Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
2xDVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 4:3 | 379 mins | 7,44 Gb + 7,73 Gb
Audio: English AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subtitles: English SDH, French
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Crime
2xDVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 4:3 | 379 mins | 7,44 Gb + 7,73 Gb
Audio: English AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subtitles: English SDH, French
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Crime
Iconic horror figure Lon Chaney Jr. invites viewers to enter a world of mystery with this collection of all six films from the Inner Sanctum Mysteries series. Originally released between 1943 and 1945, the films include Calling Dr. Death, Weird Woman, The Frozen Ghost, Pillow of Death, Dead Man's Eyes, Strange Confession.
"This is the Inner Sanctum…." And this is the world of B-movies, where Hollywood studios churned out entertaining little numbers to fill out an evening back in the Golden Age. Universal's Inner Sanctum series, released in 1943-45, was inspired by the successful radio show of the same title. They're gathered on Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection, a fun grouping of a minor cinematic achievement.
All six films star the phlegmatic Lon Chaney Jr., and most begin with a floating head in the crystal ball, welcoming us to the inner sanctum, "A strange, fantastic world, controlled by a mass of living, pulsating flesh… the mind." The vaguely supernatural promise of this grabby opening is rarely fulfilled by the movies, which tend to be acceptable murder mysteries with–despite the wacky titles–very little horror content. Chaney plays a man of some distinction (a professor in Weird Woman, famous mentalist in The Frozen Ghost, physician in Calling Dr. Death) who runs afoul of women (among them Evelyn Ankers and Patricia Morison) and murder. At some point in each movie he has some elaborate voice-over agony, making clear the connection to the radio series' interior monologue. The one-hour-and-change productions are handsome, considering their budget restrictions, and Universal's prints are well-preserved; the literacy of the writing is surprisingly high–although decent writing can't put much zip into the proceedings.
Weird Woman is probably the best of the bunch, an adaptation of Fritz Leiber's novel Conjure Wife (later filmed as Burn, Witch, Burn!). Chaney is an expert on superstition who marries a voodoo-obsessed woman, whose spells might be responsible for his rapid professional rise. The influence of Cat People is as strong as the source novel. Calling Dr. Death, the first in the series, is duller, with a hypnotism-minded Chaney bedeviled by a wanton wife who conveniently dies under mysterious circumstances. Dead Man's Eyes and the amazingly-titled Pillow of Death are more fun, the former a variation on the old eye-transplant story and the latter a whodunit with lawyer Chaney accused of his wife's murder (the supernatural touch this time: séances).
Strange Confession has Chaney as an honest chemist battling an evil pharmaceutical tycoon (J. Carrol Naish), and The Frozen Ghost combines two horror staples, the unstable mentalist and the wax museum. It's just crazy enough to be entertaining, even if there's no ghost (and hardly any freezing). All in all, the DVD set is a good look at Universal's second-tier output of the era. And then there's Chaney, whose jowly steadfastness can become weirdly fascinating if you watch a few of these close together. Universal put him hard to work after the success of 1941's The Wolf Man, and alongside his monster-movie excursions and his singular triumph in Of Mice and Men, the Inner Sanctum pictures represent Chaney's best moment as a leading man. Despite his limitations, he'll always have his spot in the Universal galaxy.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Calling Dr. Death (1943) - 01:02:45
Losing his memories of the last few days, neurologist Dr. Steele is told that his wife has been brutally murdered. Steele, aware of his conniving wife's infidelity, believes he may have been the killer and enlists the aid of his pretty nurse Stella to hypnotize him into recovering his lost memories.
IMDB
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Weird Woman (1944) - 01:03:06
While on a South Seas trip, a professor falls in love with marries an exotic native woman. What he doesn't know is that she was raised by superstitious natives who believe her to be some kind of supernatural being.
IMDB
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Dead Man's Eyes (1944) - 01:03:59
An artist (Lon Chaney Jr) is blinded by a jealous assistant/model. His fiance's father generously offers his eyes for a sight restoring operation. there's only one hitch. Chaney has to wait until after the man dies. Not surprisingly, when the benefactor dies a very premature death, suspicion falls on the artist.
IMDB
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The Frozen Ghost (1945) - 01:01:08
Stage mentalist Gregor the Great becomes enraged when a drunken audience member belittles his act. When the man dies suddenly, Gregor convinces himself that his hypnotic powers are to blame. Guilt-ridden, he retires from performing to Valerie Monet's wax museum. He becomes increasingly stressed when he is pursued romantically by Valerie, her niece, and his former stage assistant, Maura Daniel. When Valerie mysteriously disappears, it is apparent that sinister forces are at work in the museum.
IMDB
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Strange Confession (1945)- 01:01:49
A distraught Jeff Carter arrives at a renowned lawyer's home with a mysterious bag and a confession he desperately wants heard. Jeff was an underpaid chemist working for unprincipled pharmaceutical tycoon Roger Graham, who takes the profit, as well as the credit, for Jeff's discoveries and hard work. When Graham prioritizes profits over safety, Jeff resigns and is blacklisted by his boss. A chastened Graham is later forced to relent and rehires Jeff under the latter's terms. He presses him to release an unproven influenza drug, but Jeff refuses and asks to go to South America to perfect the formula. The unscrupulous Graham uses the opportunity to release the drug as well as romance Jeff's attractive wife. When Jeff returns and finds that his son has died from the effects of the untested drug, he decides to take revenge.
IMDB
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Pillow of Death (1945) - 01:06:19
Attorney Wayne Fletcher and his secretary are having an affair, so when Wayne's wife is found smothered to death, he becomes the prime suspect. As the police investigate the murder, a psychic with questionable motives tries to contact the deceased woman. Soon, Wayne begins seeing visions of his dead wife, and other people involved with the case begin to be killed, one by one.
IMDB
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection (1943-1945)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
I purchased these on VHS years ago. And, over the years, I have watched them several times. They are some of Universal Studios best short movies and well deserve wide distribution. I must admit that I am a great fan of Lon Chaney, Jr. and the additional talents of Evelyn Ankers in any Universal production is a definite plus. Without previewing each episode, I will summarize in saying that these short movies are well worth the money, the time, and I am grateful to Universal for releasing them. They are a treasure and a collection of movie history.
Special Features:
DISC ONE:
Calling Dr Death (1943) + Weird Woman (1944) + Dead Man’s Eyes (1944)
DISC TWO:
The Frozen Ghost (1945)+ Strange Confession (1945) + Pillow of Death (1945)
Many Thanks to Original uploader.
If you want to download it, but found out that links are dead,
just leave a comment or PM me!
just leave a comment or PM me!
No More Mirrors.