Night Monster
Director:
Ford Beebe
Year: 1942
Rating: 5.5
Enjoyable enough
B Gothic horror/murder mystery/dark house film from Universal. It is a mansion
engulfed in thick fog filled with madness or as one character says "Blood.
The whole house reeks of it. The air is charged with death and hate. Something
that is unclean." Sounds like my place. The head of the house Mr. Ingston
(Ralph Morgan, brother of Frank) is crippled and bitter, his sister (Fay
Helm) is told that she is insane, the rapey chauffer is a peeping tom creep,
the housekeeper must have gotten her training with the Gestapo, Nils Asther
plays a swami with mental powers and the butler is the suspicious looking
Bela Lugosi eyeing everything. Not a place where you want to spend much time.
Especially, when the murders begin.
The maid Millie (Janet Shaw) is smart enough
to leave but stupid enough to return for her things at night. She was the
best thing about the film with her smart mouth saying that Bela was like
something you would find under a wet rock or when the sleazy chauffer tries
to maul her and she rejects him, he asks what's wrong with me, she replies
"Nothing a good case of rigor mortis wouldn't cure." She would normally be
the spunky heroine of a film like this but not by walking home alone in the
dark.
Three doctors are invited to the house (Lionel
Atwill among them) who had tried to cure Mr. Ingston, but failed. A female
psychiatrist (Irene Hervey) is invited by the sister to come as well. A mystery
writer (Don Porter) shows up. A full house. The Hindi medium shows everyone
what looks to be a parlor trick, making a bleeding skeleton appear out of
thin air. But that is just the beginning of the night. The murders soon begin.
