Pillow of Death

Pillow Of Death is the last of Universial's well-made, entertaining Inner Sactum series of second feature thrillers, all utilizing the often wasted talent of Lon Chaney, Jr., off-beat stories, a rather spooky, Gothic atmosphere, a battalion of fine character actors, and a covey of beautiful "B" leading ladies, and second female leads as the love interests of the unglamorous Chaney. All get the job done in under seventy minutes, Pillow being the longest by a bit at an hour and six minutes. It is also the only picture of the series not to use the spooky, distorted talking head in a crystal ball as a prologue, a device apparently inherited from the popular radio show which inspired the movie series. It wasn't really missed. Neither the worst nor the best of the series, Pillow has arguably the best production values with most of the action set in a lavish Victorian mansion.

Chaney's secretary the beautiful Brenda Joyce, also his love interest in Strange Confession (see my review), lives in the "old dark house" with a set of eccentric, querulous relatives. Chaney, an attorney, leaves her there in the opening scene, then drives home and "have it out with" his wife. You see, he wants to marry said pretty secretary, who has apparently been sitting on big, strong bossy-wossy's lap while taking dictation. But he finds that his wife has been murdered by suffocation (with the title pillow no doubt). He becomes suspect numero uno of course and for the rest of the movie is subjected to investigation and harassment by the police and a goofy, fat spiritualist (J. Edward Bromberg). Seances and bodies pile up.

This well done "old dark house" mystery has you suspecting everyone, including Chaney and Joyce, before it is over. The suspects, as is traditional in one of these, are eliminated by becoming victims -- except for the resident ghost of course, which turns out to be a raccoon in the attic. I'm not so sure I didn't suspect that pest, too. The identity of the killer did in fact come as a surprise! Big hint: it wasn't the butler. The clever drawing room mystery style was what kept this rather confused entry in the Inner Sanctum cycle interesting. Well-acted by all. Chaney was always fascinating, and Brenda Joyce deserved better than swinging through the jungle on a vine with Tarzan.

Not as good as some of the others in the series, but mild entertainment for 66 minutes with the a/c going full blast on a hot August evening.

Pillow of Death (1945)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Final installment in the Inner Sanctum series has a lawyer (Lon Chaney, Jr.) suspected of murdering his wife. After her death he gets involved with a group of psychics. This film, even at 61-minutes, dragged along and bored the hell out of me from the start. Chaney is very bland here as are the supporting characters. The story really isn't too interesting and all the spiritual stuff comes off silly.

This is certainly the worst in the series but you can now view all six films via Universal's DVD collection.

On video, this film is part of a two film set of Inner Sanctum mysteries--the other being the more interesting DEAD MAN'S EYES.

PILLOW OF DEATH is a "B-movie"--a shorter film with a lower budget that is meant as the second film at a double-feature. In most cases, people came to the theater to see the "A-picture" and the B-movie was more like an added bonus. Most B-films are definitely on the cheap side and have pretty anemic budgets, though occasionally one rises above these lower expectations. While most of this film is purely average and not particularly noteworthy for the genre, the film definitely ends very well as a murder mystery--catching me by surprise by who the real murderer was. So, for lovers of mystery and suspense, this film is well worth seeing, though others might be a bit unimpressed by the overall product. Not bad at all, but far from great or memorable.

When Vivian Fletcher is found murdered, her husband, attorney Wayne Fletcher (Lon Chaney Jr.), is the prime suspect: the man has romantic feelings for his pretty secretary Donna Kincaid (Brenda Joyce) and his wife's death is all too convenient. Other murders follow, and Fletcher desperately tries to prove his innocence despite the mounting evidence against him.

Pillow of Death is another one of those hokey Inner Sanctum murder mysteries starring an already past-his-prime Lon Chaney Jr. (not that he was all that great when he was in his prime). It's packed with tired cliches (a creepy old house, ghostly voices, a seance, a secret passageway) and, for the most part, is a wholly unremarkable affair. However, just as I was about to write the entire thing off as another dull and predictable gothic B-movie thriller, it delivers a final act that was not what I was expecting to see, but was exactly what I had been hoping for. See it and you'll understand.

4/10, bumped up to 6 for that ending.

I recently purchased the Inner sanctum box set with all 6 of the Inner sanctum movies and was not disappointed at all.I really enjoyed Pillow of Death, OK its a corny title but it had everything in it if you enjoy old dark houses, whodunits,murders in the night etc.Lon chaney gave a decent enough performance in it and was supported by a good cast including the lovely Brenda joyce and the solid J.Edward bromberg i have read a few reviews which slate this film so i watched with trepidation and was pleasantly surprised it is a great little B movie which universal made in the 40's to much credit, it is atmospheric with many twists and turns moving along at a lively pace, i personally didn't find it dull or slow..if you enjoy the old black and white horrors from this period i am sure you wont be disappointed..just watch it with no great expectations and im sure you will see its not as bad as it has been painted. Without giving anything away it will keep you guessing all the way through..enjoy it for what it is.