Six vintage horror-mysteries:
FIND THE BLACKMAILER (1943) Stars Jerome Cowan, Faye Emerson, Gene Lockhart and Marjorie Hoshelle. A man running for mayor is being blackmailed so evidence won't arise to implicate him in murder. The evidence, a talking crow! Even though the politician isn't guilty he hires a gumshoe detective to track down the conspirator and get that crow. Lots of twists and turns and a snappy secretary to the private detective. 1940s fun.
THE SMILING GHOST (1941) One of the few successful comedy-horror mixes. A good natured young man is hired to "appear to be" marrying a wealthy young woman. Of course, there's a series of hitches and reasons that involve a haunting. The smiling ghost is not at all funny, but a glowing hideous faced creature that lurks and kills. Scary under lighting and some real shocks with the ghost. A cast of great character actors including David (THE MAD GHOUL) Bruce.
SH! THE OCTOPUS (1937) Stars Hugh Herbert, Allen Jenkins and Marcia Ralston. A murder mystery revolving around a small group of people stranded in a lighthouse. Very unusual, horrific visuals for a comedy-mystery of this period. A body is seen dangling from a noose, dripping blood onto the face of a bystander, a huge octopus that terrorizes the lighthouse and an incredible special shock effect of a woman turning into a hideous witch. A stunning oddity that is part mystery, part horror and part surreal comedy.
THE HIDDEN HAND ( 1942) Stars Craig Stevens, Elisabeth Fraser, Julie Bishop, Milton Pasons and Willie Best. A wealthy woman with greedy relatives decides she should bump 'em off before she dies, so they won't get her money. She helps her totally insane brother (Parsons) escape from an asylum. The creepy character actor (you'll recognize him) plays it up big. He's as creepy as they get, slinking through secret passageways and staring through paintings. It's got all the horror trappings -- stormy night, scared relatives, murder and eerie photography. An elusive gem.
MYSTERY HOUSE (1938) Stars Dick Purcell, Ann Sheridan, Anne Nagel and William Hopper. The president of a company holds a meeting and accuses them that some employee is embezzling and he is going to expose them. Soon the president is found shot in a locked room. Was it suicide or murder? The killers continue as a private detective investigates for the daughter of the murdered man.
THE PATIENT IN ROOM 18 (1938) Stars Patric Knowles, Ann Sheridan, Eric Stanley and John Ridgely. A private detective recovering from a nervous breakdown is recovering in a hospital. His girlfriend visits and while she's there another patient is murdered and radium used in the hospital is stolen. Knowles, the detective, is back on the job inside the hospital as murders continue.
