THE SOUL OF A MONSTER (1944)

[Dewey1960]

TCM aired THE SOUL OF A MONSTER, a highly unusual "B" horror film --- perhaps supernatural noir might be a more accurate description--- from Columbia the other morning and I was fortunate enough to record it. I watched it late last night and found it to be a most unexpected surprise.

Similar in some ways to Val Lewton's films, it sports a lively visual scheme (it was shot by Burnett Guffey) and employs a number of tricks which seem to have been invented and patented by Lewton and his creatively talented directors (the sudden appearance of an overhead train at night, abrupt thunder and lightning, etc) over at RKO. Rose Hobart and George Macready head the cast and Will Jason, a veteran of "B" films and later of 50s/60s TV, directed in a most sensitive and stylish manner.

But what I found most appealing was the esoteric spiritual content (an enigmatic woman, possibly an emissary of the Devil himself, heals a young, dying doctor -- only to use him for her own evil and manipulative purposes.) Despite the potentially disastrous consequences of such a premise, SOUL OF A MONSTER is infused with many interesting nuances. Much of the dialogue (and there's lots of it for a 60 minute film) concerns itself with the poetics of the conflict between good and evil. What's genuinely baffling to me is SOUL OF A MONSTER generally receives poor reviews from conventional sources like Leonard Maltin; his book of reviews designates it as "Bomb." I thought this film was mesmerizing in that wonderfully dream-like way that only a "B" film can be.

I'd heard of this film for years but it had always eluded me. I'm quite grateful for the opportunity to have seen it; hopefully TCM will run it again in the near future. Did anyone else happen to catch it?

[Mr. Arkadin]

Rats. I wish I had seen this one Dewey. It sounds great!