SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

blanche-2 Carole Lombard stars with Randolph Scott, Alan Dinehart, Vivienne Osborne, and H.B. Warner in "Supernatural" from 1933, directed by Victor Halperin. Halperin apparently did not like Lombard's performance in this, regarding her as better in comedy.The story begins with a woman, Ruth Rogen (Osborne), on death row after being convicted of several murders of men with whom she was involved. She has asked one of her exes who managed to stay alive, Paul Bavian (Dinehart) to visit her in prison. He's the one who betrayed her to the police, so one suspects, despite her forgiving words, that she's hoping to make a shiv out of soap and let him have it should he show up. Bavian is a fake medium, and he contacts the twin sister, Roma (Lombard), of one of Rogen's victims, saying he has a message from her brother. This of course is the first step in getting his hands on her money.A doctor, Carl Houston (Warner) gets Rogen to agree to let him have her body after execution so he can do some sort of electronic ray experimentation, believing that the mind goes on after death. Rogen agrees to it, hoping this means she can still get at Bavian.It happens that during one of his experiments, Roma arrives to see him and Rogen's mind takes over hers. Enjoyable film, as preposterous as they come, with some wonderful cinematography and great sets. The beautiful, glamorous Lombard does a terrific job as the sweet, unhappy Roma becoming the murderous Rogen, and the other performances are excellent, though they may seem a bit dated now. Beryl Mercer as Bavian's landlady is terrific in a small role, and Vivienne Osborne is a standout.See this if you have the opportunity.

mhesselius Negative reviews of this film should be seen in context. Most Carole Lombard fans are looking for light comedies and romances, certainly not horror pictures. Horror fans, however, must be delighted to find Lombard starring in this movie from the Halperins, who produced the successful Lugosi vehicle "White Zombie" in 1932.Only a few times in the 1930s' golden age of horror did these films get the star power and production they deserved. Among major studios Paramount led the way with this type of film, even predating Universal with John Barrymore's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in 1920 when the only horror films were coming out of Germany. In the '30s Paramount, encouraged by Universal's success, cast Charles Laughton in "The Island of Lost Souls" and Frederic March in a remake of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." In "Supernatural" Lombard is fine in the lead role of a woman possessed by the evil spirit of a murderess. And while this film is not a classic, it is an effective horror film by a major studio. The fact that it rates 6.0 stars is amazing when you consider what types of films Lombard's fans are used to seeing her in.

tom.hamilton This is a very unusual, interesting and even pioneering horror andhaving read a number of negative comments about this film I can't help feeling people are missing the point almost as much now as audiences did in 1933. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEADTry to see this as not a Carol Lombard film but a bigger budgeted follow up from the guys who made White Zombie. It's a beautifully shot and decidedly unusual story which actually takes it's subject matter quite seriously, while providing some genuinely shocking moments and a chilling ending when the real killer returns. Whilst it's true that Lombard is pretty bland through most of this she does okay in her possessed scenes.But the performance that really stands out for me is that of little Beryl Mercer as the landlady of the faker who attempts blackmail. Mercer, most familiar as James Cagney's simple minded mother in Public Enemy, excelled at playing downtrodden yet naively positive types and always brought a touching quality of innocence to her performances. Even here, as a seedy and unscrupulous character that warmth is evident and it makes you not want to see her hurt. So her terror and disbelief when she realizes her tenant has poisoned her, makes for a very chilling and heartbreaking moment, one of the most powerful pieces of acting I've seen in an early talkie. That scene alone lifts this film far above the normal, and since then I'm always pleased to see her in any supporting cast.

preppy-3 Silly horror tale about the soul of an executed murderess possessing the body of another woman. Film starts off well but quickly becomes slow and boring. Some impressive visuals throughout, but the main plot is absurd--according to this, the spirits of executed killers possess living people and have them perform "copycat" murders! It's ridiculous and we're supposed to take it seriously.The cast doesn't help. With the sole exception on Vivienne Osborne as the murderess everyone is horrible--even Carole Lombard and Randolph Scott! Lombard was forced into this movie--she really didn't want to do it--and it shows. Montgomery is certainly handsome but VERY bland and dull. The rest of the cast is just hopeless--none of them went on to become well-known--it's easy to see why.An old, creaky boring horror film. Don't bother.