Bowery at Midnight ** (1942, Bela Lugosi, John Archer, Wanda McKay) – Classic Movie Review 5664

Bela Lugosi stars as a professor of criminology who runs a soup kitchen mission during the daytime and stalks the streets at dark, killing folks and stashing the corpses in his cellar. Professor Brenner (aka Karl Wagner) uses the mission as a front for his gang of criminals who commit daring robberies and grisly murders.

Director Wallace Fox’s 1942 Monogram movie is a fair, quickly filmed Edgar Wallace-style low-budget horror crime thriller. Gerald Schnitzer’s chiller story is tolerable if derivative and predictable. But the eerie and intriguing film is worth a look for its weird tone and Lugosi’s lively performance.

Also in the cast are John Archer, Wanda McKay, Tom Neal, Dave O’Brien, Vince Barnett, John Berkes, Ray Miller, J Farrell MacDonald and Lew Kelly.

It is shot in black and white by Mack Stengler and produced by Sam Katzman.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5664

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