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Sunday, December 22, 2019

Pillow Of Death (1945)

Starring Lon Chaney Jr., Brenda Joyce, J. Edward Bromberg, Rosalind Ivan, Clara Blandick
Directed by Wallace Fox
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After the wife of an attorney is murdered, his secretary's wealthy family is quick to suspect him, and turn to a medium for help in exposing him using the ghosts in their own mansion.

Here's the final film in Universal's Inner Sanctum series starring Chaney and adapted from the popular radio series, and I thought this picture didn't flow as well as the others.  Despite its share of spooky sights and eerie music cues, I also thought it could have been much more atmospheric and suspenseful.  The house of the film's Kincaid family, despite secret passages and mysterious murders taking place within, is more gloomy than frightening, with us never really seeing any of the spectres said to be haunting the grounds.  Chaney is joined by a supporting cast which is capable enough, and I particularly liked Wilton Graff's smooth-speaking detective, but the story and direction just aren't of enough quality to make this a worthwhile thriller.

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