The 1930s sorta-horror oddball that features Lionel Barrymore in drag for most of the film. He’s escaped from prison after his old dirtbag business partners framed him for robbery. Now, Lionel wants revenge. His escape partner happens to be a scientist who’s figured out how to shrink people down to about five inches tall (an idea intended to stretch out the world’s food supply!). The only problem: When the scientist shrinks people, their brains no longer work right. They don’t even move. They just lay there like my ex-girlfrie
nd. SOMEHOW though, these shrunken people obey TELEPATHIC COMMANDS and will stand up and do pretty much anything for anyone who concentrates hard enough. Our scientist considers this to be a major flaw in his formula, but Lionel figures out how to use these little remote control people to terrorize his enemies.
None of it makes a lick of sense, but it’s entertaining late night viewing and it leads up to a surprising tearjerker ending. It’s one of director Todd Browning’s last films. One of the writers is Erich von Stroheim, during his lean years when he was a script doctor at MGM.