Maniacal Mayhem (Blu-ray)

Maniacal MayhemNormalGenre: HorrorsLabel: Eureka ClassicsDescription: Three more tales of terror from the vaults of Universal Pictures all starring the iconic Boris Karloff. Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi both star In The Invisible Ray (dir. Lambert Hillyer 1936) which sees Dr Janos Rukh (Karloff) exposed to a mysterious element that turns him into a deadly luminescent maniac who devises a plot to bump off his personal and professional rivals. Then in Black Friday (dir. Arthur Lubin 1940) Karloff is the amoral brain surgeon Dr Sovac who transplants part of a gangster's brain into the body of his dying friend creating a terrifying Jekyll-and-Hyde figure who starts murdering his former criminal associates (including again the wonderful Béla Lugosi). Finally the incomparable Charles Laughton plays the sadistic Sire Alain de Maletroit in The Strange Door (dir. Joseph Pevney 1951). Maletroit has kept his own brother locked in a dungeon for twenty years and now wants to ruin the life of his niece by forcing her to marry a violent rogue. His plan is upset when the rogue is unexpectedly noble-hearted and attempts to rescue the girl aided by an abused servant (Karloff).