Wednesday, October 17, 2012

31 Days of Halloween - Day 17 - Movie 1



Weird Woman (1944) was on of Universal's not quite horrors and part of the series of Inner Sanctum movies based on the radio show of the same name. The only monsters in The Weird Woman are of the green eyed variety.

Lon Chaney, Jr. plays a college professor who marries a girl raised by natives in the South Sea islands who follows all of their local superstitions. Of course, Chaney, who has written a book called "Superstition vs Reason and Fact" doesn't believe in any of them. His book is well received and advances his academic standing, put as soon as hew forces his wife to put her superstitions behind her, things start to go terribly wrong. His career falters and tragedy seems to follow him around everywhere. Is it supernatural forces at work, or something more earthly behind these terrible events?

I didn't expect much from this movie, but found myself pleasantly surprised. It turned out to be quite good, packing quite a lot into its just over an hour running time. The fine cast also includes Anne Gwynne, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Morgan, Elizabeth Russell, Lois Collier, and Phil Brown, who Star Wars fans know as Uncle Owen.


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