Night Monster (1942)

People are voting emotionally.

A different way of telling a story

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Some medical doctors led by Lionel Atwill are brought to the estate of the rich, but bedridden Ralph Morgan. They're there to watch a demonstration of the occult powers of a Hindu fakir played by Nils Asther.Well this guy really has something, by sheer concentrated will power Asther creates a skeleton and might create a whole man before his concentration is broken. If you can teach this technique to amputees you might have them recreate and grow lost limbs. Of course this is all in the experimental stage. But pretty soon a whole lot of people around the estate start dying and the more that die, the suspect list gets shorter for police captain Robert Homans. In fact all the doctors but Irene Harvey start dying off as well as other guests and staff of the household.Universal Pictures in this Gothic horror story with no real monsters as such spent a lot of this budget on getting a slew of players who specialize and/or have played some creepy villains. The cast is led by Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill who are the only ones billed above the title. Lugosi plays Morgan's butler and legend has it that butlers are the first to be looked at in any mystery. But believe any one or combination thereof are plausible culprits.Quite an unusual ending here though, but keep in mind what all these people are gathered to witness. Night Monster is shot on the cheap, but this cast of players more than makes up for it.

There is a monstrous killer roaming the grounds of the estate of wealthy Kurt Ingston, but the most logical suspect has the perfect alibi. He is a bed ridden triple amputee who couldn't possible move about to commit the murders, or could he? The only clue is a look of horror transfixed on the faces of the victims. The residents and staff of the mansion seem to know a lot more than they are willing to tell.Only Ingstons sister Margaret is willing to tell what she knows about the mystery but Ingstons loyal housekeeper keeps her locked away claiming that she is insane. A mysterious Indian swami is a guest of Ingstons and is there to teach Ingston some mind control techniques to help him better deal with his physical disability. How much does he really know about the murders? Meanwhile the body count is rolling up.Its up to mystery writer Dick Baldwin and psychiatrist Dr Lynn Harper to discover the identity of the mysterious murderer before they become his next victims. Night Monster was released in October of 1942 and was a success for Universal Studios. Director Ford Beebe had been around since before WWI and knew how to make a solid "B" picture.He masterfully guides a solid cast to create a very engrossing story. Night Monster is suspenseful and atmospheric if not a bit disappointing in the end. It's oblivious who the killer really is. It's just a question of how he is able to carry out his deeds. The show piece of the picture, when the yogi Agor Singh demonstrates his matter projection techniques demonstrates how the murderer is able to function The failure of the screenplay to properly utilize the talents of it's two top billed stars has been discussed by other reviewers. I will just say that the miscasting of both Atwill and Lugosi keeps Night Monster from being the classic horror mystery it could have been instead of the entertaining but predictable film that it is.

Night Monster was originally released as the B movie support to The Mummy's Tomb, which is something of an injustice: it's easily the best of the two movies.The story concerns a series of murders at Ingston Towers, home of the mutilated Kurt Ingston (Ralph Morgan). Sinister blood stains keep appearing on the stairs and other locations without any apparent cause; and the household itself contains Ingston's nervous wreck of a sister (Fay Helm), a sinister - aren't they always? - Swarmi (Nils Asther), a skulking Butler (a top-billed Bela Lugosi), a lecherous Chauffeur (Leif Erickson), a domineering companion (Doris Lloyd) and three medical men summoned by Ingston to tend his wounded body, among them Lionel Atwill.The spooky location of Pollard Slew is used to good effect in several eerie outdoor sequences in which an unseen killer stalks his prey; and director Ford Beebe keeps things moving briskly, and even brings off a sequence involving the transmigration of matter as a demonstration of the Swarmi's powers. But as the killings mount up a psychiatrist (Irene Hervey) and an author friend of Ingston's (Don Porter) begin to unravel the mystery.Night Monster is straight out of the old dark house school of horrors; but yep, there is a supernatural explanation for all the goings on. And when it comes you will gasp at the sheer cheek of it! Let's just say it's a slight borrowing from Dr. X. Lugosi, unfortunately has very little to do and Atwill is one of the first to be murdered (off screen). Yet the film is entertaining and manages a few decent chills and surprises. It's not as famous as some of the other Universal Horror pictures but Night Monster is well worth hunting out.

This movie really surprised me. In the 1940s, Bela Lugosi made a huge number of grade-Z horror films. They might be fun to watch, but all too often the films have tons of plot holes and they were obviously made with practically no budget. This film, however, has very good production values and is quite original--and as a result, I had a very good time watching it.Now before I go any further, it's important to note that although Lugosi got top billing and the videotape cover prominently shows his face, the film really ISN'T a Bela Lugosi film. His role, unfortunately for "Lugosi-philes" is amazingly small and ill-defined. He never seems to be the star nor does he have much to do with all the weird murders that are occurring in the film. In many ways, this is like the appearance of Lionel Atwill in the film--he's there but his part is terribly small.Despite this, the film is still excellent and most of this is due to the excellent writing. The story is quite original and although I could guess early on who was committing all the murders, the way it was handled was very clever. Probably the best part of the film, though, was the part played by Robert Homans, as the Constable. He has so many wonderful and funny lines that I thoroughly loved watching the old curmudgeon investigate the crimes.Finally, a bit of trivia. The rich old man in the film is played by Ralph Morgan. He bears a lot of physical resemblance to Frank Morgan (the Wizard from the Wizard of Oz) because they were brothers.