Customer Reviews

Invisible Ghost

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"The Invisible Ghost" (1941) features an effectively underplayed Bela Lugosi performance and some striking directorial touches courtesy of Joseph H. Lewis - eight years before his cult classic "Gun Crazy." As a result, this atmospheric thriller rises above the usual Poverty Row fare. Clarence Muse provides memorable support as the non-stereotypical butler. One of Lugosi's best Monogram efforts. The Roan Group DVD includes a good 35mm print and the original trailer.

The title almost gives it away. "The Invisible Ghost." What other kind of ghost IS there? While there are some genuinely creepy moments in this black and white thriller, the plot is so hare-brained you'll need multiple viewings just to absorb the details. Let's see; Bela Lugosi believes his wife died in a car accident, but his gardener (!) actually has her stowed in the back barn. When wifey staggers out in the rain and "haunts" Lugosi, he falls into a trance and murders whoever's handy, then "wakes up" remembering nothing. Throw in a cigar chomping (and utterly ineffectual) police detective, the poor fellow who's unjustly convicted of the murders and sent to the electric chair (!), the casual way Lugosi and friends react to multiple homicides, and a psycho-therapist who suggests Lugosi's murderous trance is, in fact, a fairly common psychiatric disorder, and you've got one of the more whacked movies in cinema history. I loved it!

Even Bela Lugosi couldn't save this turkey. The plot is idiotic, the supporting cast is dreadful, and the film is incredibly boring. Definitely not a classic.

Like usual, the (out of print) Roan is the best print available. As far as the film, it's a Lugosi poverty row. Hard core Bela fans like me will enjoy it, others will likely feel it's corny (well, it is!).

What a pathetic, degrading waste of talent on the part of actor Bela Lugosi, cast ludicrously in what comes close to equaling such bottom-of-the-barrel schlock as BRIDE OF THE MONSTER. And yet...and yet...

...if you love Lugosi's mellifluous, Hungarian-accented intonations (as I do), just sit back and ignore (or "enjoy") the film's imbecilic dialogue, implausible plot, stilted acting, and utterly hilarious direction, and allow yourself to be carried away by the erstwhile treasured voice that gave Bela Lugosi the fame and stature he so rightfully deserved back in the 30s from such memorable films as THE RAVEN, THE BLACK CAT, THE INVISIBLE RAY, SON OF FRANKENSTEIN and, of course, DRACULA.

This is a fast-moving psychological thriller. Story and screenplay by Helen and Al Martin. Produced by Sam Katzman; you will recognize his style or lack of.

Mr. Kessler (Bela Lugosi) is missing his wife (Betty Compson) but doesn't know it and assumes that she will return one day. His daughter Virginia (Polly Ann Young) tries to keep the invisible Mrs. Kessler from the prying eyes of her boyfriend Ralph (John McGuire). Meantime there is some mysterious ghost in the house it is dispatching this person and that at arbitrary times seemingly for arbitrary reasons. What can this mean? There may be more to this story than just a straightforward murder movie. What is the maid hiding? What is Jules (Ernie Adams) hiding?

Will the ghostly found before they all get strung out?

The film is short and in black and white. One advantage of the short is to get right to the point. It makes great filler but once you have seen it, you have seen it.

Glen or Glenda ~ Bela Lugosi

Bad film, which wastes the talent of Lugosi. Film is obviously low budget(where were you for this one Universal?), and some scenes are too dark. A better film is Killer Bats(a.k.a The Devil Bat).

For those who love to pop in these little "B" programmers on a rainy night with a bowl of popcorn this one with Bela Lugosi will certainly do the trick.

A good story and a nice cast you've probably never heard of offer "B" fans a real treat in this atmospheric mystery that's strictly for fun. There is some good pacing by director Joseph H. Lewis so the story never lags in its meager 64 minutes. The cops don't seem as dumb as often portrayed in the programmers and when the plot takes a wild turn it doesn't seem hokey but simply part of the story.

Lugosi's wife is thought dead but unbeknownst to him is actually being hidden away after a car crash left her mind a mess. He still loves her and pines for her in the house they lived in. His pretty daughter Virginia (Polly Ann Young) lives with him and is about to marry when her husband-to-be is arrested and convicted for one of the muders which have been occuring at the house.

Lugosi, of course, is the real killer, going into a trance every time his wife sneaks out, and making it only as far as the house. The attractive maid who has the hots for Virginia's boyfriend gets it first, then the gardner. When Virginia's fiance pays the ultimate price for a crime he did not commit, his twin brother Paul (John McGuire) shows up and romance blooms between he and Virginia despite the murders.

The cops are trying to figure out who could be doing the killings and Lugosi senses something may be terribly wrong when he awakens from a trance in his daughter's room. He comes to before anything horrible happens but begins to suspect the unthinkable.

It's best not to ask how or why Lugosi's wife only gets loose at night or why her appearance sends him over the edge. This genre of "B" was only meant to be a fun distraction and it succeeds. It is miles ahead of some of Lugosi's Poverty Row stuff during the same period and rates high for fans of "B" horror and mystery films.

Bela Lugosi was compelled to make a number of poor films during his down and out years, but 1941's Invisible Ghost should not be counted among them. While this is the first of Bela's infamous "Monogram Nine," it's actually a pretty interesting film, and one that allows Bela's star power to shine in several of its many facets. This talented actor could be quite the charmer in the right cinematic environment, as he proved in Dracula, and the role of Charles Kessler in Invisible Ghost provided him with an opportunity to showcase the warm, genteel aspect of his nature alongside the legendary horror prowess that made him famous. Of course, Kessler's a little bit odd - he does, after all, enjoy a serious dinner with his wife on the anniversary of their marriage, despite the fact that he has not seen her since she left him (and supposedly died) several years earlier - but he's a most sympathetic character with a wonderful daughter, a respected position in the community, and a most amiable personal nature.

Unfortunately, Kessler's home is quickly becoming a house of horrors. The first victim is the new maid, and her death complicates matters a great deal. We the viewers know who killed her because we watched the murder as it happened. Circumstantial evidence, however, leads the cops to charge Ralph Dickson (John McGuire), who just so happens to be the serious boyfriend of Kessler's daughter Virginia (Polly Ann Young), with this murder most foul. As additional murders follow, you can only wonder who will be next and when the authorities will figure out what we already know - the true identity of the murderer. You might think that your foreordained knowledge of the murderer would make Invisible Ghost a boring affair, but it really doesn't - largely thanks to Bela Lugosi's incredible performance (and a certain plot point I found rather shocking).

Joseph H. Lewis also deserves a lot of credit for making this film rise above its B-movie origins. As director, he maintains the gloomy atmosphere throughout, and he also gives us some unusual but wonderfully effective camera angles - including a truly memorable one through the flames of a fireplace. The lighting also wonderfully accentuates the whole effect of several Bela Lugosi close-ups (and no one has ever done close-ups like Bela Lugosi did). I will go so far as to tell you the butler didn't do it, but said butler (played by Clarence Muse) deserves special mention, as well. Rather than serve as stereotypical grist for the Hollywood mill, this African-American character was presented with seriousness and respect - quite a rarity for films of this particular era.

It's just unfortunate that the rest of Lugosi's films for Monogram lacked the kind of script and talent Invisible Ghost provided - this first of Lugosi's "Monogram Nine" is far and away the best of the lot. I would place this high on the second tier of Lugosi's most impressive performances.

As I write this review, there are at least ten, separate DVD releases for the film, The Invisible Ghost (1941), some double features, some stand alone releases, which is usually a good indicator that the movie has fallen into the public domain, meaning the original copyright for the film has since lapsed, and now anyone can broadcast or release the film, if they have the means. The most famous case of this is Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life (1946). Ever wonder why it's shown on every stinking channel all hours of the day and night during the holidays? Well, it is a classic, but also none of the TV stations that broadcast it have to pay a penny to anyone for showing it...but I digress...written by Al and Helen Martin and directed by Joseph H. Lewis (Pride of the Bowery, The Mad Doctor of Market Street), The Invisible Ghost stars Bela Lugosi (Dracula, White Zombie), in one of a number of poverty row films he starred in during his `exile' from the major studio system. Also appearing is Polly Ann Young (Murder on the Yukon), John McGuire (The Prisoner of Shark Island), Clarence Muse (Huckleberry Finn, Show Boat), Terry Walker (Dangerous Lady), Betty Compson (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Ernie Adams (Pride of the Legion), and George Pembroke (Bluebeard).

As the film begins we see Charles Kessler (Lugosi) sitting down to dinner alone...or is he? He's seems to be having a conversation with the empty chair across from him (he even tells the butler to serve the empty chair first)...nutty, perhaps, but then we learn this is an annual event, marking Kessler's wedding anniversary, only Mrs. Kessler (Compson) is unable to attend due to the fact she ran off with another man some years ago, leaving behind Charles and their daughter Virginia (Young), and died in a subsequent car accident, or so is the common belief. Well, turns out she ain't dead, but secretly stowed away in the cellar of the gardener's shack...why? I had a hard time understanding (and I saw the film!), but it has something to do with her having amnesia. Since her leaving there's been a rash of unexplained murders, which only happen at night, of the household staff (strangulations), but little in the way of clues as to the murderer. Virginia's boyfriend Ralph (McGuire) makes the scene, just about the time the current maid gets it, who he apparently had a past history with, and now he's on the hot seat, fingered by the inept authorities for her death. His brother Paul (also played by McGuire) shows up, and another person dies (the gardener), proving that, while good help may be hard to find, it's even harder to keep...from getting killed! Things eventually come to a head during a dark and stormy night as those left try to get to the bottom of things...

There really isn't much of a mystery here although it seems like the film was touted as such within the promotional material, as we know who the killer is fairly early into the film, along with the motive. Another thing the film does not have, despite the title, is an actual ghost, which was disappointing as I do like a good ghost story, but whatever...given how much we know early on, there seems to be little in terms of the story to keep the audience interested, but the movie does have a few things going for it, like creepy atmosphere and Lugosi himself. There's a scene in the film where Lugosi's character's in the maid's room, and the camera is positioned in such a way that it looks like he's coming at the audience. He has a smile on his face, but it's not of the `Let's be friends' type...no, it's more of the sinister `I going to throttle the life out of you' type. This, to me, was the highlight as few could pull off this kind of thing as well as he did. Another interesting aspect with regards to the film was that of Clarence Muse's character of the African American butler Evans. I was half expecting some sort of goofy, buffoonish, caricature prevalent in films about the time, but that wasn't the case here. His character was actually a capable one, lacking any speech impediments, one that seemed to garner a certain amount of respect despite his position within the household. Actually, Muse was quite an accomplished individual, holding a law degree, and thought of as a pioneer in the black theater movement. As far as John McGuire playing the dual roles of the brothers Ralph and Paul Dickson, there wasn't, as far as I know, any mention of them being twins, but I think this was done because it was probably cheaper to just have one actor play both roles. The one aspect that really stuck me as odd was the fact that while there were a number of murders in the house, no one within the house seemed all that put out by the fact a murderer was running around. I don't know about you, but someone gets murdered in my house, I'll be commencing to freaking out...the characters seemed not so bothered that household servants were being knocked off (and the murderer may be lurking about), but more so by the inconvenience of having to fill another, vacant position. Also, the story is filled with aspects that are the way they are only because they're written in the script that way, and not because they developed naturally. All in all the good canceled out the bad, so I was left feeling pretty neutral by the end. Had the movie not had Lugosi, I wouldn't have even bothered...I haven't seen all of Lugosi's poverty row films, but of the ones I have seen, White Zombie (1932), Bowery at Midnight (1942), and The Devil Bat (1940) are among the better ones, in my opinion.

This Roan DVD release features a decent looking, fullscreen (1.33:1) picture, presented in its original aspect ratio. The print does have plenty of flaws, but it is watchable. The Dolby Digital mono audio comes through well enough. There are a couple of extra features on the DVD, including a Cast & Credits listing, and text relating a little about the films background, which is also the same material print on the back of the DVD case. As I said, there are at least ten different DVD releases of this film, and I couldn't speak towards the quality of these other releases, so buyer beware.

Cookieman108