Director
Ford Beebe, Saul A. Goodkind
Cast
Bela Lugosi - Dr. Alex Zorka
Robert Kent - Capt. Bob West
Dorothy Arnold - Jean Drew
Jack C. Smith - Monk
Way back in the mid to late 1980s, and possibly into the 1990s, every once in a while my family would take a drive across the Bay over to San Francisco's historic Cliff House restaurant to spend the day.
The Cliff House, which has history dating as far back as 1858, was rebuilt six times or so since then. And it continues to sit facing the Pacific Ocean from above the cliffs north of Ocean Beach in the Outer Richmond area of San Francisco.
My early memories of those day trips included enjoying a cup of hot chocolate to ease the chilly winds San Francisco is famous for, having a lunch of fish and chips while sitting outside, and walking down the cliffs with my brother to the remnants of the old Sutro Baths that once stood just below the Cliff House.
As 35 people died in that explosion, using actual footage for a serial/ movie is in poor taste.
But above all this, what sticks out the most was the old penny arcade that was once located in the basement of the Cliff House.
The penny arcade, which featured coin machines and games dating throughout the 20th century (some as far back as the early 1900s, and others from San Francisco's former amusement park, Playland) is now housed in the Musee Mecanique located along Fisherman's Wharf.
I distinctly remember walking into the penny arcade and being greeted by a large black and white portrait of a menacing character with his fierce eyes wide open and brow furled, his hands outstretched with curled fingers, and his glossy straight black hair combed back. His gaze was fixed on all who entered.
This picture scared me. I had no idea who this was.
I remember once, finally, asking my mother about the man in the large picture. She told me he was Dracula. I asked her who "Dracula" was. She explained who he was, and that he was known for "biting the necks" of his victims. Of course this explanation didn't help. I was dumbfounded. Biting necks! Why? I couldn't shake that image from my mind.
I would see this image of Bela Lugosi as Dracula again, and again, and again for years to come.
Bela Lugosi is most famous for his portrayal of the most famous vampire ever known in the 1931 movie, Dracula - a role he didn't wear any fangs for. Nor did he really need to, though now any portrayal of a vampire is never without fangs.
His image that once hung inside the basement of San Francisco's Cliff House was my introduction to Dracula, and to vampires in general. I'm proud to say it initially scared me.
Since then, I have watched a fair amount of Bela Lugosi movies including, of course, Dracula.
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| Bela Lugosi (center) and Jack C. Smith (right). |
He starred in a lot of films between 1917 and 1956. In fact, I recently reviewed his last movie The Black Sleep from 1956. His role sadly has no dialogue.
But in The Phantom Creeps Lugosi stars as the main character/ villain, Dr. Alex Zorka.
The Phantom Creeps started as a 12-part serial in 1939, lasting 265 minutes in total.
Ten years later, it was cut down to 78 minutes and released as a TV movie. The latter is what I'm writing about.
I'll add that the serial's scrolling synopsis of each individual chapter was an inspiration for George Lucas.
Dr. Zorka is a villainous scientist and inventor whose specialty is weaponry.
Among those inventions are a huge robot slave, robot spiders that can either paralyze or kill a person, and a belt that can turn him invisible.
But his most dangerous possession is a fragment from a meteor that has the power to render an entire army immobile via suspended animation.
A group of foreign spies are aware Zorka possesses this fragment. They disguise themselves as a foreign language school, and search out pieces of the meteorite including the one he owns.
Zorka's former partner is irked his old boss won't turn over his inventions to the U.S. Government for the betterment of mankind.
He reports Zorka to the Military Intelligence Department who have their eye on him.
Meanwhile, Zorka is irritated that he keeps being interrupted by the group of spies and representatives from the government, so he moves his lab.
When his wife, who has been trying to gain his attention, is brutally killed, Zorka swears revenge against those trying to acquire his technology. His plan is to use his inventions to make himself a dictator.
But Zorka's assistant, Monk, who's an escaped convict, interferes with his plans.
Why Zorka keeps Monk around despite both is intentional and accidental hindrances is awkward. But, he keeps him around none-the-less.
He has to be stopped before he's able to follow through with his evil plan.
Despite being heavily edited from its serial version it flows rather nicely. In other words, it doesn't feel choppy. I was still able to follow the story.
And for the movie being as old as it is, the special effects are well done.
One thing that seems really awkward and uncomfortable was the use of footage from the Hindenburg disaster which at the time occurred two years earlier.
The footage is used to make it appears as though Zorka deliberately caused it.
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| Jack C. Smith (left) and Bela Lugosi. |
Otherwise, I was invested enough in the story to see it through to the end. It's a fun watch for those interested in classic horror/ sci-fi.
Director Ford Beebe has sat in the director's chair for other serials of the period including Flash Gordon, The Green Hornet, and Secret Agent X-9. He also directed the horror movie classic The Invisible Man's Revenge.
He and co-director Saul A. Goodkind also worked together on Buck Rogers. Goodkind also worked as a film editor for The Invisible Man's Revenge.
The menacing face on Zorka's robot slave is the stuff of nightmares, even 80 years later. It's unforgettable.
Lugosi has a way of making his character one the audience loves to hate. He portrays Zorka well - a man who is hell bent on destruction and domination. Lugosi is clearly invested in his role.
I think, however, I would enjoy the serial more than the TV movie. I have the feeling it would be more exciting to sit through despite being longer. That's certainly not saying the movie is terrible. It just needs a little more excitement.
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