The Frozen Ghost is a film noir mystery film directed by Harold Young. It is the fourth of the six “Inner Sanctum” mystery films. Cross the wax museum horror genre with hypnosis gone wrong, and you get this film.
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Weird Woman – When a college professor whose life work is the battle against superstition marries a beautiful woman with a voodoo background, the return to the university leads to bitterness, fighting, and murder. Is it due to voodoo — or something more mundane?
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In Ghost of Frankenstein, the ghost isn’t literal, but psychological. Another son of Victor Frankenstein, brain surgeon Ludwig (played well by Cedric Hardwicke), who is manipulated by Ygor (wonderfully done by Bela Lugosi) who also manipulates Ludwig’s former mentor and current assistant, Dr. Bohmer (Lionel Atwill) as well as the childlike Frankenstein’s monster (portrayed here by Lon Chaney Jr.)
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The Wolf Man begins with Lawrence “Larry” Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) is coming home after learning of his brother’s fatal accident to take over the family estate. When he is there he reconciles with his father Sir John Talbot (Claude Rains). Exploring the town he left behind he meets the beautiful Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers) in an antique shop. Gwen tells him the “myth” of the werewolf which Larry laughs off until he is bitten by a werewolf himself.
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The Mad Ghoul, frankly, is an above-average monster movie, starring some of the recognizable actors from the genre in the 1940’s. In short, Dr. Alfred Morris (George Zucco) is a college professor and researcher, who has uncovered and recreated a poisonous gas first used by ancient Mayans, used to create “death in life” – robbing the victims of their own will, similar to the classic zombie movies of the 1930’s and 1940’s. He hires a medical student named Ted Allison (David Bruce), since he needs his surgical skills for the grisly “cure” to the poison — a fresh heart is a crucial ingredient. The original experiment on a monkey seems successful — at first.
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Son of Dracula is a very interesting entry into Universal Pictures’ series of Dracula movies — and not only due to Lon Chaney Jr. playing the title character — although Chaney does a good job. He portrays Dracula (or Alucard, if you prefer) as a very powerful, savage creature, with only a veneer of culture and civilization. I frankly enjoyed his portrayal very much — although his southern accent was totally out of place for a European character. But as I say, Chaney’s depiction isn’t the only reason that I enjoyed Son of Dracula.
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