“Death is very close.” “Death is always very close.”
A knife wielding maniac has been on a killing spree. On each victim he pins a newspaper clipping to their bodies. Police have been stymied trying to find the culprit. So far a dozen people have been murdered. The last victims were found near the Rinehart Estate.
At the Rinehart Estate Dr. Arthur Hornsby (George Meeker) has been working on a serum that will suspend life for a period of time. He believes he has perfected his formula. If so, it could prove to be a benefit to mankind. To prove his theory he plans on taking the serum himself and being buried alive.
Before he can perform his experiment his rich uncle Richard Rinehart (Tully Marshall) is murdered. People believe it may be the work of the maniac. The police are called. Along with them is a wise cracking reporter Tom Hartley (Wallace Ford).
A week later Richard’s will is read leaving a large fortune to be spread among his heirs. Included in the will besides Arthur are; Richard’s daughter Mary (Sally Blane), his brother John (Bryant Washburn), John’s wife Sarah (Gertrude Michael) and his two servants Degar (Bela Lugosi) and his wife Sika (Mary Frey). The will also stipulates that if one or more of them dies, the assets are to be distributed among the remaining heirs.
Despite the death of his uncle Arthur intends on going ahead with his experiment. As he lies in his coffin underground members of the family above ground begin to die one-by-one. Suspicion is cast on the servant Degar.
“Night of Terror” was released in 1933 and was directed by Benjamin Stoloff. The movie is another of the ‘Old Dark House’ sub-genre. It’s a decent example of the genre. There is no thunderstorm but there is a séance. And there is murder.
Even though his part is smaller, Lugosi’s performance as Degar is very good. He is menacing from beginning to end. In other words he is Lugosi. Degar is, I believe, Indian probably Sikh since he wears a turban. I’m not sure about his wife Sika. She is a medium of some kind and goes into trances. Something that Degar is not happy about. The movie is only about 65 minutes long but it’s worth having in your collection if you are a Lugosi fan.
The only real draw back is the awful stereotyping of the black chauffer Martin (Oscar Smith). He was also uncredited. There is a tiny twist at the end that isn’t really a twist. It’s directed at the audience and they are asked not to reveal the ending to anyone. A similar plot angle has been used in other “Old Dark House” stories.