Another Boris Karloff movie directed by Nick Grinde, another story about a well-meaning scientist who accidentally kills someone during an experiment that’s actually intended to heal people and increase human longevity.
Once again, Boris is sentenced to the gallows and once again, Boris winds up really murdering people when he’s pushed to the edge.
There’s always a twist though and in this one the makers borrow that old Hands of Orlac bullshit.
The wheels are set in motion when Boris is allowed to continue his work behind bars because the warden becomes convinced that there’s something to this B-movie science hibbly-bibbly that he keeps talking about. To make more life-extender serum though Boris needs some fresh blood so he asks fellow scientist Edward Van Sloan if he could sneak him a little bit from a condemned murderer about to be executed because, hey, what’s the harm in that? It’s like borrowing a nickel from a dead guy.
So, with a fresh batch of new and improved chemical whatever-the-fuck, Boris goes ahead and injects it into himself because he has nothing to lose.
And it works! Boris starts showing the vital signs of a man twenty years younger. Even his white hair is naturally turning darker.
More good news: The governer has decided pardon him. Right away, Boris goes from Death Row to tuxedo dinner parties faster than it’s taking me to write this terrible review.
And now the bad news: Because of that murderer’s blood that he shot into his veins, Boris now has UNCONTROLLABLE HOMICIDAL TENDENCIES. Aaaahh!! He inherited it from the killer! Aaaahh!!
It’s the dumbest plot device ever, but these old B-movies use it whenever they can. It’s only one reason why this is probably the worst of the films in which Karloff and Grinde flog this formula. The other main reason is the slow pace, even at a run time that barely squeaks above an hour.
Karloff is a rock solid professional onscreen and Grinde churns out this shit for Columbia Pictures’ B-wing, but I think both men were sick of the story at this point. They’d had enough of reviving this corpse. Time to lay it to rest.