“Bowery at Midnight” (1942) starring Bela Lugosi / Z-View

Bowery at Midnight (1942)

Director: Wallace Fox

Screenplay: Gerald Schnitzer

Stars: Bela Lugosi, John Archer, Wanda McKay, Tom Neal, Vince Barnett, John Berkes, ‘Snub’ Pollard and Bernard Gorcey.

Tagline: BELA LUGOSI CHILLER! WEIRD! THRILLING!

The Plot…

Karl Wagner (Lugosi) runs a soup kitchen that serves as a front for his many criminal enterprises.  Wagner recruits ex-cons and those who are down-and-out to perform robberies and worse.  Wagner then kills them. He disposes of their bodies in a secret room that leads underground.  His accomplice, a doctor who is also an addict, performs experiments on the cadavers.

As the cops close in, Wagner will go to any extreme to escape.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

At the end the undercover cop played by John Archer is shot and presumably killed.  He is taken by the doctor who we discover has perfected the ability to bring the dead back to life as zombies.  Lugosi’s character is attacked by the zombies when he goes into the basement.  Then the final scene of the movie is John Archer’s character with his love interest.  He appears to be totally recovered from being dead and isn’t a zombie.  Huh?

Bowery at Midnight (1942) rates 2 of 5 stars.