Absolutely Fantastic

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Based on the Edgar Wallace book, 'Dark Eyes of London' features the mighty Bela Lugosi, incongruously surrounded by very British docklands, slums, murky water, and a vast home for the blind.Horror is subjective: what frightens one person may bore another. For some reason, this film fills me with dread. The style of acting, the grainy images and muffled sound only add to this. The atmosphere is one of cruelty, brutality and the most vulnerable in society are subject to these atrocities. The seediness of their surroundings, the extravagance of Bela's performance – every murky thing about this picture gets to me in a way far more polished efforts somehow do not. And it's not even a pure horror – more a thriller caper, with grotesque elements.Anyway, Bela plays a dual role – one, bewigged, wearing black glasses and softly (and very convincingly) dubbed by another (English) actor as blind Dearborn, head of a converted warehouse that is now a home for the blind. He also plays Dr. Orloff, who commits a series of murders for insurance purposes. Surrounded by more mannered, less memorable performers, Bela 'does his thing': some would call it ham, others might enjoy his theatrical playing. I'm definitely in the latter camp – once again, his heightened acting compared to the genteel under-playing of his co-stars is very effective. His portrayal of blind Dearborn is brilliant, his whole deportment is changed, his movements slow and uncertain. This become instantly obvious when Dearborn reveals his true identity, the contrast in his performance is effortless and impressive. The blind are portrayed as tragic, shunned, kindly characters. None more so than monstrous Jake, who is also given the full horror make-up. Played by Wilfred Walter, he shares with Bela an exaggerated menace. The services held in Dearborn Home are eerie sights, with the residents sitting in cheerless silence as a kindly, aged voice escapes Bela – which in itself is a creepy oddity.The character of resident Dumb Lou (Arthur E. Owen) suffers the brunt of Orloff's cruelty. Lou is blind and unable to speak. When he discovers too much about Dearborn's duplicity, Orloff robs him of his hearing too. Using (now) archaic Frankenstein-esque electronic equipment, the helpless little man is strapped down, taunted by Orloff, and has his hearing burnt out, the only reaction being the agitated twitching of his hands. The act is largely unseen, but we hear a distant scream. When we return to the scene, Lou's hands have stopped twitching. It is a horrible moment, as is Orloff's later gleeful drowning of the poor wretch.A smoky morgue, a tearful heroine, mouldy walls, Lugosi's stare, drownings … Director Walter Summers ensures every setting is as downbeat as possible, adding layer upon layer of leaden atmosphere upon an already sombre palette. And I think that's what grabs me about this – the sparingly used horrific incidents are merely icing on this absorbingly bleak cake. An absorbingly bleak cake? I told you this film had an effect on me (the light comic ending almost seems to have been spliced in from another picture).Considering it was the British ban on horror films that helped put the kibosh on many such films stateside a few years before, this is an audaciously (hypocritically?) gruesome thing. The briefly glimpsed images of corpses pulled out of the Thames are surprisingly graphic. Orloff's fate, at the hands of a furious, betrayed Jake is disappointingly brief, and features Bela up to his neck in gulping muddy sludge, and brings to an end an exceptional film. I almost wish the sound and image quality could be cleaned up like the Universal pictures, but such an operation would somehow rob 'Dark Eyes of London' of much of its rich, shadowy ambiance.

Poor audio and cheap production values make this crime melodrama barely watchable, saved only by the action-packed ending and some horrific moments of suspense. It surrounds an insurance scam set inside a school for the blind. Bela Lugosi is the mastermind behind the scam, and it isn't made clear whether "The Human Monster" or "The Dark Eyes of London" (its original title which I prefer) are Lugosi's or the blind giant (Wilfred Walter) who utilizes other senses to perform Lugosi's nefarious orders. This seems like something that Tod Slaughter would have done, fitting considering his low-budget British melodramas like "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and "A Face at the Window". Lugosi isn't believable at all in his disguise, and the dubbed voice of another actor for that disguise is just absurd and not at all convincing. Even with 65 minutes of dull melodrama, the climax picks up the pace as if the writers realized a bit too late that something needed to be done to save the film from total fiasco.

Bela Lugosi made a lot of schlocky films during his career. While DARK EYES OF London is definitely a low budget film, thanks to decent writing and a very creepy style it manages to entertain even after almost 70 years.Bela plays a totally amoral criminal who runs an insurance company. He insures people and makes himself the beneficiary after making these people loans. But instead of waiting to collect the money, he drowns them and throws their body in the Thames. While an interesting scheme, he oddly does it repeatedly--naturally arousing the suspicions of the police.In addition to being an insurance man, Lugosi also is a benefactor to a home for indigent blind men. However, this act of kindness is a front, as this home is where Bela commits his murders with the help of a truly horrifying looking blind assistant. Near the very end, you actually get to see him kill one of his innocent victims and toss him in the river in a very graphic way--hence deservedly earning its special horror rating in the UK.The film earns some points for an unusual plot and its graphic scenes--it really is a pretty scary film for 1940. However, there are a few lulls, some overacting by the idiot playing the cop from Chicago and the irrationality of Lugosi committing so many murders yet hoping to get away with it when he's the only rational suspect. By the way, speaking of the Chicago cop, do all Brits see us Americans as THAT brash and annoying?! I sure hope not! You also wonder why they even bothered including this character, as he was rather distracting and unnecessary.

"The Dark Eyes of London" (aka "The Human Monster) is a creepy little thriller made in England, based on an Edgar Wallace story. For star Bela Lugosi, it was a cut above the many poverty row "thrillers" that he made during this period. The English, even in a low budget film such as this, really know how to make a mystery.Dr. Fedor Orloff (Lugosi) is running an elaborate insurance fraud scheme wherein he collects on the insurance policies of men, who have no relatives. He lends them money and has them sign over their policies as collateral after which he has them murdered. After Henry Stuart (Gerald Pring) signs over his policy in return for a loan, Orloff learns that he has a long lost daughter Diana (Greta Gynt) which causes him some complications.Orloff uses a home for needy blind men as a front for his murders. The home is run by Professor Dearborn (Lugosi again) a kindly white haired old gentleman. When Stuart's body washes up on the Thames, Diana demands that the police take action. Detective Inspector Larry Holt (Hugh Williams) is assigned to the case. He is assisted by American Irish Detective O'Reilly (Edmon Ryan) who is in London to learn the ways of Scotland Yard.Orloff has plans for Diana and as Dearborn, hires her as an assistant. Diana soon learns the evil ways of Orloff but is captured and held. Orloff orders the brutish Jake (Wilfred Walker) to do the evil deed but...................................................Lugosi manages to turn in a pretty good performance in his dual role. I guess the idea was not to be able to recognize him as the kindly old Prof. Dearborn but in spite of having his voice dubbed by O.B. Clarence and giving him white hair and a mustache, you can still spot that tell tale dimple on his chin. Orloff's demise is a thrilling finale and is well done.