| The Corpse Vanishes | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Wallace Fox |
| Produced by | Sam Katzman Jack Dietz |
| Written by | Screenplay: Harvey Gates Story: Sam Robins Gerald Schnitzer |
| Starring | Bela Lugosi Luana Walters Tristram Coffin Minerva Urecal Elizabeth Russell |
| Cinematography | Arthur Reed |
| Editing by | Robert Golden |
| Distributed by | Monogram Pictures Corporation |
| Release date(s) | May 8, 1942 |
| Running time | 64 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Corpse Vanishes is a 1942 American mystery and horror film directed by Wallace Fox. The screenplay was written by Harvey Gates. The film stars Bela Lugosi as a mad scientist who injects his aging wife (played by Elizabeth Russell) with fluids from virginal young brides in order to preserve her beauty. Luana Walters as a journalist and Tristram Coffin as a small town doctor investigate and solve the disappearances of the brides. The film bears some resemble to the real world story of Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th century Hungarian countess and serial killer who was said to preserve her beauty by bathing in the blood of virginal young women.
The film was later the subject of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode.
Contents |
On the day of Alice Wentworth’s wedding, mad scientist Dr. Lorenz sends the young bride a poisoned orchid, the scent of which places the young woman in a state of suspended animation. He then spirits her body away to the basement laboratory of his isolated mansion and extracts her bodily fluids to inject into his vain and aged wife in order to renew her youth and beauty.
A young journalist, Patricia Hunter, investigates the case and discovers it involves an unusual orchid. She is directed to Lorenz, a known expert on orchids, and visits his mansion where she meets with a chilly reception. She is forced to spend the night when a storm breaks, and discovers the basement laboratory. In the morning, she hurries back to her newspaper offices.
Hunter and her colleagues make an attempt to trap Lorenz but he outfoxes them, chloroforming Hunter and carrying to his laboratory to use her bodily fluids upon his wife. During the injection procedure, Lorenz is stabbed by an angry servant woman who holds Lorenz responsible for her sons’ deaths. He strangles her then collapses and dies. The servant rallies weakly and stabs Lorenz‘s wife to death. The police arrive and Hunter is rescued.
In 2009, the film was available on DVD.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 showed the movie in the fifth episode of their first season. The movie was considered so bad that when Tom Servo was questioned by Joel if there was anything positive from the movie, he short circuits. The MST3K episode is available in the collectors volume 16.