Supernatural

By the thinnest of plot connections in Supernatural is millionaire heiress Carole Lombard connected to Vivienne Osbourne a serial murderess who is awaiting her execution in prison. Alan Dinehart, Osbourne's sometime boyfriend is the one who turned her in to the authorities because he was afraid. With good reason as it turns out.

Dinehart is a fake medium, but H.B. Warner is the real deal, a psychologist studying life after death. He wants Osbourne's body after she dies for experimentation and she agrees to it.

Turns out he's a family friend of Carole Lombard who is mourning the recent death of her brother, leaving her sole heir to a vast fortune. And Dinehart has designs on it through her.

Warner has the best performance in this film. His scientist is part Dr. Frankenstein and part Dr. Van Helsing, the best parts of both. Closely following is Dinehart who is definitely one scurvy rat.

Lombard did far better work in her career in those screwball comedies than she does her as a frightened heiress who gets possessed by the spirit of a killer. Supposedly a female serial killer has not been identified, but apparently Supernatural anticipates one will eventually be found.

Randolph Scott plays Lombard's boyfriend. He was doing B westerns for Paramount at the time, based on Zane Grey stories mostly. He looks like he'd rather be back in the saddle than in the tuxedo he wears mostly in this film. Of course his part is colorless and he's given little to do, but look concerned.

Not the best work for fans of either Carole Lombard or Randolph Scott.

Negative reviews of this film should be seen in context. Most Carole Lombard fans are looking for light comedies and romances, certainly not horror pictures. Horror fans, however, must be delighted to find Lombard starring in this movie from the Halperins, who produced the successful Lugosi vehicle "White Zombie" in 1932.

Only a few times in the 1930s' golden age of horror did these films get the star power and production they deserved. Among major studios Paramount led the way with this type of film, even predating Universal with John Barrymore's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in 1920 when the only horror films were coming out of Germany. In the '30s Paramount, encouraged by Universal's success, cast Charles Laughton in "The Island of Lost Souls" and Frederic March in a remake of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." In "Supernatural" Lombard is fine in the lead role of a woman possessed by the evil spirit of a murderess. And while this film is not a classic, it is an effective horror film by a major studio. The fact that it rates 6.0 stars is amazing when you consider what types of films Lombard's fans are used to seeing her in.

Unlike a lot of reviewers here, I was quite impressed by this film. Sure it's not scary - I didn't expect it to be - but it effectively builds an unsettling atmosphere without resorting to the usual mood enhancers such as haunted houses, gloomy mansions, isolated islands, etc. Prosaic things such as a spark generated from a railway wheel, the taking of a key, have an edge to them. There are also some very nice touches along the way, eg, the dog bringing the slippers to Carole Lombard's brother.

It is also interesting to see Carole Lombard this early in her career - from my point of view she acquits herself quite well in the part. And H. B Warner is also well suited to his role of Dr Houston. Randolph Scott however is wooden, and the role of Bavian could have done with a more charismatic player than Alan Dinehart. The real scene stealer in this movie however is Beryl Mercer - much better in this than anything else I have seen her in.

I also find this film interesting plot-wise, as I have on occasion come across texts which refer to "The Uninvited" as the first significant Hollywood film to deal with spirit possession when clearly this is not the case. I suppose it depends on what you mean by significant.

Anyway, it is certainly interesting to see what the makers of "White Zombie" came up with when they had the backing of a major studio.

I've seen this film 3 times over the past 16 years and I have to say that it still has its moments. Real pros were in charge of seeing to it that the movie evokes the right mood. No, it's not made in the same vein as "The Blair Witch Project" or any of a number of modern scarefests. Older movies often have a distinct style which is different than that used by directors, cinematographers and set designers today. This should not detract from the appreciation of old scary movies. Black and white cinematography can only enhance them. See the scene with the dead murderess in the scientist's laboratory for an example of what I mean. Brr.

I totally forgot that I had this movie in my library. And I also am very happy to have found it, because for the thirties, that's a pretty good surprise from the director of WHITE ZOMBIE and REVOLT OF THE ZOMBIES. I think it was daring for this period to invent such a plot, and the result is not so bad. The short length is also a good point. Now, I admit that this movie is talkative, as many of others made during this era, early talkies. Maybe a decade later, it would have been a bit better.... Anyway, I like this Victor Halperin's film, one of his most interesting, though not his best. But to see Randolph Scott and Carole Lombard, we can make an effort.