Voodoo Man

"Dr. Richard Marlowe" (Bela Lugosi) is intent upon bringing his dead wife "Evelyn" (Ellen Hall) back to life. In order to do that he resorts to voodoo which requires a young woman with similar attributes to transfer her life forces into Evelyn. Those who aren't a perfect match become zombies. At any rate, the loss of several young women in a small country area begins to trigger suspicions which flare up when one of the zombies "Stella Saunders" (Louise Currie) accidentally escapes from the house and is found wandering on the side of the road by the local sheriff. When Dr. Marlowe comes to examine her, he realizes that her best friend, "Betty Benton" (Wanda McKay) is a perfect candidate and decides that he must have her. At any rate, rather than give away any secrets I will just say that lovers of old horror movies will probably really enjoy this one as well. Granted it is clearly dated and the zombies of this era are totally dissimilar to those we typically see today. As such, it doesn't have the action or the gore that most people these days might expect. But I still found it entertaining enough and I recommend it to anyone who might be interested in an old-style zombie film.

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.

Voodoo Man (1944)

*** (out of 4)

Monogram cheapie has Bela Lugosi playing a mad doctor who wants to bring his dead wife back to life. In order to do so he must kidnap women and use voodoo to make their souls go into the body of his wife.

As is to be expected, this is a very silly little film that doesn't have too much of a story going for it but it does have a great cast to keep things moving through its 62-minute running time. I often say that if you want art then Ingmar Bergman is highly recommended but if you just want some fast, fun and cheap entertainment then something like VOODOO MAN is just what you're looking for.

Lugosi is in fine form as the deranged doctor and he manages to deliver yet another good performance. He actually has a very touching scene where his wife returns to him for a few seconds before dying again and Lugosi really gives it his all in his heartbreak. George Zucco is also on hand as the man getting the girls. The scene stealer however is John Carradine as Lugosi's dimwitted slave.

There are a couple sequences, which are just downright hilarious with one showing Carradine playing the drums with the strangest look on his face. Another moment is when Carradine goes to the dungeon to talk with the kidnapped women only to let one escape. In fear, he starts crying that the master is going to beat him and this too is downright hilarious to watch.

All in all there's nothing overly special with this film but it does feature three horror greats and in the end it's fun camp. It's not meant to be taken serious and it's not meant to be examined by high- brow critics.

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.

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...