Now for those of you who are wondering what a serial, I'll tell you real quick. A serial is what I like to call the early Television of the media. A short film series would play on the big screen, however, instead of making them a long film, they would end with cliffhangers that would lead up to the next episode or "chapter" as they call it. However, by order to see the next chapter, you'd have to wait a week before you can see the following chapter. Once the film was released, you then rush to your local theater and buy your ticket, so you can see what happens next. The serials weren't just shown alone, they usually appear along with cartoon shorts, newsreels, live action shorts, trailers and a film to go with it all. That's right, let alone the radio, going to the theater at the time was as close to watching a giant TV. Now that you know what serials are, lets get on with the review on my first movie serial ever.
We meet our main character the mad Dr.Alex Zorka played by Bela Lugosi in his final serial appearance. He makes new invention which he plans to use for evil with his assistant Monk. Dr.Mallory is a former associate of Zorka and Military Intelligent Officers Bob West and Jim Daily suspect he plans to use them for evil and they must stop him. Newspaper reporter Jean Drew also wants to know about the investigation.
Bela Lugosi as Zorka is really good as this mad scientist. Ok it's not Dracula good, but he's still fun to watch. This guy is one of the best mad doctors I've ever seen. He makes inventions such as an Invisible Belt (Which has been done before this film) that makes him invisible which has a good effect for a serial, a disk for a fake robotic spider to follow and blow up when it reaches the disk and the victim goes through suspended animation but my favorite invention is the silly looking and moving Iron giant Robot that does whatever his master pleases. He also has a secret lab behind the fireplace that only his Robot can push open, while having a regular lab outside of the secret room, plus the secret lab has a secret way out. I also love how he alters his appearance. He's also crazy and smart enough to fake his own death.
Zorka's assistant Monk, man I wish to see him have a hunchback assistant instead. The cliched wife that worries about him and the hero Capt. Bob West and the other characters don't amuse me as much as Lugosi but this is only the first episode. As for the special effects, they're laughable, my favorite is the fake looking plane in front of a projection screen and then we see stock footage of a real plane that looks completely different.
The first Chapter is good campy fun and a good introduction to this mad Doctor.
RATING 3/5
Zorka faked his own death with his invisibility belt and plans to return to his lab and collect his inventions. However, the place is heavily guarded and Zorka and his assistant must sneak in. Meanwhile, Doctor Mallory is helping our hero find Zorka's lab and Jean Drew has sneaked inside the house as well.
The first ten minutes is just covering up everything and the result of the cliffhanger. The plot really kicks in when Zorka and his assistant sneak inside the house. Monk is the bate and Zorka is the sneak attack with his invisible belt. The scenes when he's invisible are once again nice but not as great as the effects in "The Invisible Man". I laughed when I saw an empty car in front of a projector which is suppose to be Zorka driving invisible. Once again, Bela Lugosi does a good job and I love how he thinks and sets up a death for our hero. The characters are a lot better than the first chapter, like I'm starting to get more attached to our hero Bob and the nosy reporter Jean. As for the assistant...well I can't believe he's still alive, they hit him almost with 5 shots and he's still alive. Well it's bad luck for me if the character doesn't do something cool or over the top instead of dressing like The Green Hornets sidekick in a few scenes.
Not very suspenseful but the characters are getting better and the plot's getting better too.
RATING 3/5
CHAPTER 3: CRASHING TOWERS
Doctor Zorka is guarding a meteorite fragment he received in the jungles of Africa and is planing to use it for destruction with it's powerful destructive force. Meanwhile, Dr. Mallroy created a "Neo-Meter" that can detect the presence of Zorka's meteorite.
We go from a previous Chapter where the supporting characters are starting to develop to going back to chapter 1 where the supporting characters are back to being bland and are given very wooden performances. Bela Lugosi doesn't appear to much in this chapter either, so that's a huge downer as well. Oh and remember the shot up assistant Monk, he acts like their wasn't a scratch on him, AM I MISSING SOMETHING?! The meteorite that Zorka finds is just as great as the set up for the devices he made in the first episode. It's kept in a box and if it's opened it can cause major damage. The flashback where he gets the meteorite is all mostly stock footage from "The Invisible Ray" starring Boris Karloff and Karloff is the one in the radiation suit, not Lugosi.
Well what can I say, we're moving backwards instead of forward with characters and even though the new weapon is a good new set up, the use of stock footage for the backstory on how Bela Lugosi received it is....well.... lazy.
RATING 2/5
CHAPTER 4: INVISIBLE TERROR
The Foreign Spy Ring captured Jean,Drew and Dr.Mallory who stole Zorka's meteorite. Zorka tends to find the meteorite to continue his plan of world domination.
Things went from boring to back to it's campy roots. Ok, the supporting characters are still bland but at least characters such as the reporter Jean and the assistant Monk are at least getting back to being interesting at least. I also like the leader of the Foreign Spy Ring who's after the box, I hope he does some interesting things in further episodes. Bela Lugosi is still enjoyable and has made some improvements to his inventions. Some of the campy cheesy fun happens mostly in the lab with Zorka and Monk. I like how Zorka sicks his funny looking and moving robot on Monk, it's really laughable. I also like his cheesy looking invention that heals Monks bullet wound (Man Monk is a survivor), it's just a device that spins around while Monk puts his arm under it and we cut to stock footage of electric lab equipment seen in various horror films.
We're back to the fun and campy roots, with characters who are back to being interesting.
RATING 3/5
Dr.Mallory is taken as prisoner by the foreign agents and he's forced to experiment with the Meteorite. Zorka is still on the trail to take back the meteorite.
The acting is getting back to decent, however the only characters who I can remember in this chapter is Mallory and Zorka. Some of the action is a bit cheesy such as the shoot out at the beginning and the chase at the end, well all I recall from the chase is the cliffhanger with the train. Bela Lugosi doesn't get to much screen time and I'm beginning to realize, the scenes without Lugosi or his Robot are just boring and unexciting, even the action as I said before doesn't cut it as much. The Invisible effects once again are nice, like when the Box is being picked up or when he vanishes. However ,I do find the blurry light indicating Zorka's presence when he's invisible a little cheesy but hey so is so many other things in this serial and their enjoyably cheesy.
A bit of a boring chapter but hey the special effects can be nice and laughably cheesy.
RATING 2/5
Jean gets caught by the foreign spies but she cleverly convinces them that she's after Zorka's meteorite. However, Jim suspects she's working with the agents instead of working against them. Dr.Mallory and Bob suspect Zorka maybe still alive and plan to track him down with a "Neometer".
Most of the characters are still bland and the only character I seem to be interested in then Bela Lugosi's character is Jean. I love how nosy she is and I like how she gets in and out of situations, the rest of the characters so far are boring, bland and forgettable. Zorka appears a lot more in this chapter and he's made new inventions such as invisible gas and a Z-Ray. We also get to see his Robot more and he once again does some funny things with it's cheesy movements.
Thank you for making Zorka, Jean and the Robot as our main focus in this chapter.
RATING 3/5
This chapter held me on the edge of my seat the whole entire time because there's so much going on. Monk tries to betray Zorka, the spies have the meteorite, Zorka is trapped, our heroes must get it back and the spies are leaving on their getaway Yacht. I like that we spend the first half of the chapter with Zorka and Monk (Which by the way, Monk survives another near death situation) and I like that the second half is all about trying to get the Meteorite from the spies.
This chapter tops all the previous chapters by a long shot.
RATING 3/5
Slow but full of cheap and campy effects
RATING 3/5
Zorka's cover has been blown by the foreign spies and the spies have the meteorite and the G Men along with Jean are trying to get it back.
Aside from an unrealistic cliffhanger result (However the whole serial is unrealistic so I'll let it slide) this was another chapter that held me on the edge of my seat. There's some good fighting (Well for the time) in the chapter, such as the fight on the speedboat at the end, decent while at the same time cheap and campy invisible effects and Bela Lugosi is great as he usually is in this serial. I'd tell you more but then I'd be ruining the chapter for you.
This Chapter never gets boring and keeps getting more interesting by the minute.
RATING 3/5
Zorka has a plan to kill the foreign spies but he needs Monks help, while he pretends to be dead, however the spies still have the hunch that Zorka is alive and is setting a trap. The G Men and Jean are still on the trail for Zorka's meteorite.
First off, I like that Monk is the focus on the first half in this chapter and I'm really really glad that he finally gets to star in this one with Zorka as his sidekick for a change. Again, we get a lot of campy action such as the fight in Zorka's lab complete with the Z Ray and the Iron Robot, a fight on the train,a fight in the the railroad tower and a bit of a chase. Yes, the Chapter does have some noticeable campy stuff such as a side shot of a speedboat with a projector screen behind it, those campy invisible effects and I can swear that I was looking at a model train from time to time.
Another Chapter that never gets boring.
RATING 3/5
Dr.Zorka goes out to look for his meteorite as the Phantom, meanwhile the spies are being followed by Bob and Jean.
The whole serial is unrealistic and boy does this chapter really show. The result of the cliffhanger was unrealistic, assuming that Monk gets killed in the last chapter, he apparently has survived assuming he used Zorka's healing machine but he gets shot again and comes back to Zorka's lab looking healthy. How is Monk able to survive all this?! Bela Lugosi has little screen time in this chapter and by the way, out of all chapters, this is the shortest one. The chapter also has a very odd and weird montage of various broadcasts.
Not really an exciting chapter but it is at least entertaining.
RATING 2/5
Well here we are, the final Chapter of this serial. All I can say about the plot is, this is the final battle between our heroes and Zorka.
This was a great way to end this very odd and strange serial. Zorka uses all of his weapons against an army, Zorka succeeds on blowing up his enemies as well as nearly taking over the world and on top of it, the climax takes place in the air. This chapter also has a very controversial scene. Zorka blows up a blimp and we cut to stock footage of the Hindenburg disaster which I do find very offensive since people actually died in it and yes I'm not to crazy about Nostalgia Critic's Hindenburg jokes either, it be like making fun of 9/11 it's just not funny.
With the Hindenburg controversy aside, it's still a swell conclusion to the serial.
RATING 3/5
OVERALL
This serial is well...unusual. The story and ideas are strange, weird, bizarre, a tad bit confusing at points and very unrealistic (Epically the many times that Monk has survived being shot). The characters, well aside from Bela Lugosi as Zorka, the only two I remember as well as enjoyed are Jean Drew the reporter and Zorka's assistant Monk, the rest of the characters are bland, forgettable and very woodenly acted. The special effects while some being good, they're mostly campy, laughable and ridiculous half of the time. The action, well some are good, some are very anti climatic and some are campy. As much as I gave most chapters a 3/5, it all adds up to a worth a look then being a love or hate serial. If you're a horror fan (Like me) or if you enjoy Bela Lugosi or if you like watching campy horror stuff that are so bad that they're funny and entertaining, then you might get a kick out of this one. Me personally, I'm all three of those types of viewers so I enjoy the serial very much.
RATING FOR THE WHOLE SERIAL 2/5
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