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Invisible Ghost (1941) - Directed by Joseph H. Lewis
"I'm afraid to come home, he'd kill me, he'd kill anybody."
I am not as experienced in movies before the 60's as I think I should be. I think the only 1941 movie I've seen is Citizen Kane, so I'm remedying the situation with some movies I think are essential whether or not they fit the five-star bill. One good example is a forgotten Bela Lugosi movie known as Invisible Ghost, a murder-mystery with a lot of creep-factor but not enough story.
This oldie tells the story of a rich man living in the middle of a murder-infested town and he refuses to leave due to the memories of his wife who disappeared after a car crash. But the truth is that his gardener has been keeping her alive and secret for a long time. When she escapes, she is seen by the rich man through her window, and as he blacks out, murders take place.
I'm a huge fan of psychological films, and I almost always find some way to enjoy them even if they're pretty bad. Invisible Ghost is a very good example of this because Bela Lugosi (who plays the rich man) played the murder scenes with good attention to movement. It felt a little bit corny considering Lugosi previously played Dracula, but he still played the part well.
The movie is typically loaded with things that can be a pro and a con. For example, the story does a good job building things up, but interesting plot elements are founded on unexplained elements that don't do the movie any favors. Why was the gardener keeping the wife a secret? Was it because of her brain damage and the gardener didn't want her husband to see her like that? And how come she kept appearing outside when escaping but never going into the house? The movie raises a lot of questions they don't bother answering. However, this does make it a good movie to theorize about, which is unique for me since I typically hate the abundance of Disney fan-theory movies on Youtube.
Despite the lack of substance which cannot match the perfectly creepy approach, the events building up to the end were quite interesting and made my heart pound when the big climax came. However, the soft and lightly bouncy score during the scene killed that buzz quickly, so I didn't enjoy the end as much as anticipated. And my final complaint is that the characters are pretty flat. They all play their parts well and some of the characters look like you'd like to get to know them. But they have no development thanks to the substance problem.
There were a lot of good ideas in Invisible Ghost that either weren't given the chance to shine or were founded upon underwritten elements. But the acting was fine and the movie is pretty creep, especially for psychological film fans like me. I'd recommend it for a one-time watch, if not just to get a forgotten dose of Bela Lugosi.
"I'm afraid to come home, he'd kill me, he'd kill anybody."
I am not as experienced in movies before the 60's as I think I should be. I think the only 1941 movie I've seen is Citizen Kane, so I'm remedying the situation with some movies I think are essential whether or not they fit the five-star bill. One good example is a forgotten Bela Lugosi movie known as Invisible Ghost, a murder-mystery with a lot of creep-factor but not enough story.
This oldie tells the story of a rich man living in the middle of a murder-infested town and he refuses to leave due to the memories of his wife who disappeared after a car crash. But the truth is that his gardener has been keeping her alive and secret for a long time. When she escapes, she is seen by the rich man through her window, and as he blacks out, murders take place.
I'm a huge fan of psychological films, and I almost always find some way to enjoy them even if they're pretty bad. Invisible Ghost is a very good example of this because Bela Lugosi (who plays the rich man) played the murder scenes with good attention to movement. It felt a little bit corny considering Lugosi previously played Dracula, but he still played the part well.
The movie is typically loaded with things that can be a pro and a con. For example, the story does a good job building things up, but interesting plot elements are founded on unexplained elements that don't do the movie any favors. Why was the gardener keeping the wife a secret? Was it because of her brain damage and the gardener didn't want her husband to see her like that? And how come she kept appearing outside when escaping but never going into the house? The movie raises a lot of questions they don't bother answering. However, this does make it a good movie to theorize about, which is unique for me since I typically hate the abundance of Disney fan-theory movies on Youtube.
Despite the lack of substance which cannot match the perfectly creepy approach, the events building up to the end were quite interesting and made my heart pound when the big climax came. However, the soft and lightly bouncy score during the scene killed that buzz quickly, so I didn't enjoy the end as much as anticipated. And my final complaint is that the characters are pretty flat. They all play their parts well and some of the characters look like you'd like to get to know them. But they have no development thanks to the substance problem.
There were a lot of good ideas in Invisible Ghost that either weren't given the chance to shine or were founded upon underwritten elements. But the acting was fine and the movie is pretty creep, especially for psychological film fans like me. I'd recommend it for a one-time watch, if not just to get a forgotten dose of Bela Lugosi.