Dir - Steve Sekely
Overall: MEH
As much of a remake to Monogram Pictures' 1941 comedy/horror cheapie King of the Zombies as it is a sequel, Revenge of the Zombies sees comic relief character actor Mantan Moreland reprising his role and John Carradine joining the party as the mad scientist. Madame Sul-Te-Wan also returns as a housekeeper instead of a cook, (not that anyone could decipher the difference), and the screenplay was co-written by Edmond Kelso again, which would explain why it follows the same outline of two white guys and one black guy getting held-up at a creepy castle where voodoo zombie experiments are taking place. Unfortunately, this is a more stuffy and less amusing excursion than its predecessor. Moreland has little to do and disappears entirely for long portions, plus the rest of the cast deliver lifeless performances with such equally humdrum material. Even Carradine fails to grab the bull by the horns and chew any scenery as the Nazi scientist who forgets that he is supposed to have a German accent. In fact he only shows any emotion whatsoever twice and one of these moments is during his grisly death at the hands of his undead wife.
(1944)
Dir - Frank Capra
Overall: GREAT
A macabre screwball comedy that by all logic should have had Boris Karloff starring in a role that was tailor-made for him, Arsenic and Old Lace is director Frank Capra's delightful adaptation of Joseph Kesselring 1941 stage play of the same name. Snagging some of the cast from the theater production as well as replacing others, (including Raymond Massey for Karloff and Peter Lorre as his wimpish and unwilling plastic surgeon side-kick), it is one of several top tier goof-fests to feature Cary Grant in the lead who plays a variation of his Bringing Up Baby character; namely a well-meaning guy that becomes increasingly flummoxed by a plot that only grows more and more ridiculous. Capra maintains a cruising pace where one outrageous detail gets thrown on top of the other, sometimes with previous arcs getting resolved, but usually with all of them yelling at each other for screen time. It is often difficult to keep up, which is exactly the type of frustration that Grant portrays as both of his aunts admit to nonchalantly poisoning people as a form of mercy killing, his brand new wife cannot understand why he wants her to leave, a cop dictates a play that he wrote while Grant is left tied to a chair, and his escaped sadistic brother returns with a face that "looks like Boris Karloff".
(1946)
Dir - Fred C. Brannon/William Witney
Overall: MEH
Originally shown as a twelve-part serial in 1946, Republic Pictures' The Crimson Ghost, (Cyclotrode "X"), was later broadcast on television in a re-edited form a few years later and then again as a feature-length film in 1966. Mostly famous for the look of its title criminal mastermind whose ghoulish mug was utilized by The Misfits as their logo, the story has the usual goofy trajectory of a cockamamie villainous scheme that is punctuated by random fist fights and car crashes until the bad guy is finally apprehended. For this particular series, you could make a dangerous drinking game out of how many times that characters try and solve their problems by punching them, especially in its condensed form that takes out most of the boring talking bits yet keeps all of the boring action ones, throwing them at the screen in rapid succession of each other. While this makes for a hilarious watch in some respects, the story is repetitive pulp nonsense and the characters are so bland that only the Crimson Ghost stands out amongst them. This was the last serial from prolific director William Witney who almost exclusively stuck with Westerns throughout the next four decades of his career. He and Fred C. Brannon do their best with the silly material and make sure that everyone launches and flips across rooms while duking it out, but it still amounts to a dull watch.
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