Invisible Ghost (1941)

That was an excellent one.

hyped garbage

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Throw together the standard elements of any '40s horror-cum-thriller and you pretty much have INVISIBLE GHOST; there's the spooky old mansion, lightning storms, perpetual darkness, the wisecracking police detective; two identical brothers; a black butler and a greedy cook and of course, good old Bela Lugosi, down on his luck and with nowhere to go but further down. INVISIBLE GHOST is one of the dozen or so interchangeable cheapie chillers Lugosi made during the decade and is neither bad enough to be particularly memorable, nor good enough to be worth seeking out. Instead it sits firmly in the so-so category, a film that genre aficionados are doubtless going to enjoy for the trappings of atmosphere and dated comic relief.The horror of the story comes from Lugosi, as anybody who has seen Dracula might have guessed. In the middle of the night, Lugosi's insane wife comes to the window and hypnotises him into committing murder - strangulation with his own jacket, to be specific. Thus we get a series of minor characters being bumped off whilst the sarcastic but inefficient police force stand by and watch helplessly. That's all there is to it, with zero action or thrill to recommend it, but some nice attempts at atmosphere here and there. The camera-work is also quite decent for this type of movie. The cast are pretty good in their roles, especially the black guy playing the butler, who is quite a tough cookie and not just the racially-challenged comic relief we usually see in this type of picture. Lugosi hams with relish, but you end up feeling sorry for the oldster really; he looks so tired here that he seems more of a victim than a killer. So, INVISIBLE GHOST; short enough to be worth a quick dip for those who like their chillers cheap and cheerful.

LOVED this film. It's a crime-thriller with an air of mystery. This is not a typical ghost film. This film is a "ghost from the past" type of film (like seeing someone you thought you'd never see again after years of being away from each other).Lugosi is Mr. Kessler, a rich well-respected man, who has 'snapped' after his wife's disappearance (or so he and almost everyone else thinks she's gone). Kessler sees his wife in the windows (as if seeing a ghost) then 'snaps' into a murderous rage. Mrs. Kessler (Betty Compson) reveals why she has left her husband during the course of the film.I love the cast in this movie - well performed by all. In particular, I enjoyed Betty Compson's performance as Mrs. Kessler - very mysterious.9.5/10

With all of the unintentionally laughable nonsense that prevailed in the Invisible Ghost's story-line - I can't see how any of the actors were ever able to keep a straight face and not burst out laughing while playing their parts and delivering their ludicrous lines.This "mystery" story definitely lost a lot of its intended clout and suspense by the fact that within the first 10 minutes of the picture the viewer was already clued into the identity of the crazed killer who was offing everybody. So, all that followed this revelation only served to be pretty damn pointless, in the long run.With his flaring nostrils and his typical one-dimensional character portrayals, I sure thought that, as an actor, Bela Lugosi (59 at the time) was nothing but a big ham who obviously over-estimated himself and his apparent abilities as a competent and convincing performer.To me, this moon-faced joker named Bela Lugosi was clearly a "one-note" actor. His presence in the Invisible Ghost only helped to send this film straight down into the gutter.

I adored this movie.Part of that might have been because for whatever reason last night when watching it, I could only see Bela Lugosi as Dracula. So, it was basically Dracula mourning the loss of his wife and then being put in a hypnotic trance for the whole movie.My sides hurt from laughter afterwards.The title initially confused me but after watching it, the title made a hell of a lot more sense to me.I am partial to older movies (mostly because they make me laugh same with really bad movies because they're hilarious) and this one was no exception for me.