For me this is a really under-rated B-Movie. Karloff's films for Columbia in the later Thirties are often dismissed as below par efforts and while I think this justifiably describes THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU, I certainly couldn't say the same about the excellent BLACK ROOM or the genuinely bizarre THE DEVIL COMMANDS both of which were efficently directed by Roy William Neill and Edward Dmytryk respectively. Watching BEFORE I HANG for the first time in many years made we realise that while the material may not be the strongest it does feature an excellent performance by Karloff as the kindly professor turned homicidal strangler by his experiments. But the real star of the movie for me is cinematographer Benjamin Kline. The film is beautifully shot. Nick Grinde's direction is first class and certainly belies his reputation. This is a neat little effort. Rating ***Monday, 7 February 2011
BEFORE I HANG (1940)
For me this is a really under-rated B-Movie. Karloff's films for Columbia in the later Thirties are often dismissed as below par efforts and while I think this justifiably describes THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU, I certainly couldn't say the same about the excellent BLACK ROOM or the genuinely bizarre THE DEVIL COMMANDS both of which were efficently directed by Roy William Neill and Edward Dmytryk respectively. Watching BEFORE I HANG for the first time in many years made we realise that while the material may not be the strongest it does feature an excellent performance by Karloff as the kindly professor turned homicidal strangler by his experiments. But the real star of the movie for me is cinematographer Benjamin Kline. The film is beautifully shot. Nick Grinde's direction is first class and certainly belies his reputation. This is a neat little effort. Rating ***
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2 comments:
While not spectacular, they are indeed not as bad as people say. Nick Grinde was a passable director and his THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG is even better, I think. Lord knows I'd rather watch BEFORE I HANG than Universal's SHE-WOLF OF LONDON any day!!!
Otherwise known as THE WEREWOLF THAT WASN'T.
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