Ah the B-movie. Where would we be without these cheesy tales of horror and suspense? They were never more than mildly satisfying in their heyday and are only worth watching now because they are laughably bad by modern standards. Such is the case with The Corpse Vanishes. While there is probably no way of doing a bad film “right,” this one leaves me thinking that there could actually be a pretty promising story underneath a lot of muck.A number of brides have been dropping dead at the altar only to have their bodies disappear before the coroner arrives. News reporter Patricia Hunter is on the case at first just for the juicy gossip but she and a doctor team up after discovering a shocking clue that piles mystery on top of intrigue. The women weren’t suddenly dying after all- they were being placed into a near-death like state by poisoned orchids mysteriously delivered to each bride just before walking down the aisle.
The culprit turns out to be they shifty Dr. Lorenz (Bela Lugosi), a botanist and mad scientist. He poisons the brides-to-be and whisks them away to his secret basement laboratory in order to transfer their bodily fluids into his wife in an attempt to keep her forever young. As Patricia and Dr. Foster put the pieces together, it become a game of cat and mouse as Dr. Lorenz sets his sights on the young and lovely Patricia.
While all the medical and scientific advancements in the last few decades would still leave The Corpse Vanishes as a laughable story today, the idea of a scientist finding a way to preserve youth through unscrupulous means wasn’t a bad plot for the 1940s. The execution of that little idea is where everything started to go wrong.
Dr. Lorenz’s setup is all too much. I understand the desire to keep his wife looking young. I understand the need to snatch up young girls in order to serve that purpose. What I can’t wrap my head around is why it has to be brides. All of his targets are young women, which makes sense, but let’s face it- despite what nostalgia might like you to believe, even in the 1940s there was no guarantee that a young bride was a virgin, so that can’t be the reason. Lorenz is really taking a big risk, assuming the bride will even smell the orchid and be affected. He’s also taking a large risk by trying to beat the coroner to the punch and making off with the near-dead bride.
It’s all too complicated and intricate to make any sense. If all he needs is young women, he could easily pluck them up off the street. Or he could set up a front business as a funeral parlor for his little scheme. The way he tries to get away with it dooms him to failure from the get-go. This setup may be necessary in order for the good guys to find the clues and connect the dots but it’s too intricate and unnecessary to suspend disbelief.
The writing is pretty much on par for weak B-movies and the acting follows suit. The good guys tackle their roles the best they can but even they fall victim to awkward lines and stiffly delivered discoveries. Bela Lugosi does a lot of scowling and doesn’t use many big words. His accent isn’t as pronounced as it was a decade before with Dracula but it still aides him in sounding evil and mysterious.
The one obvious sticking point for The Corpse Vanishes is that there aren’t any vanishing corpses. Sure, everyone at the church believes the would-be-bride to have died, but she’s really just been heavily sedated. Maybe I’m being too picky on that one but I really hate false advertising.
Fortunately, this film is a short one, coming in at just 64 minutes. For added amusement, check out the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version. I watched it with the MST3K treatment and they certainly didn’t miss any opportunity to fill this pause-ridden film (at least while Lugosi is on screen) with hilarious comments.
The culprit turns out to be they shifty Dr. Lorenz (Bela Lugosi), a botanist and mad scientist. He poisons the brides-to-be and whisks them away to his secret basement laboratory in order to transfer their bodily fluids into his wife in an attempt to keep her forever young. As Patricia and Dr. Foster put the pieces together, it become a game of cat and mouse as Dr. Lorenz sets his sights on the young and lovely Patricia.
While all the medical and scientific advancements in the last few decades would still leave The Corpse Vanishes as a laughable story today, the idea of a scientist finding a way to preserve youth through unscrupulous means wasn’t a bad plot for the 1940s. The execution of that little idea is where everything started to go wrong.
Dr. Lorenz’s setup is all too much. I understand the desire to keep his wife looking young. I understand the need to snatch up young girls in order to serve that purpose. What I can’t wrap my head around is why it has to be brides. All of his targets are young women, which makes sense, but let’s face it- despite what nostalgia might like you to believe, even in the 1940s there was no guarantee that a young bride was a virgin, so that can’t be the reason. Lorenz is really taking a big risk, assuming the bride will even smell the orchid and be affected. He’s also taking a large risk by trying to beat the coroner to the punch and making off with the near-dead bride.
It’s all too complicated and intricate to make any sense. If all he needs is young women, he could easily pluck them up off the street. Or he could set up a front business as a funeral parlor for his little scheme. The way he tries to get away with it dooms him to failure from the get-go. This setup may be necessary in order for the good guys to find the clues and connect the dots but it’s too intricate and unnecessary to suspend disbelief.
The writing is pretty much on par for weak B-movies and the acting follows suit. The good guys tackle their roles the best they can but even they fall victim to awkward lines and stiffly delivered discoveries. Bela Lugosi does a lot of scowling and doesn’t use many big words. His accent isn’t as pronounced as it was a decade before with Dracula but it still aides him in sounding evil and mysterious.
The one obvious sticking point for The Corpse Vanishes is that there aren’t any vanishing corpses. Sure, everyone at the church believes the would-be-bride to have died, but she’s really just been heavily sedated. Maybe I’m being too picky on that one but I really hate false advertising.
Fortunately, this film is a short one, coming in at just 64 minutes. For added amusement, check out the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version. I watched it with the MST3K treatment and they certainly didn’t miss any opportunity to fill this pause-ridden film (at least while Lugosi is on screen) with hilarious comments.
RATING: 0.5 out of 5
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