This B pic from Universal is not really a horror film, has only a brief opening sequence in Market Street (by far the best part of the movie), and is virtually carried by Lionel Atwill across the finishing line. He's the only thing worth watching in this rather nonsensical film that went out as support to The Wolf Man.
Atwill plays Dr. Ralph Benson, who bribes a struggling family man into submitting to a suspended animation experiment, only for the police to burst in to discover the patient dead, and the Mad Doctor (helpfully named as such by a radio announcer!) absconded though an open window, a somewhat remarkable feat for the portly Lionel! Such is the clumsiness of the movie that we're not really sure if the patient could have been revived, or if he has been murdered by Benson - particularly as later on Benson seems to be able to make his process work.
Escaping the police, our Mad Doc flees the country in a luxury liner, finding time to push a police agent hunting him over the side! He's no lottery winner that's for sure, as the ship promptly catches fire forcing him to make for the lifeboats. He and some of his fellow passengers - including the compulsory love interests and comic relief types - wash up on a tropical island inhabited by some very peculiar 1940s natives.
Atwill quickly takes charge of the situation, posing as The God Of Life by reviving a heart attack victim with an adrenalin shot! The islanders now his willing slaves, he decides to proceed with his dastardly experiments...
Apart from the opening scene in Market Street this is a film with little atmosphere, even the familiar Son Of Frankenstein music, used countless times by Universal in the 40s, fails to enliven the proceedings. A few location stock shots are complimented by a fair number of back-projection scenes on the island. The natives all look like they wandered in from Mutiny On The Bounty.
In all honesty this isn't a very good movie even by B standards. The comic relief is irritating in the form of Una Merkle and Nat Pendleton and the rest of the characters are briefly sketched stereotypes - even Benson is a bit of a poor specimen of a mad scientist. Lionel Atwill makes the most of it, however, resulting in a performance that's a delight to watch. This is a film that's rarely revived though, and is really for Atwill completists only. It might pass a slow hour on a Sunday afternoon.
Atwill plays Dr. Ralph Benson, who bribes a struggling family man into submitting to a suspended animation experiment, only for the police to burst in to discover the patient dead, and the Mad Doctor (helpfully named as such by a radio announcer!) absconded though an open window, a somewhat remarkable feat for the portly Lionel! Such is the clumsiness of the movie that we're not really sure if the patient could have been revived, or if he has been murdered by Benson - particularly as later on Benson seems to be able to make his process work.
Escaping the police, our Mad Doc flees the country in a luxury liner, finding time to push a police agent hunting him over the side! He's no lottery winner that's for sure, as the ship promptly catches fire forcing him to make for the lifeboats. He and some of his fellow passengers - including the compulsory love interests and comic relief types - wash up on a tropical island inhabited by some very peculiar 1940s natives.
Atwill quickly takes charge of the situation, posing as The God Of Life by reviving a heart attack victim with an adrenalin shot! The islanders now his willing slaves, he decides to proceed with his dastardly experiments...
Apart from the opening scene in Market Street this is a film with little atmosphere, even the familiar Son Of Frankenstein music, used countless times by Universal in the 40s, fails to enliven the proceedings. A few location stock shots are complimented by a fair number of back-projection scenes on the island. The natives all look like they wandered in from Mutiny On The Bounty.
In all honesty this isn't a very good movie even by B standards. The comic relief is irritating in the form of Una Merkle and Nat Pendleton and the rest of the characters are briefly sketched stereotypes - even Benson is a bit of a poor specimen of a mad scientist. Lionel Atwill makes the most of it, however, resulting in a performance that's a delight to watch. This is a film that's rarely revived though, and is really for Atwill completists only. It might pass a slow hour on a Sunday afternoon.