Not only is "Invisible Ghost" one of the most unusual crime dramas I've ever seen - it would certainly puzzle even the most experienced psychiatrist, and the average crime movie fan sooner or later starts to doubt his own sanity - but it's also one of Bela Lugosis best and unusual performances. Although it gets far too little attention today, this film goes deep into the analysis of psychology, love and hatred, and crime; and NO one could have played such a rare case of schizophrenia caused by the fact that his beloved wife ran away with another man like Bela Lugosi did.
A most gentle, sweet, caring man with a deep sorrow in his heart - that's how he is when he is 'himself'. BUT at night, his wife's 'ghost' turns up in the garden below, and as soon as he sees her figure from the window, he turns into a somnambulist murderer... A very tragic film (with the hint, by the way, that the American 'Justice' DOES makes mistakes: they send an innocent man to the electric chair for one of the murders!) that weighs heavily on the audience (another example for Monogram's ability to produce films way beyond the usual 'Poverty Row' level) - but it gives Bela a GREAT opportunity to show ALL his immense repertoire of emotions; and in the end it makes us feel more sympathy for his tragical character as ever. A really high-class, serious movie that makes one think - something that by far not every product of Hollywood's 'dream factory' achieves...
A most gentle, sweet, caring man with a deep sorrow in his heart - that's how he is when he is 'himself'. BUT at night, his wife's 'ghost' turns up in the garden below, and as soon as he sees her figure from the window, he turns into a somnambulist murderer... A very tragic film (with the hint, by the way, that the American 'Justice' DOES makes mistakes: they send an innocent man to the electric chair for one of the murders!) that weighs heavily on the audience (another example for Monogram's ability to produce films way beyond the usual 'Poverty Row' level) - but it gives Bela a GREAT opportunity to show ALL his immense repertoire of emotions; and in the end it makes us feel more sympathy for his tragical character as ever. A really high-class, serious movie that makes one think - something that by far not every product of Hollywood's 'dream factory' achieves...