Night of Terror (1933)
Directed by Ben Stoloff / Benjamin Stoloff
Share on
Synopsis by Cavett Binion
Top-billed Bela Lugosi has only a minor role in this routine variant on the Old Dark House scenario, playing a mysterious Indian mystic who is but one of numerous eccentric characters lingering about in an eerie mansion, stalked by an unseen murderer. Other potential victims/suspects include a reporter, a pair of exotic house servants, a fetching heroine, even an extra psychopath thrown in as a red herring. The real killer is eventually discovered and destroyed but, in an inventive and chilling twist, comes back to life to speak directly to the audience in the film's surprise coda -- the only real moment of interest in this otherwise humdrum who-done-it. Also known as He Lived to Kill.
Characteristics
Themes
Keywords
homicidal-maniac, mystery [whodunit], house-guest, investigation, investigator, mansion, reporter, journalism, multiple-murder, murder, servant, suspended-animation, play [recreation]