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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Mad Ghoul (1943)

Starring David Bruce, Evelyn Ankers, George Zucco, Robert Armstrong, Turhan Bey
Directed by James Hogan
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A chemistry professor recreates an ancient poison gas that turns men into zombies, and uses it on his assistant, so he can pursue the young man's beautiful fiancee.

One of my favorites of the horror pictures Universal Pictures put out in the 1940s, this one features George Zucco in fine sinister form as the villain, well-supported by a cast of Universal's contract players, along with King Kong's Robert Armstrong, entertaining as a wisecracking reporter.  Although star David Bruce turns in a fairly non-descript performance as the monster of the film, the zombie makeup on him by Universal's Jack Pierce is nicely understated but effective.  But despite being third-billed, this is clearly Zucco's film, and he's a pleasure to watch as his evil character cleverly uses his silver tongue to advance his agenda.

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