Night Monster

Plot synopsis:
In a small town bordering a swampy region, unexplained murders and rumors of mysterious happenings surround the swamp-based home of the reclusive but respected Curt Ingston (Morgan). Ingston uses a wheelchair, and has invited to his home the three doctors who were trying to cure him when his paralysis set in. Already in the household are his grim-humored butler Rolf; a lecherous chauffeur, Lawrie; a mannish housekeeper, Miss Judd; an Eastern mystic, Agar Singh; and Ingston's allegedly mentally-ill sister, Margaret. Outside, the gate is watched by a shrivelled old hunchback called Torque.
Coincident with the arrival of the three male physicians is the appearance of a lady psychiatrist, Dr. Lynn Harper, summoned secretly by Margaret to prove she is not insane and help her secure freedom from the control of Ingston and Miss Judd. She arrives accompanied by a neighbor: mystery-writer Dick Baldwin, who rescued her after her car broke down in the swamp. Neither Ingston nor Miss Judd welcome her presence, but must contend with keeping her overnight until her car can be repaired.
Following dinner, at which Ingston's conviction that the three doctors are directly responsible for his current condition becomes evident, the party witnesses an exhibition of materialization of an Egyptian skeleton by Agar Singh. Dr. Harper is forbidden to meet with Margaret. Then, one by one, the doctors are frightfully killed as they prepare for bed. Suspecting Ingston, Dick and police Captain Beggs confront him in his room, but discover he is not paralyzed, but a quadruple amputee. Suspicion then falls on Lawrie, who was last seen driving a murdered ex-employee of the household back to town; but he too winds up dead.
Ultimately, Dick confronts the killer outside the estate as he menaces Lynn, and discovers it is Ingston after all: by studying under Agar Singh, he has learned how to materialize arms and legs, hands and feet for himself, long enough to accomplish his evil deeds. As Dick struggles with him to the death, Margaret sets fire to the unholy house, committing suicide while taking the malevolent Miss Judd with her. As the house burns to the ground, Dick and Lynn are saved by Agar Singh, when Singh shoots Ingston. Captain Beggs escapes the burning house.

Tags: insanity, mystery, murder

Review:
Second billed Lionel Atwill also plays a small role, but it's the one doctor he's best suited for, getting good scene stealing mileage out of his exasperated reactions to Francis Pierlot's gland obsessed fellow physician.
Tending the wealthy and powerful Kurt Ingston in his time of illness, the three have left him 'a helpless cripple, a misshapen thing that must hide even from the servants in the house.' Ralph Morgan is in top form as the wheelchair bound owner of Ingston Towers, with hilarious support from Leif Erickson as the lecherous chauffeur Laurie, even daring to flirt with Doris Lloyd's icy housekeeper, whom he refers to as 'old frozen face.' Little used actress Janet Shaw enjoys one of her few major roles, as Millie Carson, the suspicious maid who abruptly quits without notice, but makes the fatal mistake of returning for her belongings after nightfall, becoming the first on screen victim of the prowling horror, to the eerie silence of the fog shrouded darkness.
Director Alfred Hitchcock was preparing SHADOW OF A DOUBT at Universal that summer, and screened this picture because he wanted to cast Janet as a burned out waitress in his film ('I'd just die for a ring like that').
Hitchcock was duly impressed by what he saw in NIGHT MONSTER, and was amazed that it was shot with great style and pace in just 11 days by producer-director Ford Beebe, who had just graduated from serial work.
Despite the disappointment for some Lugosi buffs, this fan has long championed its qualities to remain genuinely frightening even today, receiving its long awaited due as a Universal horror classic, a real ensemble piece where the entire cast stands out, a genuine chiller that featured prominently on Chiller Theater, perfect viewing in the dark at 2:00 in the morning..
Interesting "B" old dark house thriller about somebody or something killing people right and left at the estate of wealthy cripple Kurt Ingston (Ralph Morgan).
Night Monster is the best Universal Horror film of the 30s and 40s that was NOT about one of the Major Monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf-Man or Mummy).
Their financial success never mirrored that of its earliest successes, but films like The Night Monster showed that they still had the wherewithal to make classic, good horror yarns.
The Night Monster is really more of a mystery than a true horror film though the eerie, foggy atmosphere helps convey significant menace.
While maybe not one of Universal's brightest stars, The Night Monster is a good, entertaining film..
However, the problem for fans is Atwill is seen only in the first half hour of the film and Lugosi's character is so forgotten by the end that we have no idea if he escaped the house or burned within it!
In fact, it was the only time Lugosi got top billing in a Universal film other than Dracula!!!We must consider this - Lugosi would have had less screen time if he played Agor Singh.
I wish this film had cast Atwill as Ingston and Lugosi as Agor Singh.
I'm a mystery-film buff, and i can say without a shadow of a doubt that THIS films is my All-Time Fave "spooky mystery"......the music, Lugosi, shadows on the walls, a skeleton materialising in the library, the eerie swamp, etc make it EXTREMELY atmospheric and "nightmarish"!(In case you're wondering, my 2nd fav "Old House" film is "Dr. X").I remember watching this film on Sat. nites in the 60's, and having a hard time going to sleep afterward.
He invites all three of them to his creepy estate and says there are no hard feelings...but then the doctors start getting killed and his house is full of suspicious characters.I caught this on late night TV when I was a kid and remember being pleasurably spooked by it.
The use of atmosphere in terms of foggy nights, shadows on the wall, creepy facial expressions (this is why "The Ring" was such a hit), creaky doors, puddles of blood, a skeleton materializing in a room, Bela Lugosi looking mysterious, frogs/crickets coming to a sudden silence, sinister residents of "The Towers" and more, make this one of the best shockers of the 1940s.Ever spook yourself in a darkened room ?
In any case, this movie does the same thing to an extent by creating an atmosphere of overwhelming dread by tuning to the subconscious anxieties (such as the proverbial "things that go bump in the night" ) which exist in all of us.I am a great Bela Lugosi fan and even though he plays a red herring butler in this film, through the use of creepy facial expressions, he adds to the nightmare quality of this film.
Some fans think he would have been better off in the Angar Singh role (as he played in another great film, "Night of Terror" 1933), but he is fine as the sinister butler this time.
"Night Monster" is a glittering gem of chilling beauty that supplies the juice and frission and performances that make "Cat People" look like "Ishtar." Veteran director Ford Beebe had only two weeks to whip his crew of Grade A technicians and Hollywood's greatest B actors into shape.
The two main stars, Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill, don't have nearly so much to do as the lesser known players but they're a welcome sight all the same.It's the tale of Kurt Ingston, a wealthy, crippled man, very well played by Ralph Morgan, who invites a trio of doctors who just happened to have treated him and who failed to cure him of his paralysis.
Also on hand: an Indian mystic, Agor Singh; Ingston's sister, who looks young enough to be his daughter; his sister's soon to be boyfriend, Dick Baldwin; an amorous, toothpick chewing chauffeur and ladies man, Laurie; a female psychiatrist, Dr. Harper; and the standard issue (for the time) sinister housekeeper, Miss Judd.
There's a feeling of primal, encroaching evil at work in Night Monster that goes beyond the plot, the special effects,--good but hardly remarkable-- that seems to take hold of the entire movie, and which, as it approaches its climax, makes the film deliver the goods and then some by the time it's over..
I will just say that the miscasting of both Atwill and Lugosi keeps Night Monster from being the classic horror mystery it could have been instead of the entertaining but predictable film that it is..
Universal horror with Bela Lugosi playing a butler.
But the most important guest is a mysterious Indian mystic played by the very handsome and charismatic actor Nils Asther, who can control matter on a cosmic particle level and materialize stuff like that.
Not Creepy In This Day-And-Age. Thinking this was a horror movie (billed as such) and starring guys like Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill, I wound up disappointed.....even more so because this movie started off pretty well and had promise.
Bela Lugosi received top billing but became reduced to "supporting actor" status, cast in the thankless role of the butler of the household involved in the story.
Regardless, there is plenty to enjoy with "Night Monster." Unlike other horror films from "Universal," there is a genuine sense of mystery and intrigue.
NIGHT MONSTER (Universal, 1942), produced and directed by Ford Beebe, starring Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill, is more murder mystery than horror film regardless of what the title depicts and its leading players.
Lugosi and Atwill, resident horror stars for the studio, interestingly don't play mad scientists reviving the dead nor creating monsters, or pit against each other, but are actually its individual supporting players to the leading supporting actors.
The house of mystery contains residents as Rolf (Bela Lugosi), the butler; Laurie (Leif Erickson), the chauffeur; Margaret Ingston (Fay Helm) a young heiress led to believed to be insane by its domineering housekeeper, Miss Sarah Judd (Doris Lloyd), who cleans off blood stains off the carpet; Torgue (Cyril Delevanti), the gate keeper; Millie Carson (Janet Shaw), a maid who quits due to strange occurrences; Curt Ingston (Ralph Morgan), the owner and old man whose paralyzed condition from an operation by several doctors has led him to become a helpless recluse.
Arriving at the estate are Lynne Harper (Irene Hervey), a psychiatrist sent for by Margaret to prove to others that she is not insane; Dick Baldwin (Don Porter), a mystery writer; and doctors King (LIonel Atwill), Timmons (Frank Reicher) and Phipps (Francis Pierlot), the men responsible for Ingston's bed-ridden condition, also enter the scene.
Also in the cast is Eddy Waller playing Jeb Harmon.Regardless of Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill receiving star billing, the film basically belongs to others in the cast, especially Ralph Morgan.
For a Bela Lugosi movie, NIGHT MONSTER is definitely better structured than those cheaply made productions he did at the same time over at Monogram Studio (1941-1944)s.
"Night Monster" is a minor but effective horror film from "Universal."There aren't many well known people in the cast except Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill.
Night Monster (1942) ** 1/2 (out of 4)A paralized man (Ralph Morgan) calls to his home several doctors who are soon being murdered.
NIGHT MONSTER is often called a Universal horror film but there are much more "mystery" elements than your average horror film.
I thought the direction here was somewhat lacking and there really wasn't a very good pace throughout the film.With that said, the story itself is an interesting one and for the most part I thought the mystery played out extremely well and I thought the film managed to keep you guessing as to who was committing the murders.
Whipped together in just eleven days, director Ford Beebe created one of Universal's great fright films: "Night Monster.".
The setting is the remote Ingston Towers, inhabited by the crippled and reclusive Ralph Morgan, his emotionally distraught daughter, Fay Helm, an over-protective house keeper, Doris Lloyd, a sleazy chauffeur, Leif Erickson, and a too-talkative maid, Janet Shaw.
Although Bela Lugosi is top-billed, it is cringe-worthy to see him doomed to play the butler's role--which means he bulges his eyes, smiles strangely and is like wallpaper in terms of acting.
Ralph Morgan plays millionaire recluse Kurt Ingston, who was left a hopeless cripple by the bungling of three doctors(played by Lionel Atwill, Frank Reicher, and Francis Pierlot) who are nonetheless invited to his mansion in the swamps.
In fact all the doctors but Irene Harvey start dying off as well as other guests and staff of the household.Universal Pictures in this Gothic horror story with no real monsters as such spent a lot of this budget on getting a slew of players who specialize and/or have played some creepy villains.
This one is full of atmosphere: spooky old house, fog, croaking frogs, chirping crickets, Lugosi and Atwill's presence, a man without limbs, a killer on the loose, supernatural occult elements, a mystery to solve and more.
This is one Universal Horror Classic that you do not want to miss.It's too bad that Bela Lugosi's role was not bigger but then again his part as a creepy butler made the film all that much more fun to watch.
Lionel Atwill is just as scary to watch.The climax of the film is a real treat as the mystery is solved, the murderer reveled.
Night Monster is one of those mystery-chillers that Universal made in the 1940's.Doctors looking after wheelchair bound Kurt Ingston are murdered but no body seems close to finding out who the murderer is.
Kingston later discovers he can walk...This movie has a very creepy atmosphere throughout and instead of the usual thunderstorm in this one, we get fog.Now to the cast, which is lead by horror veteran Bela Lugosi (Dracula) as the butler and he is joined by several stars who have appeared in sci-fi/horror movies: Lionel Atwill (House of Dracula, The Ghost of Frankenstein), Leif Erickson (Invaders From Mars) and Frank Reicher (King Kong).
Ingston is played well by Ralph Morgan, brother of The Wizard of Oz star Frank Morgan.Night Monster is worth seeing if you get the chance.
The rich old man in the film is played by Ralph Morgan.
Night Monster was originally released as the B movie support to The Mummy's Tomb, which is something of an injustice: it's easily the best of the two movies.The story concerns a series of murders at Ingston Towers, home of the mutilated Kurt Ingston (Ralph Morgan).
- Swarmi (Nils Asther), a skulking Butler (a top-billed Bela Lugosi), a lecherous Chauffeur (Leif Erickson), a domineering companion (Doris Lloyd) and three medical men summoned by Ingston to tend his wounded body, among them Lionel Atwill.The spooky location of Pollard Slew is used to good effect in several eerie outdoor sequences in which an unseen killer stalks his prey; and director Ford Beebe keeps things moving briskly, and even brings off a sequence involving the transmigration of matter as a demonstration of the Swarmi's powers.
But as the killings mount up a psychiatrist (Irene Hervey) and an author friend of Ingston's (Don Porter) begin to unravel the mystery.Night Monster is straight out of the old dark house school of horrors; but yep, there is a supernatural explanation for all the goings on.
It's not as famous as some of the other Universal Horror pictures but Night Monster is well worth hunting out..
Thankfully, the Universal Monster Legacy and the Bela Lugosi Collections have introduced me to some elusive titles but, still, there are a few which, perhaps because of their obvious inferiority, are still sadly missing and the film under review here is just one of them First things first: while Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill never quite enjoyed the (well-deserved) renown Boris Karloff got from his horror performances - and let's not forget that both of them were somewhat on the skids at the time this film was made due to private scandals - I wasn't expecting to see them appearing in such thankless roles, especially since their names were shown above the title in the credits!
I guess anyone who engages Lugosi as a butler deserves all he gets (it's also amusing to me that despite living in America for almost 30 years, Lugosi never managed to drop his very thick Hungarian accent which, I suppose, is one of his charms) and Atwill is an impatient surgeon who's mercilessly picked on by one of his colleagues (for no reason I could clearly discern) and whose untimely departure from the "old dark house" of the movie brings about his deathwith more than half the film yet to unfold!
Some of these characters were engaging, especially Nils Ashter's spiritualist, Leif Erickson's boorish chauffeur, Robert Homans' investigating constable and Don Porter's whodunnit writer but some of the others (like Fay Helm's disturbed Margaret, Doris Lloyd's scheming housekeeper and, fatally, Ralph Morgan's crippled master of the house) were boring or downright annoying.
Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill both get star treatment, although neither popular Universal studios actor has so strong a role to earn such honors.
Lugosi is stuck with the butler-who-may-know-more-than-he-is-letting-on role while Atwill is a haughty scientist who thinks highly of himself and his talents as a doctor.
The Universal studios sets are well utilized and director Beebe maintains enough atmosphere to make NIGHT MONSTER a decent enough little chiller which works best as a developing mystery..
So-So. This creep-fest from Universal allegedly stars Bela Lugosi & Lionel Atwill, but Atwill gets bumped off early on and Bela as the butler has little to do but lurk around suspiciously.The plot, such as it is, involves a series of mysterious stranglings in and about the requisite spooky old house owned by a crippled bitter old man.There's an Indian mystic, a wise-ass writer (Don Porter), a creepy housekeeper, obnoxious chauffeur, an idiot sheriff, and various other characters milling about.Although I never saw or read about this movie before seeing it Saturday night on Svengoolie's TV show, I figured out the plot by the end of the first reel and you will too, if you chance to see it.But it was fun to watch and a not unpleasant way to pass an idle hour or so...
The set-up is interesting: invalid Ralph Morgan's Kurt Ingston has his doctors visit his mansion on a foggy night, and then they, and others, start turning up dead.
The servants, like Singh, are loyal to Ingston (with the exception of the murdered Millie and Laurie).Bela Lugosi's role as an ominous butler personifies the creepy tone in Night Monster.
He might have made a more interesting Ingston than Ralph Morgan; in Invisible Ghost, another murder mystery from the same era, Lugosi plays an eccentric patriarch character very effectively.
A nice who-done-it directed by Ford Beebe and said to have been filmed in only 11 days.Other players include: Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwell, Frank Reicher, Nils Asther, Lief Erickson, Don Porter and Doris Lloyd..
Lugosi is lost in an actual supporting 'butler' role while Atwill steals the film's plot until his character is murdered off.
Frail rich recluse Kurt Ingston (well played by Ralph Morgan) invites the three doctors who turned him into a hopeless cripple to his remote desolate mansion in the swamps so they can get their just desserts.
This film further benefits from sound acting by a sturdy cast, with stand-out contributions by the always great Bela Lugosi as stern and sinister butler Rolf, Lionel Atwill as the pompous Dr. King, Leif Erikson as smarmy cad chauffeur Laurie, Irene Hervey as charming psychiatrist Dr. Lynne Harper, Don Porter as dashing writer Dick Baldwin, Nils Asther as exotic mentalist Agor Singh, Fay Helm as Ingston's neurotic sister Margaret, and Doris Lloyd as snippy housekeeper Ms. Judd.
There's the crippled patriarch (Ralph Morgan), a Mrs. Danvers type housekeeper (Doris Lloyd), a sinister doctor (Lionel Atwill), a dour butler (Bela Lugosi, repeating the role he had already done in "The Gorilla" and would later repeat in "One Body Too Many"), the heroine (Irene Hervey, taking on the role usually given to Evelyn Ankers), hero (Leif Erickson) and gloomy spinster (Fay Helm).