In the Cornish village of Morgan's Head, the superstitious locals refuse to work the tin mine for fear that they might run into the murderous headless ghost of Black Morgan. When Dr. Frederick Holmes, a visitor to the area, is found decapitated in the mine, the locals initially blame the ghost, but eventually suspect Bart Redmond (Matt Willis), the village idiot, of the crime. However, this being a wartime movie, the real villain of the piece turns out to be an undercover German agent who is trying to ensure that the tin mine never goes into production. The moral-boosting finalé seeing the goose-stepping Nazi defeated, the locals returning to the mine to play their part in the war effort.
There's no shortage of creepy fun to be had with this film, from the foggy Cornish moor, to the ominous shadowy mine, to the pitchfork-wielding angry villagers, to the scary innkeeper, so hideously disfigured in an explosion that he wears a hood over his head. Where the film does prove somewhat disappointing is with the ghost, so clearly a case of Scooby Doo-style subterfuge, the villain wearing an unconvincing 'headless' disguise that makes one wonder how he can see where he is going whilst wearing it, let alone be able to overpower a man. Hell, he doesn't even bother giving it a coat of fluorescent paint for that eerie, supernatural glowing effect. Old man Smithers would have made the effort.
An atmospheric piece of propaganda, The Mysterious Doctor is often implausible but entertaining enough for the duration (the film clocking in at just under an hour). 5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.
There's no shortage of creepy fun to be had with this film, from the foggy Cornish moor, to the ominous shadowy mine, to the pitchfork-wielding angry villagers, to the scary innkeeper, so hideously disfigured in an explosion that he wears a hood over his head. Where the film does prove somewhat disappointing is with the ghost, so clearly a case of Scooby Doo-style subterfuge, the villain wearing an unconvincing 'headless' disguise that makes one wonder how he can see where he is going whilst wearing it, let alone be able to overpower a man. Hell, he doesn't even bother giving it a coat of fluorescent paint for that eerie, supernatural glowing effect. Old man Smithers would have made the effort.
An atmospheric piece of propaganda, The Mysterious Doctor is often implausible but entertaining enough for the duration (the film clocking in at just under an hour). 5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.