Well, this is a load of old cobblers. Universal get criticised for allowing their monster movies to run out of steam as the 1940s went on but the truth is, they were head and shoulders above Monogram stuff like this.
Interesting to note that John Carradine’s character Toby addressed Lugosi’s Dr. Marlowe as ‘master’ – given Carradine’s performance here, Bela was in a different league, even in this confused and ponderous plodder. Incredible then, that around this time, Carradine was chosen to replace Lugosi as Dracula for Universal.
It gives me no pleasure to see Bela, or George Zucco (here playing Nicholas), reduced to such slow moving fright-less nonsense. It’s not bad enough to be interesting, and the 62 minute run-time seems a lot longer, and is topped by a jokey last line that could politely be described as ‘meta’.
I love these old horror films usually, but this is a bit of a chore, I’m sorry to say. My score is 3 out of 10.