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Human Monster (1940)

Dead Eyes of London
Dark Eyes of London


Cast:

Bela "I don't drink wine" Lugosi is Dr. Feodor Orloff / Prof. John Dearborn
Hugh Williams is Det. Insp. Larry Holt
Greta Gynt is Diana Stuart
Edmon Ryan is Lieutenant Patrick O'Reilly
Wilfred Walter is Jake
Alexander Field is Fred Grogan


What the box says:

Bela Lugosi stars as ainsane doctor who scams blind men for their insurance money, then drowns them in the Thames. Based on a 1920s crime thiller by popular author Edgar Wallace.


Plot:

Bela Lugosi’s eyes are superimposed over London Bridge. A body is found in the Thames River.

Scotland Yard has send detectives to track who were killed in the river. The chief sends Holt to pick up Grogan, an extradited forager, and greet Lieutenant Reilly, cop from Chicago.

Dr. Orloff makes a loan out to Henry Stewart who signs an IOU. He convinces Henry to see a blind homeless charity.

Detective Holt pays a visit on Dr. Orloff, who runs an insurance company. It turns that several of his policy holders have died by drowning.

At the blind home, Henry stops by. Dr. Orloff shows him around and explains about trying to occupational theory, etc…Orloff gets agitated when he learns Henry has a daughter returning from America. Jake, big blind guy, kills Henry.

At the dock, Detective Holt waits for Lt. Reilly and Grogan. Returning to Scotland Yard, Holt learns about a new river victim. Reilly goes with him to the scene. At the morgue, Diana identifies her father. Holt questions her.

A police plant trails Grogan around and discovers a secret message. Apparently, the code ties him to the Dr. Orloff. They examine the crime scene photos. Holt learns that Henry was drowned in tap water not Thames River water.

Grogan has forged several signatures for Orloff. Later, Holt and Reilly pay another visit to Orloff who reveals that Stewart left him as the beneficiary to handle a loan. .

Jake throws a radio into Grogan’s bathtub and electrocutes him. Reilly and Holt go to question Grogan and just find his dead body.

Orloff visits Diana. He offers to help her work as secretary at the blind home. Later, Holt will work with Diana to solve the case.

Dearborn, head of the blind home, talks to Diana and introduces her around to the residents.

Holt visits Dearborn and gets him to help him to decipher a partial Braille message.

Orloff goes to the medical wing, checks on Lou, who’s been trying sneak messages to warn people. Orloff electrocutes him to deafness.

Diana examines the records and finds something with her dad’s signature which was a fake. She heads out as Orloff enters. He orders Jake to take care of her.

Detective Holt learns Orloff lost his medical license. He realizes Orloff is using the insurance policies and is paying the benefits to fake people as Diana calls him.

Jake chases Diana. Holt rushes to her place. He wants to help get evidence against Orloff. Jake escapes.

Newspaper montage ensues for Dr. Orloff as the police are in action.

Blind home, Holt check the medical wing and learns that the patient, Lou can’t talk. He decides to have the questions transcribed for Lou to answer.

Diana realizes that Dearborn isn’t blind. Unmasking himself, he reveals himself to be Dr. Orloff. Straightjackets Diana. He drowns Lou in the tub in the medical wing. Leaves Diana to be handled by Jake. She tells him that Orloff killed his friend, Lou.

Finding Lou is gone, Jake rampages and charges Orloff who shoots him.

The cops rush in the home. Orloff sets off a smoke bomb but is wounded. Jake grabs Orloff and tosses him from the window to the river below. The police rush in.

As Reilly is leaving he says goodbye to Holt and Diana who have found each other.


What I say:

Human Monster sounds like a pure horror movie from the 1940s. However, it is a more mystery or thriller than what the 1940s movies are considered with re-animating the dead, vampires, werewolves, etc...For all intents and purposes, this movie is a pretty realistic for what it intends to do unlike something which involves more skinning that seen in a tannery: Silence of the Lambs which has somehow lost its copyright on realism. The Human Monster was based on some real events in London. Somehow, an insurance guy murdering his clients to collect policies on them doesn't sound to far-out when you think about how many people have been convicted of trying to collect on insurance fraud. One of the most famous film-noir movies has that idea as its main plot Double Indemnity besides the Absent-Minded Professor trying to woo the mother from Big Valley.

Typically, Bela is remembered for Dracula or White Zombie. He has always had enough sense to parody himself in movies like Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. Bela normally doesn't play characters that are so "normal." Bela Lugosi as a murdering doctor? Say it ain't so...Well, he is...Bela Lugosi is a murderous doctor who runs an insurance agency (that puny little car insurance lizard had better hide..) . He's not murdering in this movie to further his scientific research like in Apeman, Corpse Vanishes, Devil Bat, and Phantom Creeps.

The unmasking scene where Bela Lugosi reveals he has been hiding is a lot more startling than the typical unmasking scene in a Scooby Doo episode. In fact his disguised character was dubbed by another actor so the audience wouldn't immediately recognize him as Bela. Some actors could disguise or change their voices. However, like John Wayne, For lets face it, Bela Lugosi has a fairly distinctive voice.

Somehow, a hulking blind guy that is able to get around London with no trouble is hard to believe. Jake has to be the equivalent of an Igor-like henchman with the Frankenstein monster's strength. A blind strong man is given his kill orders in Braille. He manages to get around London and not be noticed. How does a blind guy knows that a radio is nearby to thrown for the bathtub electrocution scene? That is a great mystery. Well, Jake is never mentioned as being blind. However, he acts sighted when attacking Diana.

The unlikely police partners. We've seen so many different versions of the "Fish out of Water" partnersThough, Lt. O'Reilly from the USA could have been taken out of the story without any difference. Granted, he's there to extradite the forger and hang around to learn about Scotland Yard detecting skills. With O'Reilly around, we can have Holtz explain the wonders of deductive reasoning and along with just rolling ion his eyes to almost to tell other characters "Forgive O'Reilly, he's American." Reilly is ready to solve all problems with his fists or gun which is far more understandable in late action movies though those were typically the foreign cop coming to America.

Have too many movies convinced me that "Orloff's Insurance Agency" isn't the kind of name that inspires trust? I'm not sure if it's the "Orloff" or the "Insurance Agency" part that is the least trustworthy. One part is a name that is in a Frankenstein type of name. The other is one of the few things that are almost as repugnant as hearing about politicians. Of course, I'd never insult the proud name of Orloff by calling it a politican which would be too cruel.



3 1/2 NINJAS

Quotable Dialogue

"Brilliant but unbalanced..."
"I'm not a foreigner, I'm an a American."
"I want to communicate with his daughter."


Morals of the Story

Bela Lugosi has hypnotic eyes.
Handcuffing is fun.
Basket-weaving is a favorit habit for the blind.
Lightbulbs aren't shaped like human heads.


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