The Corpse Vanishes (1942)

corpse-vanishesSomeone keeps kidnapping young brides who mysteriously collapse unconscious at the altar during their weddings. Bela Lugosi’s in this so you know he’s responsible. He’s a mad scientist who’s figured out how his 80 year old wife can keep the looks and health of a 25 year old, but this method needs victims. He kidnaps youthful hotties and then takes a syringe and extracts something from them—the movie never explains what exactly—that he then passes on to the wife. The film follows a spunky female reporter (Luana Walters) who tries to get to the bottom of it all.

This Monogram Pictures cheapie is retarded plot-wise and nothing special overall, but worthwhile if you merely enjoy watching Bela Lugosi. One of Lugosi’s lab assistants here is dwarf actor Angelo Rossitto who shows up in movies from the silent era on up to the 1980s. I think I first saw him in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, but he’s also in Freaks.