This film was told though a series of flashbacks as told by a dead woman lying on a slab at the morgue. While a very intriguing idea, the ineptness of the transitions was a problem (they were very abrupt and choppy). What was a much worse problem is that although the story is supposed to be told by the dead woman, many scenes in the film don't feature her and you are left wondering "how did she know about that conversation?".
This dead woman, by the way, was a very obnoxious and sharp-tongued lady--so you find yourself rooting for her death! I actually liked this because so many people in the movie had good motives for killing this harpy and it also felt very satisfying to see her literally scared to death.
As for the acting, apart from George Zucco and Bela Lugosi, most of the rest of the actors seem like amateurs--and often they either talk over each other's lines or they get the other actor's names wrong (like the exchange where one character keeps calling the other "Bull" instead of "Bill"). These problems should have been dealt with by the director, but apparently re-shooting scenes wasn't allowed or they simply couldn't afford this! Considering it was made by "poverty row" studio Golden Gate Pictures, this sloppiness isn't too surprising.
The plot, though far from great, is reasonably interesting and will probably be quite enjoyable to fans of Bela Lugosi--especially the strange twist ending (though it is a tad too complicated). Others probably will find the whole thing rather silly and dull--though I think this gave the film some of its cheesy charm. I especially liked when Zucco declares that the zombie-like lady is being controlled through mental telepathy! How he knows this is completely beyond me--perhaps he just was reading the script.
This dead woman, by the way, was a very obnoxious and sharp-tongued lady--so you find yourself rooting for her death! I actually liked this because so many people in the movie had good motives for killing this harpy and it also felt very satisfying to see her literally scared to death.
As for the acting, apart from George Zucco and Bela Lugosi, most of the rest of the actors seem like amateurs--and often they either talk over each other's lines or they get the other actor's names wrong (like the exchange where one character keeps calling the other "Bull" instead of "Bill"). These problems should have been dealt with by the director, but apparently re-shooting scenes wasn't allowed or they simply couldn't afford this! Considering it was made by "poverty row" studio Golden Gate Pictures, this sloppiness isn't too surprising.
The plot, though far from great, is reasonably interesting and will probably be quite enjoyable to fans of Bela Lugosi--especially the strange twist ending (though it is a tad too complicated). Others probably will find the whole thing rather silly and dull--though I think this gave the film some of its cheesy charm. I especially liked when Zucco declares that the zombie-like lady is being controlled through mental telepathy! How he knows this is completely beyond me--perhaps he just was reading the script.