Undescribable Perfection

the audience applauded

Good concept, poorly executed.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

"The Frozen Ghost" is another "Universal" studios film from their "Inner Sanctum" series with Lon Chaney Jnr. Released in 1945 to no critical acclaim of any kind, this feels a bit heavy-going and it's only on for barely 61 minutes! One good thing, is that Lon Chaney Jnr has Evelyn Ankers as his leading lady once again. Martin Kosleck makes for a good villain - he has that typical dodgy look!

The sudden death of a drunken participant in his hypnosis act has brooding Lon Chaney Jr. looking for a new gig and moving onto a wax museum where a slew of sinister characters who seem to have something rotten going on the moment you see them. Chaney dumps assistant girlfriend Evelyn Ankers and finds himself torn between two exotic women, alluring Elena Verdugo and her aunt, Tala Birell, but in his state of hypnotic power, he discovers that he seemingly has the ability to kill with just a simple stare. One of the truly camp moments in film happens when wax museum designer Martin Kosleck goes around to his creations, treating each of them like a spoiled little girl would treat her dolly collection. Kosleck is a disgraced plastic surgeon whose life like statues are treated like his patients might have been. It's obvious where these plot ideas came from, even though a later film version of what inspired this is much more famous.Joining the series line-up of tough, determined police detectives is the ruthless Douglas Dumbrille whose interest in culture is exposed by lines like "Lead on, McDuff!" Kosleck, as sinister villain as there ever was, proves himself an expert knife thrower as he deals with his involvement in the mystery in evil and sinister ways. The overly convoluted plot line just gets so bizarre that the idea of accepting the fantastic elements just goes way off track. Still, there are enough amusing and thrilling elements to keep you involved, even though all the while, you might be saying to yourself, "Oh, brother."

Like B westerns at the time the title The Frozen Ghost has nothing to do with ghosts. All the folks here are alive though in suspended animation.Possibly this film might have been better had Universal gotten old horror film standbys Bela Lugosi or Boris Karloff to do the title role. Lon Chaney, Jr. is a fine actor and can be frightening indeed on a occasion, but his role as a mentalist who has convinced himself that he can kill with a thought really required someone like those two titans of horror.In any event Chaney is doing his mentalist act with assistant Evelyn Ankers and when a drunken customer ruins his act he wishes him dead and so he is. His agent and friend Milburn Stone persuades Chaney to retire and spend some time helping another friend of Stone's Martin Kosleck run his wax museum.Kosleck is our bad guy, he's done many a sinister role most prominently Joseph Goebbels in a few films. In this he's a scientist doing the usual ghoulish things that scientists do. When his assistants Tala Birrell and Elena Verdugo disappear Chaney thinks he might have something to do with it. So does homicide cop Douglass Dumbrille for once a good guy.The Frozen Ghost is not up to the usual Universal standards of Gothic horror. Chaney is very much miscast in the lead here.

Lon Chaney, Jr. plays mentalist Gregor the Great, who believes he killed a guy with his psychic powers. Distraught over this, he quits and goes to work at a wax museum (naturally). Things are okay for awhile but then Gregor gets into an argument with a friend and, once again, believes he killed someone with his mind.The fourth movie in Universal's Inner Sanctum series. Like the other movies, it's a fun B mystery thriller with a good cast. A bit silly at times but that adds to the fun if you're in the right frame of mind. The cast includes Universal regular Evelyn Ankers, Milburn Stone, Martin Kosleck, and Douglas Dumbrille. But the star is Lon Chaney, Jr., whose surly demeanor and sometimes overwrought acting are infinitely entertaining to watch. Not to mention his stylish mustache!