From the vaults of Universal Pictures comes Maniacal Mayhem, the Blu-Ray collection of three dark and moody tales of terror starring the iconic horror idol Boris Karloff.
The Invisible Ray (1936) stars Boris Karloff as Doctor Janos Rukh, a scientist hellbent on the discovery and use of an element called Radium X found in a meteorite. Like most traditional crazed scientist stories, Dr Janos becomes so preoccupied and obsessed with his experimentations to the detriment of his personal life and health. After becoming exposed to rays that cause him to become phosphorescent, he discovers his touch has become deadly and due to his descent into criminal madness, the doctor becomes determined to wreak his revenge on his rivals, enemies and relationship adversaries. Also starring the enigmatic Bela Lugosi as fellow scientist Dr Felix Benet, The Invisible Ray is an early prototype to the science fiction thrillers of the 1950s, embodying the gothic campness with a scientific sensibility that Universal had found earlier success with through their hit horror movie adaptation of Frankenstein (1931).
Black Friday (1940) combines a science fiction psychological thriller with a gangster movie, starring Boris Karloff as Dr Ernest Sovac who implants the brain of his recently deceased best friend, Professor George Kingsley, into the body of a known gangster, Red Canon. As the personality of the professor and the gangster battle to take ownership of the physical body, Dr Sovac attempts to discover where Red Canon had hidden a large sum of money, whilst also trying to prevent the gangster from allowing his homicidal tendencies to take over. Bela Lugosi makes another appearance as a not-entirely convincing mob boss on the hunt for Red Canon.
Based on the Robert Louis Stevenson story ‘The Sire de Maletroit’s Door’ The Strange Door (1951) depicts Charles Laughton as Sire Alain de Maletroit taking revenge over his younger brother, Edmond, for stealing his childhood sweetheart. Secretly imprisoning Edmond and adopting his daughter Blanche, Alain decides the young woman must marry the worst brute he could possibly find just to add further insult to his brother, who he believes is slowly descending into madness in his prison cell. Boris Karloff has a small supporting role as the family servant Voltan.
All three of the movies feel very much of the time and fail to hold up in modern day due to the handling of race and the treatment of women, with less of a timeless aspect compared to other Universal films. The trilogy box set is very much for die-hard fans of Karloff and those looking to expand their Universal Pictures movie collection beyond the more well-known classic movie monster films like Dracula or Frankenstein.
MANIACAL MAYHEM IS OUT NOW ON EUREKA BLU-RAY
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Maniacal Mayhem (1936/1940/1951)
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