pghmoe

We wait for an hour and half to finally see the snowmen and all we get is glimpse of the eyes! And it's a great payoff to boot! A wonderfully layered script capped off with great performances, this little gem overcomes the typical low budgets of British sci-fi during the time; in fact a large budget may have ruined this film. A thinking person's movie, not for those with short attention spans or low IQ's.

Two great performaces: Karloff's subtle satanist and Lugosi's OTT sadist! Add to the mix some great macabre set designs, wonderful dialouge and great paceing and you a classic old fashioned horror peice, the kind that must have inspired Tim Burton!

Imagine if this film were done today. The effects would all be cg-includeing the stunts. There would most likely be some toilet humor injected into the shenannigans of Professor Fate and instead of period music we would get a rap peice or two.

Blake Edwards wisely dedicated the film to two great comedians and stuck to the period with great flavor. While it is a bit labored in some spots, there is much to reccomenmend: The pie fight, the bar room brawl and the sword fight (with a great payoff for the late Ross Martin)all make nice set peices; Professor Fate's daredevil attempts to one-up The Great Leslie and the wonderfull chemistry between Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk.