It wouldn't be Halloween without Bela Lugosi, and tonight I watched a grim little feature from his catalogue: "The Human Monster" (1939, originally titled "The Dark Eyes Of London"). This time I didn't find it at the library but on Youtube. My search at Northridge Libe proved fruitless and I needed something to view, so I Googled "Public Domain Horror Movies" as a last resort, and discovered the movie that way. I've used Youtube for public domain flicks before, and while I certainly don't prefer it to watching a proper dvd on a television set, sometimes it comes through in a pinch. And hey, at least I saw it full screen on my small-ish computer. Nowdays, many folks are content to stare down a postage-stamp representation of a film on their telephone screen. Now that's horrific!
As to the film, a series of bodies have been found floating on the Thames River. Scotland Yard had deemed them all suicides, as no evidence turned up to indicate otherwise. But the Yard captain, wanting to cover all the bases, assigns an inspector to the case to tie up any loose ends.
While examining the details concerning the most recent "suicide", the inspector (Hugh Williams) comes across an unusual bit of crumpled paper in the victim's pocket - a message written in Braille. Having no way to interpret it, he takes it to the local Home For The Blind, hoping someone there will be able to help.
Meanwhile, another body is recovered from the Thames. This one has an IOU in his wallet, made out to a local insurance broker named Dr. Orloff, who looks and sounds a bit like Count Dracula if he'd gone the clerical route. Of course it's Lugosi, haha. He explains to the inspector that he'd once been an MD, but turned to the insurance business after being ostracized by his peers for his "unorthodox ideas".
The Thames is a muddy river, but when the inspector goes to the coroner to inquire about the suicide victims, he is told that invariably it was clear water that was found in their lungs. My God Man! They were drowned somewhere else! It was murder in each case, not suicide.
The inspector, smelling a rat, now heads back to the insurance broker's office. When asked about the IOU in the dead man's pocket, Lugosi explains that the man was broke and had come to him for a loan. Yes, he was a client of Lugosi's, having taken out a life insurance policy, which in turn became collateral for the loan. In other words, until the loan was repaid, Lugosi was listed as the benefactor on the policy, should the man meet his demise during this period. Naturally, the inspector finds this information suspicious, but Lugosi pleads ignorance. He is all smiles, offering to help the investigation any way he can : "I thoughht yoou saaid it was a syoo-i-cide"?, he intones in his legendary accent. But the inspector is no longer certain of this conclusion.
He contacts the dead man's daughter to inform her that her father may have been murdered. Then he asks if she would be willing to work as an undercover operative to help lure information out of Lugosi, who has already met her in the aftermath of her father's death. Besides offering consolation, he'd promised to help get her a job at the Home For The Blind, where as it turns out, he is a volunteer.
Ahh yes. Not only was Lugosi once a "cutting-edge" doctor, haha, and now a successful insurance broker, on top of that he is also a philanthropist who gives all his free time to helping blind people. What a guy! The daughter accepts a dual-role job, becoming Lugosi's new secretary and also his assistant at the Blind Home. There, she will meet the kindly Professor Dearborn, for whom the home is named. He himself is blind, but very capable, and has an assistant of his own - an enormous, Frakenstinian man named Jake, who has a set of Hyde-like teeth and bulging, sightless eyes. Jake seems harmless enough, but you wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley.
It is becoming obvious to the inspector that Lugosi has something to do with the deaths, even if he is not himself the murderer. Yet Professor Dearborn speaks his favorably of his friend, calling Lugosi "the kindest most generous man" he's ever known. But of course! Who could ever be suspicious of old Bela? He always played the sweetest of characters..... :)
The daughter (now working at the Blind Home) will in due course make a startling discovery, and we may wonder why she hadn't noticed it sooner. This will be a breakthrough in the case, but that is all I am gonna tell you.
I loved "The Human Monster", a dark and creepy tale of one man's total amorality. It has the plot of a thriller or suspense film, but there is more than enough horror to qualify it in that genre. Particularly awesome is a Mad Scientist sequence near the end that I can also say nothing about due to spoilers, but it's as debased as anything in Lugosi's filmography. He's a real sicko in this one, lol.
The movie is was filmed in England with British actors except for Lugosi and an American gent who plays a detective from Chicago. He's in London to train with Scotland Yard, but seems thrown in as an afterthought, perhaps to help sell tickets in America. His pairing with the English inspector is used for comedic purposes that the film could've done without, but that's a minor complaint.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Human Monster", an obscure but degenerate little picture that is a must-see for Lugosi fanatics, and anyone else who likes a good scare. Also, the picture quality of the print on Youtube was surprisingly good. I don't know if it was taken from the Alpha Video dvd, but if so, they have made a step up in quality with this release. One can always hope. :)
That's all for now. I've got just enough time to stop at T. Joe's for a pumpkin. We've already got one on hand at Pearl's, but he needs a buddy. I always carve two for Halloween. Have a great afternoon and I'll see you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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