Monogram's Lugosi vehicles are a mish-mash of attributes stolen from superior films, and Voodoo Man is no exception. Unwilling to stick to something unadorned by Dracula or even White Zombie, Monogram clutters scenes with hackneyed imagery. Even the obsessive quest of the film's antihero Dr Marlowe (Lugosi) to revive his beloved wife is taken from countless others and makes this film very close (is it a remake?) of The Corpse Vanishes, made two years earlier. It struck me as incongruous to see sassy wartime gals in square-shouldered dresses and wedge heels stuffed into the roles that were played first by the thin, ethereal creatures of the 1930s. The Stella Saunders character seems just as likely to tell a man to go peel a grape as she does to be quickly hypnotized into following him down a dank cave entrance.
The storyline of Voodoo Man is tighter than other Monograms, and I can absorb John Carradine's wild-eyed sideshow acting approach (and endless "hi, how are you" bongo beat) without too much discomfort. In the film's last scene the young Banner Productions screenwriter and hero of the tale slaps his horror screenplay on his boss's desk and says, "you might want to consider Bela Lugosi for the part." Well, at least Monogram was bold enough to realize they were never going to be much more than cheap camp. Perhaps an appropriate ending for what would also be the end of Lugosi's connection with the studio.
For a brilliant rundown of this film check out Acidemic: http://acidemic.blogspot.com/2010/02/voodoo-man-patron-saint-of.html
Classic nosy-housekeeper-at-the-door shot. Better still is the next shot: Lugosi snapping his fingers at her to quit listening.
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