60) The Black Sleep (1956)

"In the interest of science, anything...anything is justified!"

Director

Reginald LeBorg

Cast

Basil Rathbone - Dr. Joel Cadman

Herbert Rudley - Dr. Gordon Ramsay

Akim Tamiroff - Udu

Patricia Blair - Laurie Monroe

Lon Chaney, Jr. - Mungo

Bela Lugosi - Casimir

Tor Johnson - Curry

John Carradine - Borg

This classic horror movie is too good to fall into the category of "shlock." 

After watching it, I think it's ahead of its time. 

It draws closer to what modern audiences consider the "horror genre" to be, more so than other horror films from this period. 

Normally in the golden age of horror, graphic scenes would be hidden or take place off camera. This movie casts off any typical period restraints and presents to audiences, 1956 audiences especially, imagery they likely weren't accustomed to. 

I wouldn't hesitate to call The Black Sleep a pioneer of modern horror that stands out over other movies of the day. And it was also Bela Lugosi's (Dracula) last film. Sadly, his character has no dialogue. 

The story is set in England in the later 1800s where renowned surgeon, Sir Joel Cadman (Basil Rathbone-Sherlock Holmes) whose young wife is in a coma due to a brain tumor, performs medical procedures in his large castle-like home. 

Cadman, though being an expert surgeon, cannot figure out how to reach the tumor without causing any brain damage. Medicine and techniques in 1876 were pretty limited. 

So, to figure it out, he performs practice brain surgeries on unwilling people. 

The doctor puts his victims under a powerful sedative called Nind Andhera, often used by Indians. Cadman calls this anesthetic, "black sleep." 

Once he's done with his surgeries, he places his victims in his cellar where they live out their days in mentally or physically damaged states. 

In the beginning of the story, Cadman visits his former student, Dr. Gordan Ramsay (Herbert Rudley). Ramsay is awaiting execution for the alleged murder of a moneylender named Curry (Tor Johnson - Plan 9 From Outer Space) - a crime Ramsay insists he's innocent of. 

To escape execution, Cadman encourages Ramsay to drink his "black sleep" as it will make it appear as if he died. 

Fooling the authorities, Ramsay's "dead" body is entrusted to the care of the doctor, who also has a gypsy assistant named Udu (Akim Tamiroff).

Phyllis Stanley, Basil Rathbone, and Herbert Rudley.

Udu gives Ramsay the antidote to the black sleep. 

Once he awakens in Cadman's office, Cadman wants Ramsay to be his medical assistant while he performs his brain surgeries. 

Ramsay agrees, but slowly discovers the purpose behind all these brain surgeries. 

One particularly memorable gore scene shows Cadman performing surgery of a male patient as Ramsay looks over his shoulder. 

The audience is treated to quite the special effect of an exposed brain. Cadman probes different portions of the exposed brain, showing how electric current will affect the nervous system of the patient. These small shocks cause motor reactions in different parts of the body. This was rather graphic for 1956. 

Ramsay finds different characters living inside Cadman's estate, including one damaged patient of Cadman's named Mungo (Lon Chaney, Jr. - The Wolf Man). 

He also encounters Cadman's mute servant, Casimir (Bela Lugosi). These are the kind of cameos that make watching the more obscure horror movies a lot of fun.

As Ramsay begins to see Cadman's work for what it really is, he tries a find a way to stop his former teacher while saving his damaged victims. 

The ending is classic. It reminded me of the ending from Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs. I wouldn't be surprised if some inspiration for that came from The Black Sleep. 

Rathbone makes the perfect, quintessential mad doctor character. He speaks his emotions through his eyes. They can be intelligent, insane, and desperate. And though Cadman is sophisticated and intelligent, appearing to be in control, he's quite the opposite. I'm almost feeling presumptuous in daring to critique such a master actor as Rathbone. He's a surprising casting choice being more well known for portraying the world's most famous detective, but it's a fantastic choice, indeed. 

And the looming, unnerving presence of Tor Johnson is iconic to say the least. The blank eyes and mammoth presence of Johnson adds a monstrous queasiness to the film. His appearance is unforgettable. No doubt someone, at some point in history, who saw this movie had a nightmare with Tor Johnson from The Black Sleep. 

One shocking scene, the inclusion of which surprised me, shows one of Cadman's nurses accidentally catching fire and run screaming down a long corridor. Usually something that graphic would have been performed in a not-so-graphic manner. But thank God for independent films. That actress was on fire, or appeared to be set on fire. And we see her, flames and all, screaming down that corridor.   

Seeing all the patients of Cadman's locked in his basement was like walking through a well-made house of horrors, the likes of which will make a person cringe and heave. 

I enjoyed this movie. It really hit the horror-loving spot. 

I'm definitely putting The Black Sleep, which is an independent movie as I mentioned above, on my mental list of favorite horror flicks of all time.