''Invisible Ghost'' is a 1941 American
horror film directed by
Joseph H. Lewis
Joseph H. Lewis (April 6, 1907 – August 30, 2000) was an American B-movie film director whose stylish flourishes came to be appreciated by auteur theory-espousing film critics in the years following his retirement in 1966. In a 30-year direc ...
, produced by
Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers.
E ...
and starring
Bela Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...
.
Plot
The home of Charles Kessler is beset by a series of unsolved murders. Kessler, who lives with his daughter and servants since his wife left him, is shown to be the murderer, unbeknownst to himself. His wife, who became brain-damaged in a car accident not long after leaving him, has been visiting the grounds of the house and the sight of her through his window puts Kessler into a trance-like state which makes him homicidal. Ralph Dickson, the fiancée of Kessler's daughter, is convicted and executed for one of the murders. His twin brother Paul arrives and, through a series of events, including Kessler's wife finally entering the house and being seen by others, Kessler is seen to go into the trance and the mystery is revealed.
Cast
Production
The film was initially announced in press as ''Murder by the Stars'', and later re-titled ''The Phantom Killer''. Actor
Bela Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...
began his regular work for
Monogram Pictures, starting with ''Invisible Ghost''. Lugosi had previously worked with the company in the 1930s with ''
The Mysterious Mr. Wong
''The Mysterious Mr. Wong'' is a tongue-in-cheek 1934 mystery film starring Bela Lugosi as a powerful Fu Manchu type criminal mastermind of the Chinatown underworld, and Wallace Ford as a wisecracking reporter. The film is based on Harry Stephen ...
'' (1934) and the British film they distributed ''
The Dark Eyes of London''. Lugosi was set as the lead in the film, a month in advance than the films supporting players where were signe don a day before production began shooting on March 20, 1941.
Among the crew of the film was
Al Martin
Albert Lee Martin (born November 24, 1967) is a former professional baseball left fielder. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, mostly for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also played one season in the KBO League.
Early life
Martin gradua ...
, who had been working in film since the
silent film era
A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...
, mostly writing subtitles for films. He only wrote a few genre pictures, including ''
The Rogues' Tavern'' (1936), ''
Trapped by Television'' (1936), ''
The Mad Doctor of Market Street
''The Mad Doctor of Market Street'' is a 1942 American horror film produced by Universal Pictures starring Lionel Atwill. The film was a low-budget project that utilized the studio's contract players and gave rising director Joseph H. Lewis an ...
'' (1942) and ''
Invasion of the Saucer Men
''Invasion of the Saucer Men'' (U.K. title: ''Invasion of the Hell Creatures''; working title: ''Spacemen Saturday Night''), is a 1957 black-and-white comic science fiction/horror film produced by James H. Nicholson for release by American Int ...
'' (1957). The films producer,
Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers.
E ...
produced several low-budget features and was described in 1999 by film historian Tom Weaver as predominantly being known for his horror and science fiction film productions decades later. Both photographers
Marcel Le Picard and Harvey Gould are credited in the films credits, with only Le Picard receiving credit in the film's pressbook.
Release
''Invisible Ghost'' was released on April 25, 1941. The film was released on blu-ray on March 2017.
Reception
From contemporary reviews, Weaver described ''Invisible Ghost''s as getting the "reviews it deserved." The ''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' described the film as "complicated and unbelievable" while the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' gave the film a "Fair" rating, noting a complex plot and the "buildup of suspense in a horror/drama, is imperfect." The ''
New York Daily News'' gave the film a one star rating, declaring the film to be a "ghastly bore" finding that Lugosi was "not at his best" and the direction of
Joseph H. Lewis
Joseph H. Lewis (April 6, 1907 – August 30, 2000) was an American B-movie film director whose stylish flourishes came to be appreciated by auteur theory-espousing film critics in the years following his retirement in 1966. In a 30-year direc ...
was "inadequate". The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' said the film was "head and shoulders above the average horror picture. It's superiority is based on the fact that spine-tickling qualities stem from a psychopathic and psychological situation rather than a purely physical one, imparting a Poe-ish flavour... Lugosi is, of course, superb in his work, being master of all the horror tricks but never overdoing them".
From retrospective reviews,
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...
's Film Guide awarded two out of a possible four stars, calling it "Better written and directed than most of Bela's 1940s cheapies, but still a far-cry from ''
Dracula''".
See also
*
Bela Lugosi filmography
*
List of films in the public domain in the United States
Most films are subject to copyright, but those listed here are believed to be in the public domain in the United States. This means that no government, organization, or individual owns any copyright over the work, and as such it is common property ...
References
Sources
*
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External links
*
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*
Joe Dante on ''Invisible Ghost''at
Trailers from Hell
''Trailers from Hell'' (branded as ''Trailers from Hell!'') is a web series in which filmmakers discuss and promote individual movies through commenting on their trailers. While the series emphasizes horror, science fiction, fantasy, cult, and expl ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Invisible Ghost, The
1941 films
1941 horror films
1940s English-language films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Joseph H. Lewis
Monogram Pictures films
1940s American films