Ruth Rogen (Vivienne Osborne) was charged, put on trial and convicted of killing three of her former lovers. Now on death row she reaches out to a fourth lover named Paul Bavian (Alan Dinehart). Bavian is a fake psychic who was responsible for turning Rogen in to the police. He ignores her letter.
Dr. Carl Houston (H. B. Warner) visits Rogen in prison before she is executed. He asks her to donate her body to him for an experiment he wants to do. Houston believes that the evil soul of a person continues after death and continues to commit crimes by releasing ultraviolet rays and inhabiting the bodies of others. The result of which are copycat crimes. He hopes that his experiment will prevent her spirit from being released and thus prevent other crimes from happening. He picked Rogen because of the sensational aspects of her crimes. Eventually he convinces Rogan to allow the experiment letting her think that it may be possible to come back and continue her crime spree.
In the meantime, Roma Courtney (Carole Lombard) is mourning the death of her brother John (Lyman Williams). Roma, now the only heir to the family estate, is contacted by Bavian who tells her that he can contact her dead brother via a séance. Roma’s boyfriend Grant Wilson (Randolph Scott), estate manager, Nick Hammond (William Farnum) and family friend Dr. Houston think it’s a bad idea.
Roma goes anyway. Bavian puts on a fake show and halfway convinces Roma that he is indeed in contact with John. Roma and John visit Dr. Houston and interrupt his experiment with Rogen to talk to him about it. The interruption allows Rogen’s spirit to escape. Rogen tries to enter Roma’s body but doesn’t succeed.
Grant decides to prove that Bavian is a fake by having another séance. Bavian, once again, uses trickery to convince Roma that he is in contact with John’s spirit. He then tries to convince Roma that Hammond killed John for the estate. Hammond attacks Bavian. Rogen takes the opportunity to enter Roma’s body. Rogen, now in control of Roma is free to get her revenge on Bavian for turning her in.
Unbeknownst to everyone, the actual spirit of John has been watching what’s been going on all the time.
“Supernatural” was released in 1933 and was directed by Victor Halperin. It is a pre-code supernatural horror film. Pre-code aspects include not only sexual overtones but what could possibly be one of, if not, the first female serial killers on film. There is also one point later in the film where Bavian manages to cop a feel of Roma’s breast.
There is a lot going on in this movie. A black widow serial killer being executed, unusual experiments being done on the body, the actual spirit of the dead woman inhabiting another woman, a fake spiritualist, a real spirit, and a couple murders tossed in. So many sub-plots are involved to the point where some of them are not explored as much as I would have liked. All of them are intertwined in little more than an hour. Despite that flaw I did enjoy the film, especially when it was centered on a couple of very strong female actors. Both Carole Lombard and Vivienne Osborne were forces to be reckoned with.
At one point in the film, convicted murderer Ruth Rogen says “My body’s my own. The law gives me that much.” The film is not only pre-code but pre-overturning of Rowe V Wade.