Memorable, crazy movie

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

One of the Earliest Sci-Fi Films is an Amalgamation of Science and Spiritualism (Religion). Hence the Title that Some Find Exploitive (and it is) but Nonetheless the Movie Makes it Clear that if Anyone Dare to Explore "The Other Side" it must be the Devil that Commands. The Film gets Off to a Slow Start with a lot of Talk and Unremarkable Scenes but Once Boris Karloff as the Scientist who Must be Mad goes into Exile Things Perk Up Considerably. Along with Karloff there is a Steely-Eyed and Creepy Medium Played by Anne Revere who is a Show Stopper.The Film's Highlights are Virtually All in the Second Half. The Seance at the End is Dazzling with a Room full of Robot Looking Participants and Whizzing and Whirling Energy. It is a Classic Moment of Mad Lab Mania.

It is puzzling to me the uneven ratings that Karloff's films get. For example, the tiresome "The Ghoul" is rated almost the same as this film, though this is a much more satisfying horror film.The films in which Karloff is the tragic figure lured into the world of the macabre by fate, such as in "The Walking Dead", are among the best that he made, and this is one of them. The first few minutes of the film take the time to show how great Karloff, as Dr. Julian Blair, had it prior to one fateful rainy night. He is head of the science department of a university, respected by his colleagues, and husband of over twenty years to a wonderful woman. However, a fatal car accident rips her from his side, and he is never the same again. His former experiments which were seeking a way to electronically read the minds of the living are now transformed into a possible means by which he may contact the dead, specifically his wife.Unlike many horror films, this one explains how some of its rather clichéd ingredients appear - the isolated old dark house into which Blair moves to push toward finding a way to communicate with his dead wife, the harsh Mrs. Danvers-like woman that almost seems like a puppet-master to Blair, and finally an "Igor" like figure that acts as the mindless muscle to the doctor - all of these are explained as part of the plot.This film has some great scenes for a production-code horror film in which one could only go so far. However, the "seance of the dead" scenes are unfairly forgotten ones in 40's horror, probably because this film was made by Columbia not Universal. Do note the presence of Kenneth MacDonald as the practical and kindly sheriff, as he often appeared as the heavy in Columbia's Three Stooges shorts, and this is a different kind of role for him.Highly recommended for fans of old horror films and of Karloff.

This well made little horror thriller belies its low budget with some really fine camera-work and good set design. The focus is on character and a plausible storyline, so that one seldom notices the limited use of locations or elaborate sets.For such a brief running time, the movie manages to seem leisurely and involving at the beginning, establishing the kindly and progressive Dr. Blair as a well meaning, cutting edge thinker, and not a clichéd mad scientist. Karloff makes the transition from lovable husband and father to fanatical experimenter so smoothly, that Dr. Blair always remains a believable, sympathetic character.Good supporting roles by Kenneth MacDonald as the local sheriff trying to keep the suspicious townsfolk from taking the law into their own hands, Dorothy Adams as the wary but tight lipped housekeeper, and Ralph Penney in the limited but very effective role of a mute lab assistant. Amanda Duff, who also narrates, as the daughter and Richard Fiske as the clean cut hero are effective.But the prize aside from Karloff has to go to Anne Revere as the truly sinister medium Mrs. Walters. She nearly steals every scene she's in, as the behind the scenes mentor and influence on Karloff, who makes it quite clear she's only in on the experiment for the potential fortune to be made if the Professor's communication device is a success.The original novel The Edge of Running Water by William Sloane is a far more detailed and involved story than this film adaptation, but the movie works very well for what it is. A larger budget and longer running time might have made it even better, but it stands as one of Karloff's best movies of the Forties, and a good, involving thriller well worth the viewer's time.Definitely recommended.

In the 1930s, Boris Karloff was initially with a relatively important studio (Universal) and was enjoying a lot of success. Later, he did some dandy films for Warner Brothers, but he also made some grade-Z films for poverty row studio, Monogram. All these films were fun to watch and often a bit silly, but the Monogram ones were known for their very low production values and silly plots. After THE APE (1940), Karloff was thrilled to get out of his contract with Monogram and ready to go on to better things. It SHOULD have been that way when he made THE DEVIL COMMANDS for Columbia. Sure, like Universal in the 1930s, Columbia was not the biggest of studios but it did have decent budgets and production values and I expected this to be a much better style of film than THE APE....but unfortunately, it seemed a lot like the exact same old style of film and nothing more. Like THE APE and the rather bland Mr. Wong films for Monogram, this one was nothing special.It stars Karloff as a kindly scientist with the best of intentions that ultimately becomes a mad man--using science to create abominations. Considering how often he did this, the whole thing seems very, very derivative and stale. We've seen this all before and there is nothing that makes this film stand out from many others just like it. Also, the narration and the epilogue just seem heavy-handed and unnecessary.Is it fun and worth a look (particularly to lovers of B-horror films), yes. But it could have been so much better.