VCI is a company that has done much to preserve classic
films from being lost forever. With that in mind it’s nice to see the job
they’ve done with THE HUMAN MONSTER, a Bela Lugosi starring film based on a
story by Edgar Wallace. It doesn’t present a fast paced film that today’s
audiences are used to but it does deliver a solid thriller.
Murders are taking place in the foggy streets of London.
Each victim appears to have committed suicide by strangling themselves. But as
Scotland Yard begins to investigate they see a common thread through them all
involving insurance policies. Detective Inspector Holt (Hugh Williams) is
researching the policies which takes him to the office of Dr. Orloff (Lugosi).
It seems that each of the victims had policies through him.
But Orloff seems like a nice enough gent. He helps out
others in need and donated heavily to a home for the blind. He even offers to
help the daughter of one of the victims, a man who he loaned money to in return
for his name being on the policy.
Of course Orloff isn’t the beneficial type we are led to
believe and it isn’t long before the viewers know he’s the bad guy of the film.
The fact that by this time Lugosi was almost always the villain doesn’t hide
that fact well. In addition to his being the bad guy, he employs a henchman
with a disfigured face named Jake to do his dirty work.
The film moves at a slower than usual place and offers more
chat than action. And yet it remains a top rated horror film of Lugosi’s. He
does a wonderful job here and it’s easy to see why it remains so.
Edgar Wallace was a huge mystery writer at the time and this
was one of many films based on his stories. He became even more popular a few
years later as the German and English film industries began making more films
of those stories, a precursor to the giallos that were later made in Italy.
The movie may not be for everyone but it is a nice
distraction from much of what is being made today. And it should be a movie
that shows younger viewers why a good solid thriller could be made without
relying on non-stop explosions or special effects. This one is definitely worth
watching.
No comments:
Post a Comment