Strong and Moving!

Pretty Good

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Copyright 1 March 1940 by Monogram Pictures Corp. John Argyle Productions. Filmed at Welwyn Studios, Herts. U.S. release through Monogram (cut to 73 minutes): 9 March 1940. New York opening at the Globe: 24 March 1940. U.K. release through Pathé: 1939. Banned in Australia. 76 minutes Alternative title: Dead Eyes of London.U.S. release title: The Human Monster. NOTES: Number 58 of the 152-picture "Edgar Wallace" series.SYNOPSIS: Posing as a philanthropist, an arch-criminal (Bela Lugosi) runs an insurance racket in which victims are murdered by a human monster (Wilfred Walter).COMMENT: A real shocker, this one was banned in some countries, including Finland and Australia. Produced on a lavish budget, it's hard to believe the extensive sets were constructed at Welwyn. In my day, these was a real Poverty Row studio with sound stages no bigger than the average bathroom, used for filming the sort of time-wasting rubbish that many people watch on TV. Presumably, pre-war Welwyn was a quite a big place. Although it depends to a large extent on co-incidence, the script is sound enough, but what makes the movie really go are the action scenes and the acting. Admittedly, Hugh Williams is personable but lightweight as the hero, and Edmon Ryan is just a nuisance, but Greta Gynt makes a lovely heroine and Lugosi really shines as the evil Orloff. But it's the hideous Wilfred Walter and his cohorts who will really give you nightmares. The direction is efficient and the photography suitably dark-toned.

Bodies are turning up in the Thames and the culprit could be the owner of an Insurance company, Dr. Orloff(Bela Lugosi), killing his clients for their claims, with Scotland yard investigator, Larry Holt(Hugh Williams) and visiting Chicago cop Patrick O'Reilly(Edmon Ryan) interested in finding the one responsible for the murders. Orloff uses phony names as beneficiaries for his clients, pocketing their money once they wash ashore dead. Orloff was forbidden to practice medicine and is more than a bit sore about it. He runs a charitable institution for the blind which is a front for his underhanded activities as a swindler, using a monstrous brute named Jake(Wilfred Walter, wearing protruding teeth to add a ghastly look, effectively making him quite menacing) to kill clients, dumping the bodies in the Thames. It's only a matter of time before his forgeries of signatures regarding fake beneficiaries is uncovered. The latest victim's daughter, Diana Stuart(Greta Gynt)wants to help capture the man who murdered her father. Such clues as tap water discovered in the lungs, and a note with braille writing(both of Diana's father) could be the break the police need to crack the case. There's a slick twist involving a Mr. Deerborne, the man who runs the institute for the blind(he himself seems to be blind as well)and Lugosi is as diabolical as ever. There's a particular scene which highlights how purely evil and insane Lugosi's madman really is as he drowns a blind violinist, Lou(Arthur E Owen) who was the cause of the braille note being found on the corpse of client Henry Stuart(Gerald Pring), laughing maniacally as he tosses him into the Thames. This very well can lead to his downfall, however, as Jake loved Lou and doesn't respond well when Diana tells him(saving her own skin in the process)of what Orloff did to him. Story-driven, THE DARK EYES OF London might be too slow for some, but Lugosi fans I imagine will find it satisfying. Being an Edgar Wallace thriller starring Lugosi might add interest. I consider this one of Lugosi's more underrated films and in the public domain I certainly recommend checking it out.

More of a mystery than a horror movie, this never really captured my attention closely, essentially because there really wasn't too much mystery involved. Could there have ever been any doubt that Dr. Orloff, played by Bela Lugosi, was behind the mysterious drownings? That was pretty clear. True, the twist revealed about the identity of Dearborn caught me by surprise, but that came across as silly more than anything else. Parts of the story, in my view, were totally unnecessary. The whole American connection was superfluous (the forger being extradited from Chicago, and the Chicago cop accompanying him to England and becoming involved in the investigation) and the need to make Jake a monstrous-looking creature baffled me. It seemed a weak attempt to introduce a horror-type element to the story. Lugosi did well enough as Orloff, managing to bring his typical "mysterious presence" to the character, although at times he frankly looked too mysterious, and therefore too suspicious, to take seriously the idea that it took a while for the police to suspect him. I also wondered about what he actually was. He runs an insurance company, and yet he's called "Dr." Insp. Holt says he "could have been" a practicing physician, and yet he is running a hospital and treating patients in a home for the blind. A bit more about the background of the character would have been appreciated. Overall, the bare-bones nature of the story was a problem. The last 10 minutes or so of the movie were pretty good, and Orloff's fate was appropriately ghastly. If you're a Lugosi fan, this is worth watching, although it's not one of his greats. 4/10

"The Dark Eyes of London" (aka "The Human Monster) is a creepy little thriller made in England, based on an Edgar Wallace story. For star Bela Lugosi, it was a cut above the many poverty row "thrillers" that he made during this period. The English, even in a low budget film such as this, really know how to make a mystery.Dr. Fedor Orloff (Lugosi) is running an elaborate insurance fraud scheme wherein he collects on the insurance policies of men, who have no relatives. He lends them money and has them sign over their policies as collateral after which he has them murdered. After Henry Stuart (Gerald Pring) signs over his policy in return for a loan, Orloff learns that he has a long lost daughter Diana (Greta Gynt) which causes him some complications.Orloff uses a home for needy blind men as a front for his murders. The home is run by Professor Dearborn (Lugosi again) a kindly white haired old gentleman. When Stuart's body washes up on the Thames, Diana demands that the police take action. Detective Inspector Larry Holt (Hugh Williams) is assigned to the case. He is assisted by American Irish Detective O'Reilly (Edmon Ryan) who is in London to learn the ways of Scotland Yard.Orloff has plans for Diana and as Dearborn, hires her as an assistant. Diana soon learns the evil ways of Orloff but is captured and held. Orloff orders the brutish Jake (Wilfred Walker) to do the evil deed but...................................................Lugosi manages to turn in a pretty good performance in his dual role. I guess the idea was not to be able to recognize him as the kindly old Prof. Dearborn but in spite of having his voice dubbed by O.B. Clarence and giving him white hair and a mustache, you can still spot that tell tale dimple on his chin. Orloff's demise is a thrilling finale and is well done.