Lugosi is his usual sinister self, evil and Satanic looking, particularly when a medium close-up shot of his eyes fill the screen. The film is stage-bound, yet it has an exotic, sprawling feel to its mansion setting, elaborately decorated. It's also a good example of the then-current transition from silent films to "talkies", as there is only sporadic, yet well-written and memorable, dialogue. Chilling image, also, of zombie slave falling silently into huge grinder, and no one notices, or seems to even comprehend what happened.
Yet, for all of those things working in its favour, why is this movie so boring? It is slowly paced and draggy, even at only 65 minutes, and by the time the effectively creepy ending happens, I felt like it had gone on for hours. It was further negated by a terrible final line; an attempt at lightening the mood with humour, and it failed miserably.
Yet, for all of those things working in its favour, why is this movie so boring? It is slowly paced and draggy, even at only 65 minutes, and by the time the effectively creepy ending happens, I felt like it had gone on for hours. It was further negated by a terrible final line; an attempt at lightening the mood with humour, and it failed miserably.