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Man Made Monster
A quick Universal cheapo from 1941, this was the first of Lon Chaney Jr.’s monster movies, and one of his best. Lionel Atwill shines as the mad doctor who pumps Chaney full of electricity, until he becomes a mindless, glow-in-the-dark monster who kills with a touch. 6/10 Read more
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The Devil Commands
The fourth and best of Columbia’s Karloff mad scientist films takes an eerie dip into Lovecraftian cosmic horror. Directed by later Oscar winner Edward Dmytryk, it unfortunately falls back on tired B-movie tropes, but it’s still a minor gem of forties science fiction. 7/10 Read more
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The Invisible Woman
The third ”invisible man” instalment from 1940 is a solid screwball comedy with a great female heroine, but hardly brings anything new to the table. Universal brings in an impressive roster of character actors, but the special effects are somewhat shoddy. 6/10 Read more
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The Devil Bat
Poverty Row studio PRC’s 1940 horror comedy is a terrible movie. Bela Lugosi plays a perfume maker who creates a Franken-bat and trains it to murder people wearing the new aftershave he sells them. Lugosi winks at the audience in a wonderful performance, and the madness of it all simply disarms the viewer. 5/10 Read more
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Before I Hang
Nick Grinde’s third Karloff film for Columbia is yet a variety on the scientist on death row. This time K isn’t brought back from the dead, but instead invents a youth serum, which he injects himself with, before realising that mixing it with a hanged murderer’s blood wasn’t the best idea. A rushed effort, but… Read more
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Sky Bandits
This 1940 film is the third version of the same story of a gang of criminals shooting planes out of the sky with a death ray, and arguably the best, thanks to its light tone and comedy. It is also the last entry in a series of juvenile films featuring Sergeant Renfrew of the Royal… Read more
Bela Lugosi Bert I. Gordon Boris Karloff Brigitte Helm Charles Gemora Crash Corrigan Curt Siodmak Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Eiji Tsuburaya Frankenstein Georges Melies George Worthing Yates George Zucco H.G. Wells Haruo Nakajima Invisible Man Irving Block Ishiro Honda Jack Arnold Jack Pierce Jack Rabin Jimmy Sangster John Carradine John P. Fulton Jules Verne Lionel Atwill Lon Chaney Jr. Mary Shelley Morris Ankrum Paul Blaisdell Paul Frees Richard Carlson Richard Denning Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Shayne Roger Corman Sam Katzman Segundo de Chomon Top Lists Top Silents Walter R. Booth Whit Bissell William Alland William Schallert Willis O'Brien
Scifist. 