Let's look at another obscure, old public domain film. The subject, this time, is 'The Devil's Messenger.'
Satan (Lon Chaney Jr) attempts to lure people down to Hell. A new resident is a woman who had recently killed herself. Her name is (prepare for copious eye-rolling) Satanya (Karen Kadler). In exchange for leniency, she is given the task of targeting certain sinful people on Earth.
The first story is about an overly aggressive photographer whose advances drive a woman to suicide. He gets his, don't worry. The second story is about a scientist who is obsessed with a woman frozen in a giant block of ice from 50,000 years ago, so much so that he kills a colleague and goes crazy. The final story is about a man who is told by a psychic that at midnight, he will be killed. Needless to say, he doesn't take the news well and goes running around town to try to keep that from happening.
This isn't really a movie. It is just three episodes from an old Swedish produced English-language horror series called '13 Demon Street' which wanted to be like 'The Twilight Zone.' Loosely tying these together are the 'Hell' sequences with Chaney that are obviously tacked on and filler. The last scene with him is a little different and amusing even if it is silly. Even with this padding, we are barely over 70 minutes which is probably close to the minimum for a feature film.
Most of the stories are very uneventful and devoid of suspense or chills. The first one is mostly a snoozer, the second one is a complete bore and the third one actually has a few decent moments in it.
Special features include: nothing.
A movie this unsubstantial and short isn't really worthy of a long review. There isn't really much to say.
If you are a classic horror fan who likes to see aged former stars slumming it for a paycheck, then put this on as some background noise.
Add an extra half start to the rating.
Not rated 72 minutes 1961
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