The Human Monster

1940 "Eyes of Doom! Man or Beast!"
The Human Monster
5.6| 1h16m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 24 March 1940 Released
Producted By: Monogram Pictures
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Insurance agent-physician collects on policies of men murdered by a disfigured resident of the home for the blind where he acts as doctor-on-call.

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jacobjohntaylor1 This is a really scary movie. It has a great story line. It also has great acting. This is one of the scariest movie I have seen. This is a horror classic. Bela Lugosi is very scary in this movie. He was one of the best actors from his time. If you like horror stories see this movie.
Leofwine_draca The Dark Eyes of London - aka The Human Monster, aka The Dead Eyes of London - is an excellent little chiller, based on a novel by Edgar Wallace and featuring an on-form Bela Lugosi at the top of his ghoulish game. This is a densely-plotted little production that sees the police investigating a string of inexplicable murders in which the bodies are washed up at the shore of the Thames.Their findings lead them to both an institute for the blind as well as the business of one Dr Orloff (yep, like in the Jess Franco films) who works in life insurance. Hugh Williams makes for a rather staid hero, but Norwegian actress Greta Gynt is lovely in support as the woman drawn into the case, and Edmon Ryan brings excellent comic relief as the wisecracking American cop drafted in to help out.This murky thriller features plenty of plot strands packed into a short running time. It's filled with atmosphere and great scenes of murder and mayhem, most of them committed by an excellently made-up actor who lurches from one sinister scene to the next. Lugosi is clearly having a ball and as a whole The Dead Eyes of London is demented fun. The only problem with it is that all of the prints are of a very poor, public domain-style quality; we can only dream of seeing this one crisply remastered!
Cristi_Ciopron Made in the light, elegant and witty ancient British style (yet with a brim of sloppiness and clumsiness), with its nicely recognizable hallmarks—such as the smooth, mild—tempered leading hero, the witty blonde, the notes of humor and drollery—and with a frolic sense of playfulness, THE DARK EYES OF London is a Lugosi vehicle and a clumsy, sloppy freak—melodrama, the gruesomeness tempered by the comedy—an almost joyous Gothic pastiche with no realization of the horribleness of what happened.I like daddy Lugosi as much as others like daddy Karloff, and when his character, Orloff, phones to set the likable blonde's fate, we get a feeling of normality—way to go, Orloff, why use otherwise the stupid Braille gimmick when you can simply call and deliver a cryptic message to seal your victims' doom? But now that Orloff's mind straightened up, it's different.Orloff sounds like Orlok and Karloff.The Dark Eyes of London (1940)
MartinHafer Bela Lugosi made a lot of schlocky films during his career. While DARK EYES OF London is definitely a low budget film, thanks to decent writing and a very creepy style it manages to entertain even after almost 70 years.Bela plays a totally amoral criminal who runs an insurance company. He insures people and makes himself the beneficiary after making these people loans. But instead of waiting to collect the money, he drowns them and throws their body in the Thames. While an interesting scheme, he oddly does it repeatedly--naturally arousing the suspicions of the police.In addition to being an insurance man, Lugosi also is a benefactor to a home for indigent blind men. However, this act of kindness is a front, as this home is where Bela commits his murders with the help of a truly horrifying looking blind assistant. Near the very end, you actually get to see him kill one of his innocent victims and toss him in the river in a very graphic way--hence deservedly earning its special horror rating in the UK.The film earns some points for an unusual plot and its graphic scenes--it really is a pretty scary film for 1940. However, there are a few lulls, some overacting by the idiot playing the cop from Chicago and the irrationality of Lugosi committing so many murders yet hoping to get away with it when he's the only rational suspect. By the way, speaking of the Chicago cop, do all Brits see us Americans as THAT brash and annoying?! I sure hope not! You also wonder why they even bothered including this character, as he was rather distracting and unnecessary.