Novelist and social reformer James Rankin (Boris Karloff) is researching the notorious murderer known as the Haymarket Strangler, and believes that the man sent to the gallows for the crimes, Edward Styles, was innocent; he surmises that the real villain was surgeon Dr. Tennant, who carried out the autopsies on the victims, and who disappeared shortly after the execution of Styles was carried out.
To prove his theory, Rankin bribes a guard at Newgate Prison to let him dig up Styles' coffin, where he finds Tennant's missing scalpel - the murder weapon; when Rankin grasps the knife, he becomes the Haymarket Strangler, for he is actually Tennant, his murderous personality reawakened by the touch of the steel blade.
A showcase for Karloff, this film sees the actor in both his amiable gentleman persona, and as a drooling psychopath, which is a lot of fun for his fans - two Karloffs for the price of one! It's a fairly mediocre movie up to the point where Rankin finds the scalpel, after which it gets a whole lot more entertaining, Karloff chewing up the scenery (no mean feat seeing as he's not wearing his dentures). With his Tennant personality in control, Rankin is totally deranged, strangling and slashing poor showgirl Pearl (the gorgeous Vera Day), killing his wife Barbara, and almost doing the same to his daughter Lily (Diane Aubrey).
Eventually, Rankin regains enough control to confess his crimes, and he is sent to a lunatic asylum, confined to a padded cell. In the film's silliest moment, it is revealed that the cell is fitted with a gas lamp (surely someone would have guessed that might be problematic), which enables Rankin (as Tennant) to escape, the madman making his way to Styles' grave to try and rebury the murder weapon. As he does so, he is shot dead by the prison guards.
Karloff was over seventy when he made this film, but he shows no sign of slowing down, throwing himself enthusiastically into his part -- it is the horror icon's energetic performance(s) that makes this one a treat.
6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.
To prove his theory, Rankin bribes a guard at Newgate Prison to let him dig up Styles' coffin, where he finds Tennant's missing scalpel - the murder weapon; when Rankin grasps the knife, he becomes the Haymarket Strangler, for he is actually Tennant, his murderous personality reawakened by the touch of the steel blade.
A showcase for Karloff, this film sees the actor in both his amiable gentleman persona, and as a drooling psychopath, which is a lot of fun for his fans - two Karloffs for the price of one! It's a fairly mediocre movie up to the point where Rankin finds the scalpel, after which it gets a whole lot more entertaining, Karloff chewing up the scenery (no mean feat seeing as he's not wearing his dentures). With his Tennant personality in control, Rankin is totally deranged, strangling and slashing poor showgirl Pearl (the gorgeous Vera Day), killing his wife Barbara, and almost doing the same to his daughter Lily (Diane Aubrey).
Eventually, Rankin regains enough control to confess his crimes, and he is sent to a lunatic asylum, confined to a padded cell. In the film's silliest moment, it is revealed that the cell is fitted with a gas lamp (surely someone would have guessed that might be problematic), which enables Rankin (as Tennant) to escape, the madman making his way to Styles' grave to try and rebury the murder weapon. As he does so, he is shot dead by the prison guards.
Karloff was over seventy when he made this film, but he shows no sign of slowing down, throwing himself enthusiastically into his part -- it is the horror icon's energetic performance(s) that makes this one a treat.
6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.