DarthVoorhees
'Dead Man's Eyes' is an old Lon Chaney Jr Inner Sanctum mystery film that practically reviews it's self. These Inner Sanctum films were really the hokiest of B movie film noirs but anyone who is a fan of Universal can't condemn them. You'll notice I'm reviewing this film in an almost plural fashion and it is because all six or so of these films are all pretty much the same movie. Chaney Jr always starred in an odd murder mystery and is the object of obsession between two B movie starlets in a love triangle. It pretty much never changed and 'Dead Man's Eyes' is no exception. The nuances aren't all that interesting. 'Dead Man's Eyes' has Chaney blinded by an accident and really it doesn't matter. I just love Lon Chaney Jr too much to really trash a movie were he is the lead. And even if they are hokey they are hokey in a consistently entertaining fashion. They are the kind of film noirs that believe and put so much energy in their clichés that you feel you get your money's worth. And really with Chaney Jr in the lead you are getting significantly more than you would from any other boring handsome stock player Universal probably would have casted.
JLRMovieReviews
With character actors like Paul Kelly, Thomas Gomez and Jean Parker, this Inner Sanctum outing has Lon Chaney as an artist and is one of the better vehicles for Lon. He starred in all six films in the Inner Sanctum series, and this one concerns him putting acid in his eyes by mistake, instead of his intended eye-wash. Or did someone plan it that way? When his future father-in-law says he has put it in his will that Lon gets his eyes for a surgical procedure, the old man is mysteriously killed within days. Did Lon - a blind man - do it? Did a young model, who loves him, do it, so that he will be blind and bound to her forever? Did the psychiatrist do it, because he loves her and he will only have her if Lon gets his sight back? Did the old man's daughter do it? Obviously not! They strike again, when she is on the phone with the next victim. But, you won't find out the answer, until you buy this neat Inner Sanctum series DVD set. Or see it on TV. But I think that's less likely. This b-picture is given grade A production with good actors and quick dialogue that pushes you along. So what are you waiting for? Go into the Inner Sanctum.
Michael_Elliott
Dead Man's Eyes (1944) *** (out of 4) Third in the Inner Sanctum series has a painter (Lon Chaney, Jr.) accidentally pouring acid into his eyes causing him to go blind. Soon he's suspected of killing his father in law, the man who was going to give him his eyes for a transplant. This is certainly the best of the three film's I've seen in the series due in large part to a pretty good screenplay that has plenty of twists and turns. I picked up on the ending ten minutes before it actually happened but the film still remained a lot of fun. Chaney also delivers a good performance.
MARIO GAUCI
While the plot of this third "Inner Sanctum" film is, in itself, intriguing - and certainly provides plenty of possible suspects - the handling is rather stiff, with too much talk and little real suspense!Once again, Chaney is the talented object of desire(!) - a painter - torn between society woman Jean Parker and exotic model Acquanetta; he really loves the former but, when he's rendered blind in an accident, he decides to let her go and accepts the latter's care (she being the unwitting cause of his precarious condition!). Paul Kelly has a good role as Chaney's best friend and secret (but unrequited) admirer of Acquanetta.Parker's elderly father opts to have his eyes transplanted after his death so, when he ends up murdered, police detective Thomas Gomez turns up to root out the guilty party; the denouement, then, is pretty convoluted but not very exciting. While the quality of this series has steadily deteriorated so far from one entry to the next (though the films are never boring and mercifully short), I still look forward to the remaining three installments...