Phantom des Schreckens (1941)

Phantom des Schreckens: Directed by Joseph H. Lewis. With Bela Lugosi, Polly Ann Young, John McGuire, Clarence Muse. The town’s leading citizen becomes a homicidal maniac after his wife deserts him.

“If you havenu0026#39;t seen Invisible Ghost, I wonu0026#39;t bother going into much of the plot. Most of it is silly and doesnu0026#39;t make much sense. Basically, the story involves a man who is driven to commit murder by seeing his supposedly dead wife. Thatu0026#39;s really all you need to know. And, itu0026#39;s not much of a spoiler as you discover most of this within the first ten minutes or so.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLugosi is great as the mad killer. A really first-rate acting job that is by far one of his best from the Poverty Row movies he made (that Iu0026#39;ve seen). He does an excellent job of alternating between the kindly Charles Kessler and the mad killer. Clarence Muse is also a standout as the butler, Evans. Muse played Evans as smart, calm, strong, and nothing like the typical black character you find in a 40s horror/mystery movie. I call him the anti-Mantan.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOver the past few years, Iu0026#39;ve learned to enjoy the movies from the 40s that Monogram and others were putting out. Invisible Ghost is not the best of the bunch, but itu0026#39;s certainly not the worst. Itu0026#39;s fun to watch if just to see Lugosi hamming it up. Just donu0026#39;t take these movies too seriously.”