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Karloff – Maniacal Mayhem

For many it may still not be possible to get enough of ‘Karloff’ (as he was first billed when he emerged as the great horror movie star after Universal’s ‘Frankenstein’) and here we have three more Boris Karloff at Universal movies to add to the collection – all made between 1936 and 1951 and available on 2K-Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.
The films are all very different which is hardly a bad thing. First up on Disc 1 is THE INVISIBLE RAY made in 1936 (dir. Lambert Hillyer) and here Karloff is teamed with his old sparring partner Béla Lugosi – for the latter this was sadly the beginning of his career slide (unlike Karloff’s who was usually billed above him). Karloff plays visionary scientist and astronomer Dr. Janus Rukh who lives in a large house in the Carpathian Mountains. The gothic building contains a fantastic observatory with a telescope to end all telescopes (were it real then the cost would be astronomical!). The telescope in question has been invented by Rukh and enables him to look deep into space, to be more precise into the so-called Andromeda Galaxy and the instrument further photographs light rays which depict the past of our own planet Earth. When two rather sceptical fellow scientists, namely Dr. Felix Benet (a reasonably sympathetic role for Lugosi) and his colleague Sir Francis Stevens (Walter Kingsford), pay Rukh a visit he is keen to demonstrate that his theory ought to be taken seriously – so far, only his blind mother (Violet Kemble Cooper) and his considerably younger, attractive wife Diana (Frances Drake) seem to have some faith in him – despite Diana and Rukh being stuck in a seemingly loveless marriage. When Dr. Rukh demonstrates his discovery and thus captures moments of the Earth’ distant past it emerges that millions of years ago an asteroid crashed into our planet at a spot which is now South Africa. Deeply impressed, Dr. Benet sets up an expedition to find the crater and invites Rukh along although his mother warns him against getting involved. Arriving in the dark continent (expect some cringe-inducing scenes involving natives) the impact zone where the asteroid crashed is spotted and Rukh wastes no time lowering himself into the pit – this leads to the discovery of ‘Radium X’ which has the ability to make the blind see again. Unfortunately, the discovery of the substance has a serious side effect for Rukh when he gets contaminated and not only begins to glow in the dark but his mind soon begins to warp… not helped by the fact that his wife is in love with a certain Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton). Benet concocts some serum that will have a calming effect on Rukh but he needs to take this antidote on a regular basis… of course, this doesn’t happen and when Benet takes a chunk of the meteorite to Paris to work on a modified version, Rukh, who meanwhile has succeeded in curing his mother’s blindness, reads about Benet’s success in Paris and feels that ‘his’ discovery has been stolen and plans his revenge… The film is certainly no low-budget affair (although more Sci-fi than horror) and looks good.
The second film on Disc 1 is BLACK FRIDAY from 1940, directed by Arthur Lubin and with a screenplay co-written by Curt Siodmak. This Film Noir/Sci-fi hybrid kicks into action in a prison where Dr. Ernest Sovac (Karloff) is about to go to the electric chair. Before the sentence is carried out, Sovac hands his notebook to a member of the assembled press – the journalist in question is the only one not to describe the convict as a ‘monster’ in his newspaper articles. Via flashback we learn how Sovac came to be sentenced to death and that is when the actual story unfolds… Enter college professor George Kingsley (Stanley Ridges), one of Sovac’s best friends, who one day is run over by a car while crossing the street. Inside the car, which crashes against a post, is bank robber Eric Marney (Lugosi) while another gangster, Red Cannon (also played by Stanley Ridges) is chased on foot by Marney. During the chase, the car crashes against a post and both Kingsley and Red Cannon are seriously injured. An anxious Mrs. Kingsley (Virginia Brissac) begs Dr. Sovac to save her beloved husband’s life. In a desperate attempt he performs an illegal brain transplant – meaning Red Cannon’s brain finds its way into Professor Kingsley’ head (the gangster dies a few days later). To the initial delight of everyone, Prof. Kingsley recovers from his injuries (where are the scars from the brain transplant?) but soon undergoes a transformation during which he takes on the personality and appearance (!) of Red Cannon! When Dr. Sovac discovers that Red Cannon hid the stolen $500,000 somewhere in New York he organizes a trip for his patient and himself with the excuse to offer Kingsley much needed rest in a hotel room. In actuality though he hopes to find the hidden money so he can set up a secret lab for his medical experiments. Whilst Prof. Kingsley rests in his hotel room and suffers from headaches, Red Cannon’s personality begins to take over more and more. Eventually, he will take his bloody revenge on all the gang members (including Eric Marnay) who snitched on him… Soon, Sovac finds himself confronted with a Prof. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde scenario and when Kingsley/Red Cannon threatens the Doctor’s daughter things take an unexptected turn for the worse… Although the film’s concept is far-fetched, the suspense factor doesn’t suffer and Karloff is in his element as a Doctor whose greed and personal ambition gets the better of him. That said, the film’s star is character actor Stanley Ridges in a challenging dual role originally intended for Karloff who – according to Curt Siodmak – turned it down as he felt the role was ‘too difficult’. Somewhat hard to believe and it’s a shame the dual role didn’t go to Karloff, after all, he had convincingly played a dual role in 1935 horror THE BLACK ROOM. It’s also a great pity that Lugosi was reduced to the minor role of a gangster – a part which didn’t require any particular talent.
On Disc 2 we have THE STRANGE DOOR (1951) which is based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s short story ‘The Sire De Malétroit’s Door’. Directed by Joseph Pevney, it features Karloff (despite being second billed) very much in a supporting role – the lead is played with truly salacious relish by Charles Laughton (if you thought he was contemptible in ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ just wait until you see him here). His Sire Alain de Maletroit is a truly evil fellow without a shred of pity in his entire make-up. The story begins in a disreputable Inn outside Paris where said Sire and two of his lackeys are there with a purpose. The Sire observes a fellow customer passionately kissing a wench and while this is going on, the Sire and his lackeys agree that “he will do”. ‘He’ btw is Denis de Beaulieu (Richard Stapley), a notorious drunkard, womanizer and libertine formerly of high rank but now wanted by the law for all sorts of things. One of the Sire’s lackeys, Talon (Michael Pate) arranges a mock up fight in which lackey Nr. 3 is supposedly killed by Denis, however, it’s all a set up as the wicked Sire wishes to lure Denis to his Chateau and force him to marry his charming niece Blanche (Sally Forrest) – obviously against Denis’ will and against hers. If Denis refuses then the Sire will hand him over to the law. This dastardly plan is part of the Sire’s revenge against his younger brother Edmund (Paul Cavanagh) who he has kept imprisoned in the dungeon of his chateau for the past twenty years. You see, many moons ago Edmund married Alain’s great love who then died while giving birth to a baby girl Blanche. Now that Blanche, who lives in the belief that her father died years ago, has grown into a noble lady, the Sire wishes that she be married to the worst possible of men (yes, Denis) – but here he has made a mistake as Denis isn’t really that bad a bloke after all. Edmund is supposedly hopelessly insane (but this is a pretence to stop Alain from killing him) and is tended to by the servant Voltan (hardly a great part for Karloff who could just as easily played the Sire); who is also his trusted friend and confidante. There is also a monstrous grinding wheel in the basement of the chateau – its gruesome purpose we discover later on. We all know that Denis will see to it that the evil Sire gets his just deserts. One year later Karloff appeared in the minor role of a manservant again in THE BLACK CASTLE – with both films scripted by jobbing writer Jerry Sackheim. The whole film looks magnificent and the performances are impressive, with Laughton’s imposing personality dominating the screen.
The first 2000 copies of this thrilling set will feature a Limited Edition O-card slipcase plus Collector’s booklet. Other Bonus features include various audio commentaries, stills gallery, trailers, plus radio adaptations for ‘The Sire de Maletroit’s Door’.