Night Monster

Night Monster is one of those mystery-chillers that Universal made in the 1940's. Doctors looking after wheelchair bound Kurt Ingston are murdered but no body seems close to finding out who the murderer is. Other murders also take place and several people get blamed for these murders including the butler and chauffeur. Kingston later discovers he can walk... This movie has a very creepy atmosphere throughout and instead of the usual thunderstorm in this one, we get fog. Now to the cast, which is lead by horror veteran Bela Lugosi (Dracula) as the butler and he is joined by several stars who have appeared in sci-fi/horror movies: Lionel Atwill (House of Dracula, The Ghost of Frankenstein), Leif Erickson (Invaders From Mars) and Frank Reicher (King Kong). Ingston is played well by Ralph Morgan, brother of The Wizard of Oz star Frank Morgan. Night Monster is worth seeing if you get the chance. Very creepy. Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Night Monster is a pleasant surprise: a Universal horror from the Forties that's actually first rate and original, provides some genuine suspense as well as surprises, manages to rise about the generic by sheer force of the talent involved. Yet most of the talented people involved in the making of the film have at best modest reputations; among them, director Ford Beebe and screenwriter Clarence Upson Young. The two main stars, Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill, don't have nearly so much to do as the lesser known players but they're a welcome sight all the same. It's the tale of Kurt Ingston, a wealthy, crippled man, very well played by Ralph Morgan, who invites a trio of doctors who just happened to have treated him and who failed to cure him of his paralysis. Also on hand: an Indian mystic, Agor Singh; Ingston's sister, who looks young enough to be his daughter; his sister's soon to be boyfriend, Dick Baldwin; an amorous, toothpick chewing chauffeur and ladies man, Laurie; a female psychiatrist, Dr. Harper; and the standard issue (for the time) sinister housekeeper, Miss Judd. Alas, Bela Lugosi's butler, Rolfe, is a small part but he makes the best of his few scenes. But one doesn't really need a scorecard to follow this one. It's worth mentioning all these characters, as each in his own way adds spice to the proceedings. This movie has a strong plot, as Ingston is a truly baleful figure,--an armless and legless man--and one senses a power him him, a focused and yet controlled energy that, in conjunction with Singh's black magic, his ability to summon forth a skeleton and make blood appear, coming seemingly from nowhere, make for a dynamic and potentially dangerous duo. Ingston's out for revenge. The isolated country setting, apparently American the gated mansion not far from a swamp, where the sounds of animals, notably frogs, can be heard, set this modestly budgeted movie up nicely. Nor does it shy from killing a character off here and there; and sometimes it's a young and attractive one. There's a feeling of primal, encroaching evil at work in Night Monster that goes beyond the plot, the special effects,--good but hardly remarkable-- that seems to take hold of the entire movie, and which, as it approaches its climax, makes the film deliver the goods and then some by the time it's over.

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.

It starts off fine, then five minutes into the film, it lapses into predictability. There are a few surprise suspenseful moments here and there, and then, once again, bits and pieces of everything you've seen in every "Old Dark House" movie from "The Cat and the Canary" to "Rebecca". Not much cleverness was put into making this programmer where a bunch of eccentrics in a mystery house are all suspects in murder. There's the crippled patriarch (Ralph Morgan), a Mrs. Danvers type housekeeper (Doris Lloyd), a sinister doctor (Lionel Atwill), a dour butler (Bela Lugosi, repeating the role he had already done in "The Gorilla" and would later repeat in "One Body Too Many"), the heroine (Irene Hervey, taking on the role usually given to Evelyn Ankers), hero (Leif Erickson) and gloomy spinster (Fay Helm). How many are red herrings or victims, there's of course, one killer, and it is very easy to figure out. This one lacks the humor given to the dozen films of the same era, whether starring Abbott and Costello, Bob Hope, Hugh Herbert, Joe E. Brown or Olsen and Johnson, so the result is an unsurprising mystery that Universal can't really disguise as being merely a step above similar who-done-its being done over at PRC and Monogram.

Having become acquainted with most of the classic Universal horror films at a very early age, it's rather surprising that it has taken me much longer to get to the lesser entries in the cycle. Thankfully, the Universal Monster Legacy and the Bela Lugosi Collections have introduced me to some elusive titles but, still, there are a few which, perhaps because of their obvious inferiority, are still sadly missing and the film under review here is just one of them First things first: while Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill never quite enjoyed the (well-deserved) renown Boris Karloff got from his horror performances - and let's not forget that both of them were somewhat on the skids at the time this film was made due to private scandals - I wasn't expecting to see them appearing in such thankless roles, especially since their names were shown above the title in the credits! I guess anyone who engages Lugosi as a butler deserves all he gets (it's also amusing to me that despite living in America for almost 30 years, Lugosi never managed to drop his very thick Hungarian accent which, I suppose, is one of his charms) and Atwill is an impatient surgeon who's mercilessly picked on by one of his colleagues (for no reason I could clearly discern) and whose untimely departure from the "old dark house" of the movie brings about his death…with more than half the film yet to unfold! Lugosi, apparently, also gets his in the film's fiery climax…or does he? For being the nominal star of the film, the carelessness with which his fate is (or rather not) dealt with is disappointing to say the least. For the rest, the film introduces too many characters too quickly so that it wasn't until some time into the picture that I was able to make heads or tails of who was engaged to do what in the creepy mansion. Some of these characters were engaging, especially Nils Ashter's spiritualist, Leif Erickson's boorish chauffeur, Robert Homans' investigating constable and Don Porter's whodunnit writer but some of the others (like Fay Helm's disturbed Margaret, Doris Lloyd's scheming housekeeper and, fatally, Ralph Morgan's crippled master of the house) were boring or downright annoying. Then, the sheer regularity of the murders (which happen literally moments apart at times) gives it a repetitive quality which does the film no favors, especially since none of the houseguests ever seem to be aware of anything remotely wrong happening in the very next room! Still, for all that, the film is never less than entertaining and I can see it improving with further viewings; after all, it is crammed full of that typical Universal fog-laden ambiance which, for obvious reasons – not least the usage of the same title background and parts of the music score – reminds one of THE WOLF MAN (1941) and other Universal horror fare of the period. Besides, even if the film is not able to capitalize fully on it, its premise of mentally growing artificial limbs is an intriguing one and, again, not too dissimilar from the one explored in DOCTOR X (1932).

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.

Crippled Kurt Ingston (Ralph Morgan) has no arms or legs despite the fact that three doctors tried to save him (from what is never said). He invites all three of them to his creepy estate and says there are no hard feelings...but then the doctors start getting killed and his house is full of suspicious characters. I caught this on late night TV when I was a kid and remember being pleasurably spooked by it. It's nice to see it still holds up all these years later. First off don't let the top billing of Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill fool you--they're hardly in the movie. Lugosi is totally wasted as a sinister butler and Atwill chews the scenery but is gone halfway through the movie. Most of it deals with Morgan and various supporting characters. The good thing is all the supporting actors are interesting and well-acted especially by Leif Erickson as a lecherous chauffeur and Nils Asther as a sinister yogi. The direction is very good and the movie has a nice dark atmosphere. There's a VERY spooky scene where one of the doctors is approached by the killer. Another nice touch is all the frogs and animals in the swamp surrounding the estate go dead quiet when the killer appears. The sudden dead silence is more than a little unnerving. The final sequence when you find out who the killer is doesn't make a lot of sense but the movie is so good that you let that go. A low-budget horror from Universal that is exceptionally well-done. I give it an 8.

This film (& "Dr. X") are my fav 2 films of ALL time! It's a marvellously spooky film! Three doctors are invited to the home of their patient, Kurt Ingston, and are mysteriously killed, one-by-one. Everyone suspects Mr. Ingston, but he is an amputee. An excellent cast, creepy atmosphere, great plot & special effects make this a MUST SEE! Also has a fog-covered mansion & numerous secret panels. A grotesque figure lurches thru the fog, on it's way to kill, and the frogs stop croaking as it passes thru...... The bloopers: Dick's pipe on the drive to the manor, someone coughing in the "empty" library when the hero & heroine are supposed to be ALONE, and Nils Asther stumbling on something as he delivers his final speech at the end of the film. MUST, MUST SEE!

Night Monster is the best Universal Horror film of the 30s and 40s that was NOT about one of the Major Monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf-Man or Mummy). In fact, it may just be the best one ever. I first saw it on TV in the 1960s as a pre-teen and have seen it about 10 times since, including twice in the last year. It is a very successful film in terms of using atmosphere to communicate a sense of dread. The film effectively used the themes of Insanity, Murder, Eastern Mysticism and the properties of Nature (crickets and frogs going silent for no reason) to keep the viewer unhinged throughout the whole film. The murders are creepy and mysterious. The actors are top shelf. I remember being scared, puzzled, mystified and wondering how the murderer got around. I remember the scene where Dr. Timmons is murdered. The actor really looked frightened. The scene where Leif Erickson's strangled body is discovered in the closet was strong stuff in the early 40s. If you haven't seen this film...SEE IT! Just remember the time in which it was made and you will have a 73 minute feast.

Forget the much vaunted Val Lewton "Cat People" as a classic horror film from the early 40s. "Night Monster" is a glittering gem of chilling beauty that supplies the juice and frission and performances that make "Cat People" look like "Ishtar." Veteran director Ford Beebe had only two weeks to whip his crew of Grade A technicians and Hollywood's greatest B actors into shape. Cult B-Actress, Fay Helm, is fantastic as the emotionally unstable Margaret Ingstom who claims she sees a hideous night monster creeping around her mansion at night. Irene Hervey is attractive and warm as the psychiatrist. Leif Ericson (former husband of tragic-prone actress Frances Farmer)is hilarious as the lecherous, over-sexed chaffeur. Bela Lugosi is here, too, but he mostly leers and raises his brows. There's plenty of mist, beautifully lit and photographed scenes of fire places and wavering shadows.The great character actress, Doris Lloyd, is wonderfully intense and lethal. She and Helm also starred together in "The Wolf Man." A great Hollywood mystery is whatever happened to Fay Helm? Not even film historians know. Although filmed on a low budget, "Night Monster" shows what can be done with great talent--before and after--the camera, in post-production and editing. H.J. Salter does the music which is mostly the much beloved excerpts from "Son of Frankenstein" in l939. This is a great movie to watch on a wintry night. Now, just to get it on DVD. Come on MCA/Universal Home Video--get with it. Put this one and "Captive Wild Woman" on the same disc and give us all a thrill!