You won't be disappointed!

Pretty Good

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Karloff is a scientist experimenting on bringing the dead back to life (sort of ... he's using a whacky mix of cryogenics and a huge glass artificial heart to either raise the dead or put people in suspended animation). When the police interrupt one of his experiments at the behest of a traitorous nurse, his volunteer dies and he's tried for murder and executed. His assistant brings him back to life so he can seek vengeance on those who did him in. This is an average genre outing elevated by another great Karloff performance.

Wow, talk about a picture that was way ahead of it's time! The mechanical heart business and replacement body parts is one thing, but how about the idea of lowering one's body temperature and reducing respiration down to zero to simulate a 'state of death'. Current studies in cryogenics is making inroads into just such treatments that have arisen from cases of victims drowning who have been revived after being unconscious and considered clinically dead. Lowering body temperature has been found to be a valuable component in the process.Well this story has a bit of the 'Ten Little Indians' flavor going for it after Dr. Henryk Savaard was found guilty of murder. What I found interesting about Karloff's role in this was that he didn't seem to be the mad scientist type once you got past the idea that he was going to 'kill' his assistant in order to revive him using the scientific method he perfected. He sounded perfectly rational in his own defense, but then again, so do all the crazed lunatics who maintain a firm belief in their ideas.So the idea that Savaard turns around and intends to knock off the judge, prosecuting attorney and the remaining jurors who he's summoned to his home for revenge is understandably logical given his rationale. His invention would have gone on to save countless lives had he been able to complete the initial grand experiment for which he was arrested, tried and convicted. Of course, all of this would have been a moot point if Savaard himself hadn't been brought back from the great beyond himself. I have to admit though, the explanation for his broken neck escaped me.A few years prior to this picture, Boris Karloff portrayed another character who was brought back from the dead in a film appropriately titled "The Walking Dead". Both stories featured impressively detailed laboratories filled with scientific looking gizmos and technical gadgetry that made the mad scientist gimmick most noteworthy. Of the two pictures, this is probably the better one given Karloff's effective dialog in defense of his scientific theories, before, during and after his ultimate date with destiny.

In the 1930s, Boris Karloff made several films with VERY similar plots. In these films, he was killed and returned to life--with BAD results. The main plot for this film is from Karloff's "The Walking Dead" and very similar to "The Man Who Lived Again". Clearly "The Man They Could Not Hang" was a VERY derivative film! Yet, despite the very repetitive nature of these films, they are very enjoyable.The film begins with Karloff doing some strange research that will allow him to do heart transplants. He gets one of his assistants to allow him to kill him--with the intention that he would then revive him with his new experimental system. However, the assistant's girlfriend (Ann Doran) is an idiot. Instead of letting Karloff finish the experiment, she runs for the police. The police break in and won't allow Karloff to revive the man--insisting it isn't possible and jailing him. Soon, Karloff is indicted for murder and is tried, convicted and sentenced to death. However, another assistant is able to obtain Karloff's corpse and soon revives the once-good doctor. However, now Karloff is no longer a kindly researcher but decides to spend the rest of the film killing everyone responsible for his death sentence. I liked this portion best, but unfortunately, his quest is cut short and the film ends.Overall, enjoyable and Karloff, once again, is terrific. The only big problem, other than the repetitive nature of the script, is the acting of Doran--who, frankly, was terrible in the few scenes in which she appeared.

"The Man They Could Not Hang" is an interesting little film if only for its foretelling of artificial hearts and organ transplants by many years.Dr. Henryk Savaard (Boris Karloff) has invented an artificial heart that has been successful in bringing animals back to life after they have been clinically dead. Savaard now wants to try the procedure on a human ans medical student Bob Roberts (Stanley Brown) agrees to be the guinea pig. His fiancé, Betty Crawford (Ann Doran), who is Savaard's nurse is fearful for Roberts' life.As the experiment begins Betty goes to the police in an attempt to stop the experiment. Reporter "Scoop" Foley (Robert Wilcox) overhears Betty's pleas and goes ahead to Savaard's home where he meets Savaard's daughter Janet (Lorna Gray) with whom he strikes up a friendship. Police Lt. Shane (Don Beddoe) arrives at Savaard's laboratory before he can bring the young man back to life, and arrests him for murder. Savaard is tried and found guilty and is sentenced to hang. Before he is sentenced, Savaard vows revenge on those who had a hand in his conviction.Following his execution, Savaard's body is turned over to his assistant Dr. Lang (Byron Foulger) who following Savaard's procedure, brings Savaard back to life. Weeks later, several of the jurors who voted for Savaard's conviction turn up hanged, apparently suicides.Using a note from trial Judge Bowman (Charles Trowbridge) as bait, Savaard lures the remaining parties for his revenge to his home and traps them therein. Included are the Judge, DA Drake (Roger Pryor), Jury Foreman Kearney (Dick Curtis), Betty Crawford, the Coroner (Joe De Stefani) and Lt. Shane. "Scoop" Foley is also entrapped having "crashed" the party.Savaard plans to systematically murder each person at 15 minute intervals. Judge Bowman is the first and dies by electrocution. Next Kearney is poisoned. Betty is targeted next, but before Savaard can complete his murderous scheme, his daughter Janet arrives and......................Karloff as usual gives a great performance. He moves from a kindly dedicated scientist to a madman bent on murder and revenge with ease.The use of an artificial heart put this modest little programmer several years ahead of its time.