Reviews

The Nazi housekeeper is played by Fern Emmet, not Minerva Urecal.

Oh my goodness, this film was boring! I learned after seeing it that Kim Novack was the original star. I would have preferred her over Deborah Kerr. No offense to Ms. Kerr (who was sensational in THE INNOCENTS), but she was too dowdy here. Likewise, David Niven was miscast. They seemed too old to have such young children. I like black & white movies, but I'm surprised that an MGM film produced in 1966 was shot in black and white. It must have seemed dated at the time (although the plot was most likely more effective then). The malevolent presence of Donald Pleasence, Sharon Tate and David Hemmings is the greatest asset, but they have too little screen time. The Deborah Kerr character dominates the film. Kerr is miscast and the character is too much of a ninny. For 1960s Gothic, Hammer Films, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE, SPIDER BABY, ROSEMARY'S BABY, and even Roger Corman are more satisfying. The film is good looking, though.

This film is so much fun. I just watched it again for the first time in 3 years. It's a great role for Lugosi and he gives his all (as usual). It's his only PRC film and is better than all his Monogram pics. Lugosi is perfect as vengeful Dr. Carruthers...his intonation, facial expressions, screen presence...this is a Bela Lugosi vehicle all the way. The only other cast member who makes any impression at all is Dave O'Brien as intrepid reporter Johnny Layton. Tall, handsome and humorous, he is leagues ahead of Wallace Ford and other actors who played similar parts. The actor who plays McGinty (Layton's boss) is Arthur Q. Bryan. Bryan provided the voice for "Elmer Fudd" and it's a delight listening to him! Leading lady Suzanne Kaaren (Mrs. Sidney Blackmer) gained fame decades later when she successfully took on Donald Trump. The titular Devil Bat (actually there are two) is pretty phony looking, but the shots of it in flight are impressive, all things considered. The hapless victims are played by John Ellis, Alan Baldwin, Gene O'Donnell and Guy Usher. A highlight is Lugosi bidding them goodbye, knowing they are about to meet a horrible fate. THE DEVIL BAT is a joy for Lugosi fans. The print shown on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is quite good.

Glenda Farrell steals the picture as a reluctant (to put it mildly)and hard-drinking mother-to-be. Glenda appeared in numerous Warner Brothers pictures during the 1930s and she is always a delight. Eric Linden gives a nice performance as the distraught husband of convict Loretta Young. Preston Foster has very little to do as one of the doctors. Aline MacMahon is effective as the motherly nurse. Clara Blandick (she achieved cinematic immortality as Auntie Em in THE WIZARD OF OZ) is a rather mature mother-to-be. Familiar faces such as Elizabeth Patterson, Esther Howard and Paul Fix appear in unbilled roles. Also unbilled, surprisingly, is Gilbert Roland as a non-English speaking father whose child does not survive. In 1932 he was a big enough name to warrant billing, so it was a surprise to see him in an unbilled bit.

I watched this last night (on DVD) for the first time in years. It was like seeing an old friend! I remember enjoying this on WOR-TV (NYC's channel 9) years ago.

Bela Lugosi steals the show as Ygor (just as he had in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN), but the entire cast is superior for what is essentially a B-picture. Beautifully photographed and scored, the film is well cast, well acted and a joy to watch. And Lionel Atwill's "miscalculating" Doctor Bohmer is the icing on the cake. Look for familiar (and unbilled) faces among the angry villagers: Brandon Hurst, Dwight Frye, Richard Alexander, Harry Cording, Lionel Belmore and Michael Mark!

How well I remember this show from when I was a child...Jim & Mary; John & Pat; Walter & Lenore; Aunt Liz; Iris Carrington. The peak years were 1968-74, when the Alice-Steve-Rachel triangle dominated the show. That storyline really captured the viewers' attention and the actors (Jacqueline Courtney, George Reinholt and Robin Strasser followed by Victoria Wyndham)were well-cast. The show was expanded to an hour in 1975 (the first soap to do so), but popular cast members Virginia Dwyer, Reinholt and Courtney were all fired (Susan Sullivan exited at the same time)! The focus shifted to the Rachel-Mac-Iris conflict but was dealt a death blow in 1979 when it (incredibly) expanded to 90 minutes daily (the first 90-minute episode featured the death of long-time character John Randolph, played only by Michael M. Ryan since 1964). The show returned to the one-hour format a year and a half later (to accommodate it's spin-off, "Texas"), but it never recovered. It was sad when it was canceled in 1999. But many fans had long since abandoned it by that time.

I love this movie! It's the only appearance in tandem of Bela, Boris and Peter. The popularity of Kay Kyser and his band may be lost on modern audiences and the trio of super-villains could have had more screen time, but these criticisms are minor compared to the many joys the picture offers: the art direction and photography are first rate (I love the Bellacrest mansion and its furnishings); Dennis O'Keefe is a romantic lead with a sense of humor; Alma Kruger is appropriately eerie. The seance is the true high point of the picture, a fine showcase for Bela Lugosi who comes off as the most impressive of the three villains. YOU'LL FIND OUT is a lot of fun and compares favorably to Bobe Hope's THE GHOST BREAKERS and ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (the latter also featuring Lugosi).

I just recently saw this for the first time......61 minutes I'll never get back! ZOMBIES ON Broadway and GENIUS AT WORK are much better, due in no small part to the participation of Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill. Brown & Carney make Abbott & Costello look like Lunt and Fontanne! The racist angle probably kept this title off of commercial television. The anti-Jap sentiment must have been appreciated in 1943. Hard to believe this was directed by the same guy (Leslie Goodwins) who made THE MUMMY'S CURSE at Universal the following year. Incidentally, Joan Barclay plays Janie and Claire Carleton plays Connie. The IMDb is incorrect.

I don't know why the previous reviewer was so hard on a film he's never seen! THE CAT CREEPS is a "lost" film. To the best of my knowledge, it has never been seen since it's original release in late 1930. The film is worthy of rediscovery for several reasons, including:

A) It has a great cast...one of the best of any film released in 1930;

B) The film was directed by Rupert (THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) Julian;

C) It could be considered the first Universal sound horror film, predating DRACULA by 3 months;

D) Cast members Lilyan Tashman and Blanche Friderici co-starred the following year in a wonderful mystery-horror film, MURDER BY THE CLOCK;

E) Star Helen Twelvetrees was a popular early talkie actress...she, along with Constance Bennett, Nancy Carroll, Mae Clarke, Ann Harding, Billie Dove, et al, typified the early sound era;

I hope this title is rediscovered. Paging Kino Video......

My favorite DeMille film. Charles Laughton and Claudette Colbert are delicious as the debauched emperor and empress of Rome. Prominent supporting players Arthur Hohl and Harry Beresford appeared in two horror classics (ISLAND OF LOST SOULS and DOCTOR X, respectively) the very same year. John Carradine can be seen as a condemned Christian on his way to the arena (you can also hear his voice as a spectator and as a gladiator). Very sharp viewers can also spot Dave O'Brien (a condemned Christian) and Kent Taylor (a disinterested spectator). Three famous scenes still impress today: Poppaea's milk bath; Ancaria's attempted lesbian seduction of Mercia; the outrageous arena sequence featuring beheadings, burnings, impalements, hungry crocodiles, untamed apes, bears, tigers and, of course, lions. Only C.B. could have gotten away with this in 1932! The closing cast list includes the characters Viturius, Servillius and Philodemus, but I'm not sure who they are. Viturius may have been Marcus' soldier-aide, although he doesn't look as burly as Richard Alexander. The other two must be Strabo's ugly, brutish companion and the old Christian man protective of the little orphan girl.

I didn't see the previous film. But the sequel is pretty silly! The very-well-done opening sequence is the highlight of the film. In the classic horror movies of yore, the monsters always had an Achilles heel (crucifix; silver bullet; fire). But starting in the 1980s and continuing today, movie monsters are essentially unstoppable serial killers. Enough already! The best horror movie since 1980 is THE OTHERS. JC2 was amusing but not worth $8.50.