. It's also nice to see Karloff side by side with Edward Van Sloan again nine years after Frankenstein. If you need proof of Boris Karloff's talent and charisma aside from Frankenstein, check out Before I Hang, as well as The Black Room, The Body Snatcher, and Targets. I wish we had a star like him today...

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?!

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.

Boris Karloff would begin to repeat what might be considered the same part again and again in a series of "Mad Doctor" films he made for Columbia Pictures in the early '40s. As the elderly Dr. Garth, Boris is developing a serum which he hopes may preserve life. He's been convicted of the mercy killing of a terminally sick friend (would that make Karloff the first Dr. Jack Kevorkian?) but yet is allowed to continue his experiments while on death row with the aid of prison physician Dr. Miller (DRACULA's Edward Van Sloan). Garth decides to use himself as a guinea pig and injects himself with a serum made with the blood of a known murderer. The kindly doctor is subsequently pardoned from his crime, and the end result of his experiment produces the amazing effect of turning him into a much younger man. He has now inadvertently reversed the aging process, but the tainted formula has one slight side effect: it periodically turns him into a homicidal killer who is seized with the urge to strangle his victims. BEFORE I HANG is a decent offering in this series, though is not to be confused with the similarly-titled and superior THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG from 1939. **1/2 out of ****