This is a collection of minor movies with a single exception. Boris Karloff was a great actor, and when paired with Bela Lugosi a magnetic screen presence they made some beautiful movie music indeed. They don't get paired save in one flick, but it's still fun.
The Walking Dead is a great old horror flick. It offers up a very sympathetic Boris as a felon drawn into an underworld scheme to murder an honest judge. Karloff's character is convicted and executed for a crime he didn't commit, but thanks to the science of Edmund Gwynn he gets a new lease on life though his connection to the grave seems most potent indeed. Karloff's character of Ellman here becomes an avenging angel of sorts who seems to have God's blessing to return from the darkness and wreak revenge on those who plotted against him. Though he never lays a hand on any of them, he nonetheless has his revenge. It's a surprisingly tense movie and Boris has never been better.
Frankenstein 1970 is a fun bit of fluff from the 50's and offers up a much older Boris as the grandson of the infamous Baron Frankenstein. Of course he's still involved in the family business and uses the presence of an American TV show cast and crew to both finance and supply more personal donations to his evil cause. The movie is a bit slow, but it's got a solid cast and while some accuse Boris of overacting in this one, I loved his scene chewing a lot. There are few scares in this one but some interesting twists on the classic tale nonetheless.
Zombies on Broadway has an outstanding title and it has Bela Lugosi, so I'm going to watch it. But this one has quite a bit of material by the Abbott & Costello wannabe team of comedians here and too little Bela. Bela is good but needs much more screen time. There are some pretty good zombies here though, the guy from the classic Val Lewton movie is on hand. But the humor ain't much to laugh at aside from a great gimmick Bela has with a monkey and some filing drawers.
You'll Find Out starring Kay Kiser was the surprise of this set to me. I thought this would be the weakest offering but it's full of zest and having Boris, Bela and Peter Lorre all three on hand makes it worthy indeed. Kay Kiser is the star and he's not bad as an actor. The Kay Kiser band gets stranded at an old mansion filled with mystics and evil doctors and the usual haunted house shenanigans ensue. It's funny in places it supposed to be and mildly creepy where it ought to be. Karloff, Lugosi, and Lorre seem to play their parts straight and that helps immensely, letting the comedy come from the others. This movie was entertaining.
All four flicks are worth the time and for the price it's hard to go wrong.
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