dougdoepke Get a load of the 'Maniac'. Nothing there that a good face wash and a painful dental visit wouldn't fix, if, that is, 5-years were spent on it. On the whole, it looks like the movie throws a bit of everything into the pot. Trouble is the drop-in ingredients-- horror, whodunit, romance, news-hound-- don't blend well. Anyway, the plot's main question amounts to who's killing the Rineharts. It should be the Maniac, but we know it's not, though he does prey on necking couples; that is, when he's not hiding out in the bushes ready for his next close-up. An even bigger question is just what Lugosi's sinister Degar is supposed to be. That's a big a mystery too. Is he a house attendant from heck or maybe a dark agent from late night TV. What with his graveyard manner and sepulcher voice, at least he would keep unwanted guests away. Too bad the writers weren't sure what to do with their headliner, but it does get Lugosi's name on the marquee. Then there's the comedy relief. Probably the movie was never a front rank choice on TCM, since it's a black man doing the embarrassing 'feets-don't-fail-me-now' brand of racial humor. And, for his humiliation, the actor's not even included in the credit list (IMDB). On the whole, however, the supporting cast performs ably, especially the women and the Rineharts. All in all, the flick's a different kind of fright effort that unfortunately scatters impact. At least that's so until the finale, which is unexpected and cleverly thought out. There's also the completely novel "breaking of the fourth wall" by the Maniac, a real rarity, I would think, for its time. Too bad that the programmer's not good enough to really register, and not bad enough to make it as laughable camp. So where's Ed Wood when I could use a good chuckle.

mlraymond This is by no means a great film, but it's awfully entertaining. An isolated old mansion is the scene of a strange experiment, with a scientist preparing to test a secret formula by having himself buried alive. At the same time, a madman with snaggle teeth and wild eyes is on the prowl, stabbing a lengthy list of victims, and leaving a newspaper clipping about himself pinned to the corpse's clothing each time.Throw in Wallace Ford as a fast talking reporter who's investigating the murders, and romancing the pretty niece of one of the victims, a mysterious servant played by Bela Lugosi, Tully Marshall as a rich man who gets killed off, leading to a classic reading of the will sequence, and a black chauffeur who asks to be disinherited when he hears that he is to be paid a pension " for as long as (he) live(s)". Add some dislikable relatives plotting to cut the servants out of the will, a grumpy police detective getting fed up with unsolved murders and the reporter's jibes, various hapless victims of " The Maniac", vintage cars, clothing and telephones, along with the basic collection of sliding panels, secret tunnels, clutching hands, etc.Result: one very entertaining old movie, with more action crammed into an hour than ten other movies put together. There's a slightly tongue in cheek quality reminiscent of Doctor X, though not as openly satirical. Anyone who enjoys old dark house mysteries and Thirties horror movies should get a kick out of this.

MARIO GAUCI This Columbia "B" thriller features many of the typical 'old dark house' trappings (which proliferated throughout the late 20s up till the mid-30s) and is therefore quite predictable; still, the denouement is rather effective – and it's all capped by an amusing (if hammy) interpolation by the maniac killer of the main narrative, which sees him coming back to life to warn cinema patrons not to reveal the twist ending! A mere two years after his runaway success with Dracula (1931), the film already sees Bela Lugosi reduced to playing thankless roles because, even though he receives sole above-the-title billing here, the horror icon's presence constitutes a red herring and nothing more (the way he's made to intimidate his spiritualist wife during a séance proves especially pointless) and is further hindered by the unflattering Hindu attire (turban, gypsy earrings) he is saddled with throughout. Frankly, after having seen several films of Lugosi's (and with a handful more coming up), I still can't make up my mind whether his unique (i.e. sluggish and heavily-accented) delivery of lines is an asset or a liability! To get back to the 'monster' of the film, again, his involvement results to be irrelevant to the central mystery (with an inheritance at stake, members of a wealthy family are getting bumped off one by one): familiar heavy-set character actor Edwin Maxwell is credited with playing the role, but he was unrecognizable behind the make-up. Lovely Sally Blane (who happens to be Loretta Young's sister!) and Wallace Ford (insufferable as the fast-talking reporter hero, a role he virtually reprised in a later Lugosi cheapie – THE APE MAN [1943]) provide the obligatory romantic interest; another requisite – and equally resistible – is the politically incorrect comedy relief supplied by the household's 'scaredy cat' black chauffeur. Given a somewhat harsh BOMB rating by Leonard Maltin, I knew not to expect much from the film – but, ultimately, it's a harmless way to kill 60 minutes or so…and, in any case, the script does come up with a handful of undeniably hilarious lines: when a delegation of scientists arrives at the mansion to assist to a dangerous experiment, the chauffeur remarks that they look like undertakers – later, when he sees these same men transport a coffin in which his current master is about to be buried alive, he observes that he had been right all along!; driven as much by jealousy as the promise of a scoop, Ford bursts into the household to see Blane – noticing four other hats in the parlor (belonging to the illustrious guests), he asks her whether she had been entertaining the Marx Bros.; when the bodies start piling up and the police is called on the scene, Ford offers his help but is told off by the investigating officer – however, on asking for the generalities of all the persons in the room, the response of one of the scientists comes in the form of an unpronounceable foreign name and, so, the befuddled cop gladly relinquishes the writing duties to the newspaperman!; still, my favorite bit is when a hand-cuffed Lugosi asks the detective guarding him if he can smoke, and the latter – with quite unwarranted hostility – snaps back "I don't care if you burn!"

Norm-30 As usual, i must disagree with the other reviewer. All that cliche-ic stuff (secret panels, the "maniac", seances, etc) is what makes this film a GREAT "Old House" film! Granted, Lugosi is wasted in this role, but the entire film builds up a creepy, sinister "atmosphere".Both Maltin and the other reviewer dismiss the end of the film, where the maniac speaks to the audience but, I first saw this when I was about 6 years old, and it scared the bejesus out of me for several nights! Don't analyzse this film....just WATCH it....and ENJOY! Norm