What's this about?

Lately, it seems like many of the movies/shows are just a rehash or reboot of things that have already been done. And so I started to dive into the past. It's been fun, but I find myself losing track of which ones I’ve seen and whether or not I enjoyed them. Sometimes the titles themselves just don't tell me enough to remember.

I wouldn’t have voluntarily watched a lot of these movies when I was younger. It’s strange how interests change. That goes for what I read, too. I have another blog that explores books. I’m mostly reading older fiction and memoirs, and some of the books have led me to movies/shows and vice versa. In those cases, I may post the book review over here as well.

There will be spoilers, which is different than my book reviews. That’s mostly because I want to have enough information to help me remember what I’ve seen. I’m getting older. The brain doesn’t cooperate like it used to. What can I say? The gray hairs are catching up with me!

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

The Phantom Creeps - 1949

This is an edited version of the 1936 serial of the same name. It is cut down to an hour and 18 minutes.

Bela Lugosi plays Dr. Zorka. He's got a new element that gives him the power to do various things. Apparently, he has an invisibility belt (called a 'devisualizer'), a Z-ray, he can perform painless surgery, and he has a huge robot. People familiar with Rob Zombie will recognize it from the music video for "Dragula,"

I'm a bit glad I watched the shortened version, because I don't think I would've made it through the longer serial. Zorka blamed the people who "betrayed" him for the death of his wife when he was the one who put a disc in her purse while she was on a plane. And he put the spider thing on there too. When the disc and the spider come together...poof!

On top of that, the robot was NOT used enough. I saw him attempt murder once, and then he just kind of threatened people a bit. Then he walked outside and blew up. Sigh...

I don't know why Zorka trusted his sidekick. The man tried to betray him more than once, but Zorka was happy to exert power over him. And the woman. A lot of her scenes must have been cut, because at the end they talked about giving her a medal. The only thing I'd seen her do was hide in a plane and drive a car. And after she drives through an explosion, the guy compliments her and immediately takes over the driving. "Good job! Now scoot over!"

Anyway, I wasn't a huge fan of this one. I didn't understand why the invisible man had a weird ghost shadow, and it wasn't as exciting without the cliffhangers sprinkled throughout the story. I'm not sure I would've liked the serial better, but as it stands, I'll pass on this one.


 

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