The Haunted Strangler (1958)

Starring Boris Karloff, Jean Kent, Elizabeth Allan, Anthony Dawson, Vera Day
Directed by Robert Day

(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A novelist tries to prove the man convicted and executed for the strangling murders of women was not the guilty party, not realizing he may have his own personal connection to the crimes. 

We have here a nice vehicle for Karloff, one of a couple of films he made for producer Richard Gordon in England.  He is quite believable as a dogged investigator of the crimes of the "Haymarket Strangler," trying to prove his point that the man executed was not only innocent, but would have never been convicted if he had the money for a good lawyer.  The film has fine production values illustrating its period setting well, and Karloff is well supported by a good cast around him.  Eventually, the identity of the true strangler is revealed, prompting a return to his terrible killings in a clever and gruesome makeup in scenes well-staged by Day and his crew.  It's a well-done horror film, well-suited to the film's legendary star.

The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936)

Starring Boris Karloff, John Loder, Anna Lee, Frank Cellier, Donald Calthrop
Directed by Robert Stevenson

(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A scientist mocked for his theories, takes in a young female assistant, who helps him prove that he can switch the brain of one creature to another, but she fears he's too eager to experiment on man. 

This is one of Karloff's first "mad doctor" films, predating the series he made in America for Columbia, and it may well be the best of them, with good performances and fine photography by Jack Cox.  Karloff made this for Gaumont-British and Gainsborough, and their production values are excellent, with cleverly designed machines for Karloff to operate.  Calthrop was a favorite performer for me, a wheelchairbound patient who delivers many witty and denigrating asides, and also Cellier whose performance as a stuffed shirt gives way to another different role to play.  Karloff himself gives a worthy portrayal, riveting to watch, as his frustration gives way to surrendering to evil in tightly-framed closeups.  We have here a very good horror film, among the top entries of the era.      

Corridors Of Blood (1958)

Starring Boris Karloff, Betta St. John, Christopher Lee, Finlay Currie, Adrienne Corri
Directed by Robert Day
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A surgeon tries to develop a gas to eliminate pain during surgery, but when his first demonstration of the gas fails, his desperate attempts to perfect the gas lead him down the road to ruin.

One of a pair of films producer Richard Gordon made with Karloff in Britain in the 1950s, it's a really well done docudrama with horrific elements, although my research on Wikipedia seems to indicate Jean Scott Rogers' screenplay fashions Karloff's character as not any one historical figure, but as an amalgam of scientists who all played a role in the development of anesthesia.  Karloff is excellent, and what a supporting cast!  Fans of the Hammer studio will be glad to see so many actors who worked on their films including Lee, Francis De Wolff, Francis Matthews, and Yvonne Romain, among a stable of other respected British character actors.  The film is well paced and staged with a number of impactful dramatic scenes, and convincing period sets add to an authentic feel.  This was the first appearance of horror icons Karloff and Lee together on film, although Lee's horror career was really just getting started.

Bedlam (1946)

Starring Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Billy House, Richard Fraser, Glen Vernon
Directed by Mark Robson
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

In 18th century England, a cruel and vindictive man runs an asylum for the insane, and maneuvers an intelligent and sharp-tongued lady who scorns him into being committed there. 

Karloff stars as Master Sims, the operator of the asylum known as "Bedlam" in this fine period drama from producer Val Lewton.  He and co-star Lee, who both give excellent performances, are gifted with a fine script from Robson & Lewton, giving them poetic dialogue befitting the lords and ladies of the period.  Lee's character of Nell Bowen, the protege of a powerful lord, who loses her position and her freedom, is very unlike most leading ladies of cinema in her frankness and her independence, and is a favorite of my friend Dominique Lammsies, who calls her a memorable anti-heroine of cinema.  The scenes within the asylum, in which Bowen encounters the poorly cared for inmates are well done, with many of the patients clearly misunderstood by the standards of the time, and well-acted by the likes of Ian Wolfe, Jason Robards, Joan Newton, and Robert Clarke.  The art direction, costuming, and set design are equally fine at capturing the period and its excesses and cruelties.

The Comedy Of Terrors (1963)

Starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Joyce Jameson, Basil Rathbone
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The depraved director of a mortuary, when business dries up, decides to murder those near death and take over their funeral arrangements, but he runs into complications when a corpse won't stay dead.

An American International release of a black comedy scripted by Richard Matheson, the picture returns Price, Lorre, and Karloff, from the similarly darkly comedic The Raven, with Price playing one of his most caddish roles.  As Waldo Trumbull, Price berates his wife (Jameson), continually tries to poison his father-in-law (Karloff), and cruelly mistreats his lone employee (Lorre), whom he enlists in his murder schemes.  Matheson and director Tourneur stage all sorts of comic routines throughout the picture, (some of which worked for me and some of which didn't), including wordplay, fast motion, slapstick, and Joyce Jameson's terrible singing.  However, the picture really takes on a new energy when Rathbone's cataleptic John F. Black is supposedly dispatched, but keeps returning to life, and seeks revenge sword and axe in hand on Trumbull and his associates while quoting Shakespeare's Macbeth.   The ensemble performs well together, but for me this isn't up to the level of their performances for AIP in The Raven or Tales Of Terror.

Abbott And Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1953)

Starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff, Craig Stevens, Helen Westcott
Directed by Charles Lamont
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A pair of bumbling policemen in 19th century London are kicked off the force, and try to get their jobs back by catching the murdering monster on the loose, actually Dr. Jekyll's gruesome alter ego.

This entry in the "Abbott & Costello Meet The Monsters" series of films pulls its villain not from the Universal horror library, but the classic Robert Louis Stevenson story of good and evil, although there's not much of Stevenson's tale that makes it to the screen.  Karloff is welcome as Jekyll, but isn't given the opportunity to give a layered performance to Hyde as well, with a stuntman (Eddie Parker, according to IMDB) in a grotesque mask, playing all the Hyde scenes as a mute brute in topcoat and hat.  Most of the gags and routines for Abbott & Costello are ones we've seen before, and none really elicit any laughter on my part today, but the film is lively paced and the sets and costumes convincing of the period.  I still had fun with it, even if it's not one of the better A & C monster outings.

Arsenic And Old Lace (1962)

Starring Tony Randall, Boris Karloff, Dorothy Stickney, Mildred Natwick, Tom Bosley
Directed by George Schaefer
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A drama critic on the cusp of his engagement discovers his aunts have been poisoning gentlemen callers and burying them in the cellar.

A television production from Hallmark Hall Of Fame of the famous play brings back its star Boris Karloff to reprise his role as the criminal Jonathan Brewster.  Although some twenty years have passed since Karloff originally played the role, the makeup job on him is excellent, making scenes with Randall and Karloff playing brothers believable despite the fact that Karloff was well into his seventies.  The two of them are very good in their roles, although Randall probably won't make anyone forget the memorable mugging of Cary Grant in the earlier film version.  The rest of the supporting cast is solid as well, with Stickley and future Happy Days patriarch Tom Bosley the standouts as Aunt Abby and Cousin Teddy.  Although the production seems content to confine itself to the play's one standing set for the most part, and there's not enough music utilized, Schaefer keeps things moving along well enough, and I for one, am glad that we have Karloff's performance captured on video, having missed out on the film version.  

Frankenstein 1970 (1958)

Starring Boris Karloff, Tom Duggan, Jana Lund, Don Barry, Charlotte Austin
Directed by Howard W. Koch
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A television crew films a special commemorating the 230th anniversary of Frankenstein at the ancestral castle, unaware that their host, the latest Baron Frankenstein, is planning the monster's rebirth.

Boris Karloff gives perhaps his hammiest performance, portraying Frankenstein's descendant with a hunched over gait and a twisted eye, who has gotten the TV crew (who knows how) to set him up with an atomic reactor with no questions asked, that he will use to resuscitate the monster.  And of course some murders for vital organs for the creature will be committed along the way.  You can't help but smile as he leers at his guests, and he's gifted with grandiose speeches that he utters with an evil relish.  There's more than a few logic gaps in the script by Richard Landau & George Worthing Yates, but I enjoyed the supporting cast, with Rudolph Anders as the friend who suspects what the Baron is doing but doesn't connect the dots until too late, and Norbert Schiller as the likable but too loyal butler Shuter.  This film isn't in the same league with Karloff's showcases as the Monster, but it's certainly an entertaining romp.

The Ghoul (1933)

Starring Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger, Dorothy Hyson, Anthony Bushell
Directed by T. Hayes Hunter
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A dying Egyptologist wants to be buried in his own sarcophagus and tomb along with a valuable jewel that will grant him entrance to the Egyptian afterlife, but several others covet the jewel.

Karloff co-stars with some fine British thespians in a horror film released quickly on the heels of the actor's success as The Mummy, and although the Egyptian-focused plot doesn't offer as memorable a part for Karloff, it's still a fine film in its own right.  The lighting and cinematography by Gunther Krampf is very well-done, highlighted by some eerie closeups of Karloff and Thesiger in particular.  The music score is dark and moody, with drumbeats echoing Karloff's footsteps when he returns from the grave.  The film's sets and art direction are impressive, from the castle-like home of Karloff's character to the Egyptian tomb he constructs for himself.  Although the comic relief offered by Kathleen Harrison's interactions with mysterious Egyptian Harold Huth doesn't add much to the film, she is afforded an admirable chance to stand up for herself at plot's end.  I really enjoyed the picture and the chance to see all these actors together- in addition to Karloff, Hardwicke, and Thesiger, Ralph Richardson also has a key role as a bicycle-riding minister.

Isle Of The Dead (1945)

Starring Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Helene Thimig
Directed by Mark Robson
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

When a wartime plague infests a Greek island, a general quarantines the island and tries to protect its residents, but then begins to believe that a young woman is a creature of evil causing the deaths.

I wouldn't categorize this as one of the best of producer Val Lewton's horror films, nor one of the lesser ones, but I don't think it quite hits the mark like Cat People or I Walked With A Zombie does.  It is a handsome film to look at, and Ardel Wray's screenplay has a definite poetic beauty to it within the rhythm of the dialogue, enhanced by Jack MacKenzie's shadowy photography.  I just think the filmmakers don't do enough to convince the audience the vorvolaka (the evil creature of Greek legend that Drew's character is accused of being), could really exist.  Karloff's presence in the film is appreciated, but he's not showcased in a way to make his character seem really dangerous, or create genuine suspense.  I do think the actresses in the film come off well and have some very worthy moments, but the borrowing of some Edgar Allan Poe material to create the film's climax seems ill-advised, and disconnected from the rest of the story.

House Of Frankenstein (1944)

Starring Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., J. Carrol Naish, John Carradine, Anne Gwynne
Directed by Erle C. Kenton
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A mad scientist and his hunchback assistant escape prison and in a journey to find Dr. Frankenstein's records, encounter Dracula, The Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's monster.

Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, in which Universal's classic monsters met for the first time, and had a battle to the death, spawned this follow-up which returned Chaney as The Wolf Man, and substituted Glenn Strange as the Monster, while adding John Carradine's Dracula, Boris Karloff as the mad Dr. Niemann, and J. Carrol Naish as the hunchback Daniel.  However, despite having three of the classic monsters in the film, none of them fight each other this time around, while they are rather showcased in individual vignettes.  I liked the Dracula sequence the best with Carradine bringing his own distinguished take on the vampiric Count.  Karloff is very welcome in returning to the series after a five year absence, and Naish adds another unique character to his characterizations in the lovelorn hunchback who loses Elena Verdugo's gypsy Ilonka to Chaney's Larry Talbot.  I was left a little wanting for the three key monsters never really getting together, but there's lots going on to prevent any viewer boredom,  and it's good to see plenty of characters actors from Universal's stable on hand as the various villagers, police inspectors, burgomasters, and torch-bearing mob participants.  Hans Salter and Paul Dessau's music score also adds some distinctive themes and a complete new musical tapestry to the Frankenstein series, a change from the culling of old material from the Universal library for past productions.

The Old Dark House (1932)

Starring Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Lilian Bond, Ernest Thesiger
Directed by James Whale
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After being caught in a terrible thunderstorm, a quintet of characters seek shelter at the Femm house, whose residents range from eccentric to downright dangerous. 

Director James Whale and his star Boris Karloff follow up Frankenstein with this tale of the bizarre Femm family who inhabit a gloomy manor with a fearsome butler (Karloff) and terrible secrets locked away upstairs.  However, it's not just a horror movie, although it has its share of screams and shocks, but also possesses romance, quirky humor, and commentary on society and the pursuit of happiness.  I've seen the film twice, perhaps three times, and each time discover something new I failed to notice before.  This time I was captivated by the visual sequence in which actress Gloria Stuart is tormented by mirror images of the characters she's met that have frightened her most,  conveyed by Arthur Edeson's photography and Clarence Kolster's editing.  Those coming to the film to see Karloff as another monster will find that, but be left with so much more, and truthfully the picture's most terrifying sequence may be Douglas's climactic meeting with Saul Femm (played by Brember Wills), whose initial meekness hides something far more sinister.

The Walking Dead (1936)

Starring Boris Karloff, Ricardo Cortez, Edmund Gwenn, Marguerite Churchill, Warren Hull
Directed by Michael Curtiz
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A gang of racketeers frame an innocent man for their murder of a judge, but after the man is executed, a scientist is able to bring him back to life.

One of Warner Brothers' few early ventures into horror, the picture is masterfully directed by Curtiz, and perfectly framed around another memorable performance by Karloff.  Believable as a decent man wrongfully convicted and looking for work after his prison sentence, Karloff's John Ellman is noble and a gentleman, a fine reflection of Karloff's craft and his own personality.  His performance changes but is just as expert after his resurrection, to a man silent and almost zombie-like, with one eye tearful and another simmering with hatred when he recognizes the men who did him in.  Standing somewhat off kilter as he walks like a somnambulist, the role shows off his talents, and it's a shame Warners weren't able to showcase him in more features like this while he was under contract.  He's supported by Gwenn as the well-meaning scientist who nevertheless is ready to take terrible risks to secure Karloff's knowledge of the afterworld, and Cortez, wonderfully slimy as the attorney behind Ellman's framing.  Curtiz and his crew also enhance the story and its themes with a number of atmospheric touches, from expressionistic lighting in the prison, to a violent thunderstorm during a showdown in a gangster's apartment, to the haunting image of Karloff wandering among the graves of a cemetery.

Doomed To Die (1940)

Starring Boris Karloff, Marjorie Reynolds, Grant Withers, William Stelling, Catherine Craig
Directed by William Nigh
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

When her friend's fiancee is accused of the murder of a shipping magnate, reporter Bobbie Logan calls in Mr. Wong to try and clear the young man. 

This was Boris Karloff's last go-round as Hugh Wiley's Oriental detective, and I found the script of the mystery, with a wealth of suspects and a few clever ideas, somewhat engaging before a hasty conclusion wraps things up without really spelling out the murderer's motive.  Static camerawork and too-dark scenery doesn't help matters, but there are some notable character actors in the cast, including Angelo Rossitto of Freaks in a brief appearance as a midget newsboy.  I found the film to fare no better or worse than Karloff's other Wong films, although the actor doesn't have much to do here, so overall I would rank this near the bottom of his filmography.  

The Ape (1940)

Starring Boris Karloff, Maris Wrixon, Gene O'Donnell, Dorothy Vaughan, Gertrude Hoffman
Directed by William Nigh
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A doctor turns to murder in the guise of an escaped circus gorilla to obtain the spinal fluid he needs to cure a young woman's paralysis.

One of Boris Karloff's films for Poverty Row studio Monogram Pictures, the movie is certainly not a favorite of many compared to his other classic films, but I'm rather fond of it.  Playing a kindly doctor who is ironically hated by the townspeople due to his mysterious experiments and untrue rumors about him, I found his performance quite noble and more than adequate.  The rest of the cast isn't as fine of course although I liked Maris Wrixon as his young patient, and Henry Hall as the folksy sheriff.  IMDB credits Ray Corrigan as the man in the gorilla costume, who certainly had a talent for playing apes, and it's a fairly convincing costume for the period.  The film stretches believability more than once, and the story wasn't always coherent, but the print I saw had a lot of jump cuts, so it may have been edited quite a bit. I enjoyed the music, and in general found the film a lot more watchable than some of Karloff's other low-budget efforts.

The Fatal Hour (1940)

Starring Boris Karloff, Marjorie Reynolds, Grant Withers, Charles Trowbridge, Frank Puglia
Directed by William Nigh
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Captain Street counts on the aid of Mr. Wong to unravel the murder of a fellow cop who was drowned while investigating a smuggling ring.

Oriental detectives seemed all the rage in the 1930s and 1940s, with Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto, and Boris Karloff's Mr. Wong all solving mysteries in their own series of pictures.  The Mr. Wong series, distributed by Poverty Row studio Monogram Pictures, had Karloff, but had probably the lowest production values of all the series. Although it's difficult to imagine the British horror icon as passing for Chinese today, the actor had been cast in exotic roles for some time before, notably as the sinister Fu Manchu, and to his credit gives a dignified performance uncouched in stereotype.   This installment is an at times boring affair, with long drawn out scenes and static photography, although I liked it more than other films in the series, due to the presence of Trowbridge, one of my favorite character actors, and a fairly clever plot device establishing a murderer's alibi late in the film.

The Terror (1963)

Starring Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Richard Miller, Dorothy Neumann
Directed by Roger Corman
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After being separated from his regiment, a French soldier falls for a beautiful young woman, whom he learns is supposed to have died over twenty years ago.

The pairing of horror icon Karloff with Nicholson early in his career, who has since become an icon in his own right, sounds more attractive than it unfortunately is.  This is a low budget production with a dreary and meandering story, borrowing Karloff and the sets from Corman's filming of The Raven, which is a far better movie than this one.  It does have an excellent atmospheric music score from Ronald Stein to its credit, and Karloff and Nicholson are quite watchable.  However, they deserve a better showcase than this one.  Corman often worked wonders on a shoestring budget, and there's some worthy elements scattered throughout the picture, but they're just not integrated well enough to call this entertaining.  Still, at the very least, Peter Bogdanovich was able to reuse the footage from this movie in his excellent film Targets, which contains one of Karloff's best final performances.

The Black Castle (1952)

Starring Richard Greene, Boris Karloff, Stephen McNally, Paula Corday, Lon Chaney Jr.
Directed by Nathan Juran
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An English adventurer arranges to visit the castle of a sadistic count he suspects of murdering his closest friends, and falls for the count's innocent young wife. 

Following in the footsteps of The Strange Door, that film's screenwriter Jerry Sackheim presents another costume drama with horror elements, and like the prior film, succeeds best with the film's villain, Count Karl Von Bruno, portrayed by Stephen McNally.  McNally gives the eye-patched Count a memorable sinister characterization, but there's not much depth to Sackheim's story with a plot proceeding rather by-the-numbers in following similar adventures we've seen before.  Still, there are some exciting perils for Greene to face, including a savage black leopard and a pitful of crocodiles, and Irving Glassberg's photography and the fine supporting cast are worth checking out.  Karloff and Chaney only play minor roles, with Chaney playing a savage mute like those he would later bring to life in The Black Sleep and Indestructible Man.

The Strange Door (1951)

Starring Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, Sally Forrest, Richard Stapley, William Cottrell
Directed by Joseph Pevney
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A cruel French lord holds a young scoundrel in his castle with a vengeful scheme in mind to marry him to the daughter of the brother he despises. 

Based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, this is something of a curious relic, a costume drama with horror elements, produced by Universal Pictures five years after ending their famous series of horror films.  If nothing else, it's a fabulous showcase for Laughton, who is perfectly cast as the vile Sire de Maletroit, and seems to relish the evil character, although the film doesn't quite follow through on a number of opportunities to make him really depraved.  I've read the short story, and there's a beauty in its language that isn't successfully captured in Jerry Sackheim's screenplay, and the sequence in which its young people fall in love, although intact in the film, is not particularly well acted or presented.  Nevertheless, the movie does offer a fun adventure with some worthy dark moments and fine character turns by Alan Napier and Paul Cavanagh, although Karloff seems miscast as an aged knife-brandishing servant, a role unworthy of his talents.

The Climax (1944)

Starring Boris Karloff, Susanna Foster, Turhan Bey, Gale Sondergaard, Thomas Gomez
Directed by George Waggner
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A talented young opera singer lands a coveted role with a prestigious opera house, but the company's psychotic doctor has plans to silence her voice forever. 

This attempt to recapture the success of Universal's remake of Phantom Of The Opera released the prior year, was per Wikipedia a box office disappointment, and it's not difficult to see why.  Although the film returns Foster from the previous production, alongside Karloff and a talented cast, and features some pleasing music, it doesn't offer a story anywhere near as dynamic as Gaston Leroux's classic tale.  While Karloff is an inspired choice to follow Claude Rains' Phantom, the actor is not able to do much to enliven a standard psychological thriller plot.  The film is especially disappointing considering the craftsmen behind the camera- director George Waggner and screenwriter Curt Siodmak both worked on The Wolf Man, but aren't able to work the same magic here.