The Man with Nine Lives (1940)

THE MAN WITH NINE LIVES offers more food for thought than most "Budget pictures," the filmmakers giving their audience(s) more Bang for their Buck. Karloff is at his best, here, convincingly DRIVEN. His argument(s) may or may not hold water, depending on how averse you are to using living Human beings as guinea pigs (better Human Beings than guinea pigs, I'D argue). Just as impressive as the writing and Karloff himself is the Cinematography: the darkened dungeon in which most of the movie takes place is so beautifully shot that I'd suggest that anyone interested in cinematography get their hands on this one and study it.

A doctor spearheading the development of killing cancerous cells in the human body by freezing them without damaging tissue and vital organs seeks out the radical, hermit-like scientist he originally took his cue from. They eventually find each other...but first the scientist must be thawed out and revitalized after unintentionally locking himself and a group of medical and legal naysayers in his ice chamber for ten years! Rather stiff co-feature from Columbia does pass muster visually despite a low-budget--and it certainly benefits from Boris Karloff's impassioned portrayal of a determined man willing to kill to prove his scientific theories correct. There's a female nurse (and fiancée to the doctor!) on hand to make coffee and soup and scream on cue. Other ideas are bogged down by talk of formulas and equations, though the central concept is a good one. While it fails to translate into the tense thriller it was obviously supposed to be, Karloff's performance rises above the handling and makes the picture worth seeing. ** from ****

"Scandal Sheet" director Nick Grinde's "The Man with Nine Lives" qualifies as a good Boris Karloff mad scientist movie about the application of cryogenics as a cure for cancer. No, this is neither a scary movie nor is Boris buried beneath layers of make-up, though he does affect spectacles and a beard. Grinde and scenarists Karl Brown—who wrote "The Man They Could Not Hang" and "Counterfeit Lady" Harold Shumate explore the thin line between scientific genius and criminal insanity in this provocative thriller. The depth of sophistication in the writing and Karloff's extraordinary performance—he waxes from a kind gentle soul to a demented madman—sets "The Man with Nine Lives" apart from most horror movies. Later, in 1940, Karloff played a similar role as a scientist with greater sympathy in director William Nigh's "The Ape" where he resorts to horrible means to perfect a serum so that a wheel-chair bound beauty can stand up and walk again. Moreover, "The Man with Nine Lives" deals with something much more believable, the use of cryogenics to eliminate human ailments. Indeed, this low-budget opus considers the difference between scientific success and its real-life application. Just because an individual is right doesn't mean that they are morally justified to perform their deeds. For example, the protagonist, Dr. Tim Mason (Roger Pryor of "Belle of the Nineties"), impresses to the press how the use of cryogenics can help mankind before his procedure has been checked by others and the head of the hospital reprimands him for behaving in a presumptuous manner and advises him to take a sabbatical until his experiments can be checked.Mason and his fiancée Nurse Judith Blair (Jo Anne Sayers of "Young Dr. Kildare") use the leave of absence to track down the scientist, Dr. Leon Kravaal (Boris Karloff) whose research inspired Mason. Kravaal has been missing since 1930 and Mason resolves to find him. Kravaal lived on an island and a man who rents out boats warns them that several gentlemen visited Kravaal, but they never returned. Mason and Judith land on the island and find a destitute, empty house. The house, however, conceals many hiding places and they discover a dilapidated laboratory and Judith shrieks when they stumble upon a skeleton. Later, our heroes uncover a locked down and open it to find it filled with ice and the body of Dr. Kravaal. They revive him and Mason explains his interest in cryogenics.Dr. Kravaal explains how he came to be frozen. The circumstances involved a dying wealthy man who sought treatment for his ailment, but the man's hysterical son believes that Kravaal is taking advantage of a terminal case to make money and the authorities force Kravaal to take him to his island so that they can see what he has done. A medical authority who accompanies them has nothing but contempt for Kravaal's treatment of freezing a man to cure him. Kravaal gets the drop on them and smashes a chemical potion that knocks them out. Their interference brings about the death of the dying rich man and Kravaal stashes them in one of his frozen chambers. Unfortunately, the same chemicals that he resorted to so that he could take them hostage works on him and he collapses and is frozen until Mason and Judith thaw him out. They thaw out the incredulous authorities and the adventure really begins! This is a really thoughtful science fiction movie.

This little known gem from 1940 is impressive for a few reasons: first, it stands head and shoulders above most of the B movies of the era, largely due to a good script and a great performance from Boris Karloff. Also, while made in the midst of the Universal horror period, it demonstrates some of the best elements of that genre, however it also pre-figures the oncoming decade of sci-fi flicks of the 50s, but with a more intelligent, and mysterious, plot than most of the B sci-fi films that followed. It also incorporates some noir elements such as shadowy images, gun play, etc. The Man with Nine Lives is also known under the alternative title Behind the Door (which is actually more accurate).