Such a frustrating disappointment

Sick Product of a Sick System

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

One of the Earliest Sci-Fi Films is an Amalgamation of Science and Spiritualism (Religion). Hence the Title that Some Find Exploitive (and it is) but Nonetheless the Movie Makes it Clear that if Anyone Dare to Explore "The Other Side" it must be the Devil that Commands. The Film gets Off to a Slow Start with a lot of Talk and Unremarkable Scenes but Once Boris Karloff as the Scientist who Must be Mad goes into Exile Things Perk Up Considerably. Along with Karloff there is a Steely-Eyed and Creepy Medium Played by Anne Revere who is a Show Stopper.The Film's Highlights are Virtually All in the Second Half. The Seance at the End is Dazzling with a Room full of Robot Looking Participants and Whizzing and Whirling Energy. It is a Classic Moment of Mad Lab Mania.

Boris Karloff's at it again, unlocking the secrets of the human brain and doing so in a surprisingly short run time of just over an hour. His character is Dr. Julian Blair, driven to near fanatical obsession to make contact with his dead wife via his brain wave recording invention. Convincing a phony psychic (Anne Revere as Mrs. Walters) to become his lab assistant, Dr. Blair is encouraged by her admonition that "If you can do what you're trying to do, you'll rule the world"! It must have been that ten thousand volts of electricity coursing through her body that warmed her up to the Doc.However it didn't appear to me that Blair was interested in ruling the world as much as simply getting in touch with the Mrs. Unable to function in the home they once shared, Blair sets out for Barshan Harbor, where he eventually comes under suspicion for a number of bodies that turn up missing. Those bodies wind up in an odd looking assortment of containment suits set up in séance position for Blair to continue his quest. Blair's own daughter (Amanda Duff) as it turns out, proves to be the most effective medium for getting in touch with Mrs. Blair in the great beyond.Karloff gives it his all as the mad genius here before meeting his end in a Frankenstein inspired mob scene ending. Perhaps not as convincing as it could have been, at least the good doctor went out with proof of life after death. Until the next time.

Devil Commands, The (1941) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Boris Karloff plays a scientist working with brain pulses. Once his wife dies he learns that even after death her brain still has these pulses so he tries to contact her. Decent, if not overwhelming, horror thriller features a good performance from Karloff but that's about it. The supporting cast is rather dull and the middle of the film really drags down, which isn't good when you consider the film is only 65-minutes. Worth watching if you're a fan of Karloff but not worthy of $20.

In the 1930s, Boris Karloff was initially with a relatively important studio (Universal) and was enjoying a lot of success. Later, he did some dandy films for Warner Brothers, but he also made some grade-Z films for poverty row studio, Monogram. All these films were fun to watch and often a bit silly, but the Monogram ones were known for their very low production values and silly plots. After THE APE (1940), Karloff was thrilled to get out of his contract with Monogram and ready to go on to better things. It SHOULD have been that way when he made THE DEVIL COMMANDS for Columbia. Sure, like Universal in the 1930s, Columbia was not the biggest of studios but it did have decent budgets and production values and I expected this to be a much better style of film than THE APE....but unfortunately, it seemed a lot like the exact same old style of film and nothing more. Like THE APE and the rather bland Mr. Wong films for Monogram, this one was nothing special.It stars Karloff as a kindly scientist with the best of intentions that ultimately becomes a mad man--using science to create abominations. Considering how often he did this, the whole thing seems very, very derivative and stale. We've seen this all before and there is nothing that makes this film stand out from many others just like it. Also, the narration and the epilogue just seem heavy-handed and unnecessary.Is it fun and worth a look (particularly to lovers of B-horror films), yes. But it could have been so much better.