mark.waltz All leading ladies must have something in their repertoire which they despise. Myrna Loy had "The Mask of Fu Manchu" and Carole Lombard has this, an hour long thriller where she is the vessel which a dead murderess uses to seek revenge. Not a great film by any means (and one that Lombard resented having to make), it is actually pretty enjoyable for its spooky atmosphere, haunting photography, and the melodramatic performance of Vivienne Osborne as the most malicious psychopathic murderess in film history. There's a good thrill or two to be had in this, especially when nosy landlady Beryl Mercer gets a bit too nosy and the antics of doctor H.B. Warner who fears that once Osborne is executed for her crimes, her evil spirit may not be finished.Lombard doesn't really get much to do in this other than open her eyes extremely widely for the scenes where she is infiltrated by the dead woman's spirit. It certainly wasn't a juicy part for her after all the good things she had been doing up to that point and I can see why she resented having to do it. You have to suspend belief in many places, and if you manage to do that, you will find yourself having a good time.

mhesselius Negative reviews of this film should be seen in context. Most Carole Lombard fans are looking for light comedies and romances, certainly not horror pictures. Horror fans, however, must be delighted to find Lombard starring in this movie from the Halperins, who produced the successful Lugosi vehicle "White Zombie" in 1932.Only a few times in the 1930s' golden age of horror did these films get the star power and production they deserved. Among major studios Paramount led the way with this type of film, even predating Universal with John Barrymore's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in 1920 when the only horror films were coming out of Germany. In the '30s Paramount, encouraged by Universal's success, cast Charles Laughton in "The Island of Lost Souls" and Frederic March in a remake of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." In "Supernatural" Lombard is fine in the lead role of a woman possessed by the evil spirit of a murderess. And while this film is not a classic, it is an effective horror film by a major studio. The fact that it rates 6.0 stars is amazing when you consider what types of films Lombard's fans are used to seeing her in.

Maciste_Brother In time, many films are forgotten. Some are unjustifiably forgotten while others are justifiably forgotten. SUPERNATURAL is one of the latter. It's a valiant attempt at horror from the director of WHITE ZOMBIE but in the end, it just doesn't work. The cast in excellent. The sets are excellent. The cinematography is excellent. Some scenes are really effective but nothing gels together and the end product is more a collection of ideas strung together but with no idea of what to do with them. The worst part of the film is the ending. It's truly groan inducing, even for a film made in the 1930s.The most amazing scene in SUPERNATURAL is the one at the prison, when the warden and psychologist have a discussion. Nothing interesting really occurs during this scene except during a brief moment during their conversation, we see prisoners walking in line in the yard outside the office window. The composition and imagery is quite startling. I've never seen anything like this.But even with these flashes of brilliance here and there, SUPERNATURAL is simply not worth your time or attention.

preppy-3 Silly horror tale about the soul of an executed murderess possessing the body of another woman. Film starts off well but quickly becomes slow and boring. Some impressive visuals throughout, but the main plot is absurd--according to this, the spirits of executed killers possess living people and have them perform "copycat" murders! It's ridiculous and we're supposed to take it seriously.The cast doesn't help. With the sole exception on Vivienne Osborne as the murderess everyone is horrible--even Carole Lombard and Randolph Scott! Lombard was forced into this movie--she really didn't want to do it--and it shows. Montgomery is certainly handsome but VERY bland and dull. The rest of the cast is just hopeless--none of them went on to become well-known--it's easy to see why.An old, creaky boring horror film. Don't bother.