Third and final movie in the trilogy of Edgar Allan Poe-themed horror films Bela Lugosi did for Universal in the 1930s. Also the second movie in which Lugosi and Karloff appear together. Lugosi plays a Poe-obsessed surgeon named Dr. Vollin, who is begged by a judge (Samuel S. Hinds) to save the life of the judge's daughter (Irene Ware), a dancer who suffered brain damage in a car accident. Vollin agrees and manages to perform the surgery successfully. Then he becomes fixated with the girl but her father steps in and tells him that's not going to happen. Vollin crafts a vicious revenge plan on the father, daughter, and her fiancé (Lester Matthews). To this end he forces wanted criminal Edmond Bateman (Boris Karloff) to help him, by disfiguring his face and refusing to fix it unless he assists in helping Vollin torture his victims!
Tour-de-force performance from Bela Lugosi in this one. A rare case of Lugosi outperforming Karloff. Lugosi's wild, over-the-top Dr. Vollin is so much fun to watch. Karloff is good, too, but Lugosi's part is much juicier. He's just off-the-rails here, laughing like a lunatic over the thought of torturing people! The highlight in all of the insanity is seeing Lugosi shout "Poe, you are avenged!" What exactly Poe is avenged of, I'm not sure, but I was loving every minute of it! I actually found myself rooting for this madman to win. That's how good Lugosi is in this. The rest of the cast is fine, with no one hitting a false note. But it's really a one-man show. Boris does good with what screen time he has, his face partially obscured by first a beard then some Jack Pierce makeup to show his disfigurement. He lets out a Frankenstein grunt at one point that I found amusing.
If you're a Lugosi fan, this is for you. He's clearly having a great time with the role, especially the parts where he gets to taunt Karloff. You just know Bela loved that. For everybody else, don't go into this expecting something like The Black Cat. That film was more artistic. This is just sheer popcorn fun with one of the greatest personalities in horror films showing off in grand style.
Tour-de-force performance from Bela Lugosi in this one. A rare case of Lugosi outperforming Karloff. Lugosi's wild, over-the-top Dr. Vollin is so much fun to watch. Karloff is good, too, but Lugosi's part is much juicier. He's just off-the-rails here, laughing like a lunatic over the thought of torturing people! The highlight in all of the insanity is seeing Lugosi shout "Poe, you are avenged!" What exactly Poe is avenged of, I'm not sure, but I was loving every minute of it! I actually found myself rooting for this madman to win. That's how good Lugosi is in this. The rest of the cast is fine, with no one hitting a false note. But it's really a one-man show. Boris does good with what screen time he has, his face partially obscured by first a beard then some Jack Pierce makeup to show his disfigurement. He lets out a Frankenstein grunt at one point that I found amusing.
If you're a Lugosi fan, this is for you. He's clearly having a great time with the role, especially the parts where he gets to taunt Karloff. You just know Bela loved that. For everybody else, don't go into this expecting something like The Black Cat. That film was more artistic. This is just sheer popcorn fun with one of the greatest personalities in horror films showing off in grand style.