(1932)
Dir - William Cameron Menzies/Marcel Varnel
Overall: MEH
Based on the radio play of the same name which was broadcast while the film was produced, Chandu the Magician is a highly silly, melodramatic adventure yarn with Bela Lugosi in a textbook villain role. Lugosi would actually play Chandu himself, (that rare moment where he was the hero), in the twelve part film serial The Return of Chandu which would begin getting released in various formats a mere two years later as well. Here, he gets to chew the scenery as a one-dimensional megalomaniac who wants to use a death ray to wipe out most of the population while enslaving the rest. The childish, cartoony plot is not limited to Lugosi's mad Egyptian Roxor's grand, unnecessarily thwarted James Bond villain schemes; it is all full of predictable set pieces, over the top dialog, stupid henchmen, arbitrary magical powers granted to Edmond Lowe's fabulously mustached title-Yogi, and unfunny comic relief in the form of his useless, alcoholic servant Miggles, (Herbert Mundin). From a technical standpoint though, directors William Cameron Menzies and Marcel Varnel utilize a boatload of then impressive visual tricks, special effects, camera movements, miniatures and the like. It is all pretty damn hokey otherwise.
(1933)
Dir - Benjamin Stoloff
Overall: WOOF
Bela Lugosi returns with a turban in Night of Terror, (He Lived to Kill, Terror in the Night), one of the more laughably atrocious entries in his filmography. It is truly a shame that a mere two years after his breakout turn in Universal's seminal Dracula, Lugosi was in enough financial troubles to accept a roll in such preposterous nonsense. Surprisingly distributed by Columbia Pictures even though it has all of the hallmarks of a Poverty Row joint, there is an "Oh lawd, I is scared!" racist comic relief character, a rich white woman who does an impression of him, an unfunny wiseguy hero who stalks and forcibly makes out with a female who vocally rejects him because isn't that charming and hilarious, a seance for absolutely no reason, and a guy who buries himself alive in an unattended grave because science experiments, all while a maniac is picking people off on his property. Lugosi's part is thankfully minor, but he still somewhat embarrasses himself while overacting against a cast of people either doing the same thing or not acting at all. This includes the token black guy who cannot stop stuttering because isn't that funny and adorable too?
(1939)
Dir - Walter Summers
Overall: MEH
Another dull entry into Bela Lugosi's catalog where he had already been well typecast as a mad villain, The Dark Eyes of London, (released as The Human Monster in the U.S. the following year), was a British production from the bit players Monogram Pictures. Though Lugosi is typically enjoyable and gets to stretch out somewhat in a dual roll that is rather easily spotted even though his voice is dubbed, the plot offers little suspense and more steady boredom than it can afford. Based on the novel of the same name by Edgar Wallace, (a prolific enough novelist who died earlier that decade while writing the initial script treatment for King Kong), Lugosi's Dr. Orloff's scheme is not particularly fleshed out, coming off more insulting that he is not caught partaking in his fiendish shenanigans sooner than he is. Norwegian actress Greta Gynt makes for an occasionally interesting scream queen, but elsewhere the cast is consistently bland, including Wilfred Walter as a murdering, deformed, and stock servant. For the Lugosi completest, he gets enough screen time to warrant a viewing, but otherwise it is staunchly forgettable.
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