Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

utgard14 Poverty Row cheapie starring Bela Lugosi as a professor running a soup kitchen as a front for his criminal activities. Slow, creaky, mostly boring B with only one person in the whole movie with any screen presence - Bela. And this is far from one of his better roles. The cast backing up Lugosi includes Vince Barnett, John Archer, J. Farrell MacDonald, Wanda McKay, and future murderer Tom Neal. Sadly the Bowery Boys do not appear. Similar plot to Lugosi's previous film, Dark Eyes of London/The Human Monster. Oh and there are zombies in this. Sort of. Not really.

mark.waltz Although Bela Lugosi made two movies with the Bowery Boys (or "East End Kids" as they were known at the time of those two unforgettable classics), this is not one of them. Yes, he is in the Bowery, working as the seemingly kindly head of a mission, which is not at all anywhere like the long-running Bowery Mission of legendary fame. He dispenses soup without religious chatter, has a nurse on staff to tend to the ailing, and treats his gentle wife with a tender hand. But there's another side to this philanthropist, which should be obvious considering who's playing the part, and his mission is simply a front for a crime ring. He has a keen eye for criminals hiding out in the mission, bribes them in assisting him with his nefarious criminal activity (which includes jewel robbery) then dispenses them when their services are no longer required. But his ill treatment of a weary doctor who lost his practice threatens to be his undoing, as does the student of psychology whose professor just happens to sound exactly like the kindly mission man.There's something about Bela Lugosi that is both pitiable and frightening. His characters, with that heavy Hungarian accent (no matter what nationality he played), are all one step away from doom, and in many of his films, his dispatchment at the end is obviously an instant elevator to hell. Yet, there's something about him that you can't take your eyes off, and even in roles other than Dracula and Igor, he's the dominating force of attention, even when paired with Karloff. The world-weary doctor character could have played by Karloff who only made occasional "Z" grade films, while Lugosi only appeared in the occasional "B" film at an "A" grade studio."Bowery at Midnight" is mostly crime drama with a very slight element of horror, and features "Z" movie mainstay Wanda McKay as the devoted nurse who has no idea of her employer's real mission until it is too late. The film is static-like, which makes it almost move like a silent film, yet it is not totally without merit. But it is not one of Lugosi's better Monogram films, either, because he is so identified with horror that when you compare this with PRC's "The Devil Bat" or Monogram's "The Corpse Vanishes", it lacks in the unintentional humor department that those (and others of his) encompassed. Once again, his character has a frail wife so in love with her devoted husband that she's oblivious to his real life, and once again, he's done in by younger men he believed he could easily crush with his pinkie. This makes it all predictable, until the very end, with a conclusion that is easily as eerie as his mad doctor's finale from 1935's "The Raven".

Scarecrow-88 A well respected psychology professor, Frederick Brenner, actually leads a life of crime, using his status as the proprietor of a Bowery soup kitchen to mask his devious activities. Under the name of Karl Wagner(Bela Lugosi), Brenner is able to lift criminals on the run off the street, putting them to work for him..that is until he no longer needs them. Brenner's office in the Bowery soup kitchen building houses secret rooms as escape hatches while also servicing him the ability to stash away confiscated items. Wagner's operation has been successfully robbing bank vaults, then ridding himself of criminals who would potentially provide problems later. Brenner's wife has no idea that her husband has been coming home late at night and having nightmares due to his criminal work(..he lies to her about writing a book, on the street researching). One sub-plot features Wagner's employee, Judy Malvern(..the very lovely Wanda McKay)and her beau, Richard Dennison(..great television actor John Archer)whose lives will soon be complicated when unforeseen circumstances lead them to discover the fiend Brenner really is..Dennison is actually Brenner's student at his college, and when he goes to the Bowery masquerading as a bum, working on a project for class, he'll uncover a horrifying truth regarding how cruel and evil his professor really is. Another sub-plot has Wagner's underling, Doc Brooks(Lew Kelly), once a great physician, now a drug-addicted fraidy-cat who disposes of bodies in a graveyard created within a secret room under the Bowery building, reviving those unfortunate souls put to death as a way of revenge when his moment comes towards his lecherous boss. Pete Crawford(Dave O'Brien)is a newly promoted detective, once pounding the pavement as a beat cop, who devotes his time to unraveling the sting operation that's depleting banks of monetary resources. Tom Neal, very effective as Wagner's newly recruited trigger man, Frankie Mills, a tough-talking, fearless thug, replacing tired gunner, Stratton(Wheeler Oakman)who was about to end his partnership with the boss.Solid cast backing up Lugosi, in a tour-de-force performance getting a chance to portray a multi-layered character. The movie is over-plotted, for sure, and the zombie premise that develops is more than a bit ridiculous. Still, this is essential viewing for die-hard Lugosi fans, even if BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT attempts to pack too much in a small running time. Some of the criminal acts by Brenner/Wagner are chilling such as his orders to murder specific characters(..often committing a few himself, unflinchingly)and his cornering of student Dennison within the basement of the soup kitchen is particularly shocking. Not really a horror film as much as a crime drama.

newportbosco One of the best of Bela's Monograms, mostly due to it's total craziness. This is the 5th of Bela's nine Mongrams' and by the looks of it, the plot was SO twisted the censors were just about ready to toss up there hands in incomprehension..and ignored stuff they might have nailed in years past. How else do we account for Bela's angry line about cats 'DESECRATING' his graves?? (Yeah, that's the word he uses. Not 'digging in'. It might be the first time a movie character complained about cats using graves as a litter box..) And it's not the only eyebrow raising thing...there is a sick creepy vibe that runs through this thing..really neat, actually. The plot has Bela doing multiple roles and defies logic or description. He kills folks in lots of scams and buries them in the basement in clearly marked graves with CROSSES no less...and has a drug addicted ex doctor side kick who has created zombies in the sub basement..(got that??) He also has the ability to work all night while telling his doting wife he is really writing, and then turn around and go back to run a soup kitchen or class room...Maybe the speed he would HAVE to take to DO such feats has fried his mind... But the cast and crew...this is one from your dreams. Fox, and Schnitzer directed and wrote CORPSE VANISHES from last time. Vince Barnett, also from CORPSE, is along for the ride. Archer made KING OF THE ZOMBIES..a flick that Bela was SUPPOSED to have made and SHOULD HAVE...Leading lady Wanda MacKay came back for VOODOO MAN, and keep your eye out for Ralph Littlefield...he's the friendly guy playing checkers and graduates next time to a pivotal role in THE APE MAN. You also get Tom Neal from DETOUR and Dave ("Play it FASTER!!") OBrien from REEFER MADNESS. It's one of the best Poverty Row casts ever assembled. And Bela is clearly DIGGING it...he gets KICKS out of double crossing folks and shooting them in cold blood, getting them pushed off roofs...the man is positively GLEEFULL. Now, of course, you HAVE to have the ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL ending so Archer SOMEHOW comes back and marries MacKay, but you won't forget those graves...or the cat