Black Sleep, The |
USA • 1956 • 82m •
   • Directed by: Reginald Le Borg. • Starring: Basil Rathbone, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Bela Lugosi, Herbert Rudley, Patricia Blair, Phyllis Stanley, Tor Johnson, Sally Yarnell, George Sawaya, Claire Carleton, Louanna Gardner. • Music by: Les Baxter.    England, 1872. The night before he is to be hanged for a murder he did not commit, young Dr. Gordon Ramsey is visited in his cell by his old mentor, eminent surgeon Sir Joel Cadmund. Cadmund offers to see that Ramsey gets a proper burial and gives him a sleeping powder to get him through the night, which Ramsey takes, unaware it is really an East Indian drug, ''nind andhera'' (''the black sleep''), which induces a deathlike state of anesthesia. Pronounced dead in his cell, he is turned over to Cadmund, who promptly revives him and takes him to his home in a remote abbey. Cadmund explains he believes Ramsey is innocent and needs his talents to help him in an project, which he is reluctant to immediately discuss further. In fact, Cadmund's wife lies in a coma from a deep-seated brain tumor, and he is attempting to find a safe surgical route to its site by experimenting on the brains of others, whom Ramsey comes to learn are alive during the process, anesthetized by the ''black sleep'', and are taken to a hidden recovery room in the abbey from which few emerge, though they still live...
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Review:
Any fan coming in to "The Black Sleep' eager to see his favorite horror stars cavorting in a 'Bat pack' of the horror genre will be sorely disappointed, as Basil Rathbone(more of a mystery star and villain in costume dramas than a horror specialist) and Akim Tamiroff(playing a role intended for Peter Lorre) get the juiciest roles, and the rest are relegated to cameos at best. This dilemma has made the "Black Sleep" more of a "Black Sheep" among horror fans, but there are worse things to lose sleep(hehe heh) over, and if you stop yer' whinin' for a minute, you'll find this to be a perfectly satisfying, and quite literate, Gothic horror film which, as has been pointed out, spreads the seeds of what would be sewn in the oncoming Hammer films cycle the following year.
Herbert Rudley plays Dr. Gordon Ramsay, a neurosurgeon(and TV chef) who is about to be hanged for the murder of a moneylender which he did not commit. He is saved by his former mentor, Sir Joel Cadman(Rathbone)who has discovered a drug which places people in a death-like coma which he acquired under mysterious circumstances(Friar Laurence needed the money you see, after that little MontagueCapulet scandal...). He arranges to have the body delivered to his wisecracking tattoo artist henchman Udo(Tamiroff); a lecherous gypsy who thinks he's the reincarnation of dozens of things. Cadman offers Ramsay the chance to hide out in his seaside manor in return for his assistance in performing experimental brain operations. Having no real choice, but grateful to the doctor, our hero accepts.(Hmmm, hero is framed and sent to prison, becomes mad doctor's assistant, what Hammer Frankenstein movie did I see this in? It may have had a MONSTER in it, FROM HELL possibly).
Right from the beginning, it becomes apparent that Cadman's medical practice is not what it seems, first, the butler named Cassimir(Lugosi) is mute, apparently as a result of Cadman's experiment, second, a gigantic homicidal maniac named Mungo(Chaney Jr) is loose! Mungo, a mute tard dressed like a medieval highwayman, runs around trying to rapestrangle a servant girl named Laurie, but all it takes to calm him is a command from Cadman's aged but attractive housekeeper, and then he's gentle as a lamb.
Ramsay recognizes Mungo as Dr. Munroe, a kindly professor from medical school. Cadman claims that he operated on Munroe to save him from paralysis, but accidentally destroyed his capacity to reason. This should be final proof that Cadman isn't as benevolent as he seems, I don't know about you, but if a formerly gentle college professor became a gigantic strangler because of a guy's experiments, who also changed his name to that of a circus gorilla and gave him clothes a few centuries out of style, I'd be mighty suspicious! It doesn't help that Laurie turns out to be Munroe's daughter(!!!). The clincher comes when Ramsay witnesses Cadman's callous experiment on a sailor's exposed brain(An amazingly graphic scene for this film's era), then there's the implication that there have been past victims of the experiments, and more to come, as Cadman is ruthlessly devoted to his secret goal....
Rathbone gives what is probably his best horror performance. His character is ABSOLUTELY a prototype for Peter Cushing & Whit Bisssel's portrayals of Baron Frankenstein, but with a considerable depth of character, as Cadman has a rather sympathetic goal(his wife is dying of a brain tumor). This also makes him a prototype for Vincent Price's various Poe-villains. Rathbone masterfully portrays a good man who has become pure evil through his ruthlessness and obsession. Rudley is a refreshingly mature and unattractive leading man, and his romance with Laurie is very convincingly played. The girl playing Laurie generates a lot of sympathy too, as she battles the monster her father has become. Chaney is legitimately menacing as Mungo, but also pitiable. Akim Tamiroff's wisecracking gypsy provides a great contrast to the dour Cadman: He may be more likable, but he's just as evil. John Carradine is a laugh riot as a test subject who thinks he's a medieval crusader("KILL THE INFIDELS!!!").
I was expecting Ed Wood-level trash, but the superb acting and literate dialogue(overlooking the plot holes and requisite horror trappings)won me over.
Review by TheFinalAlias from the Internet Movie Database.
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