Horror Classics: Volume 20

Horror Classics: Volume 20

Maniac

Loosely based on Poe's The Black Cat and with references to his Murders in the Rue Morgue, Maniac tells the twisted tale of Don Maxwell (Bill Woods), an ex-vaudevillian-turned-lab assistant, who murders Dr. Meirschultz (Horace B. Carpenter), the scientist Don works for. Among his many mad experiments, Meirschultz had been attempting to reanimate dead tissue before he met an early grave at the hands of his lackey, Don. After concealing Meirschultz's body behind a wall in his rat-infested, basement laboratory, Don takes over the dead doctor's identity and begins conducting his own bizarre experiments.

The Monster Walks

This early talkie has lots of mischievous fun in store when a family gathers at a rambling old estate to hear the reading of a will. The deceased in question has died unexpectedly - an early indication of foul play. Attendees of the reading - and possible suspects - include the dead man's creepy servants, his wheelchair-bound brother, his daughter, his suspicious-acting attorney, and Yogi, a giant chimp the deceased doctor experimented upon. Once it becomes clear that a killer is on the loose in the secret passage-filled mansion, a hunt to reveal the villain's identity gets underway as several shocking secrets - among them tales of insanity, secret affairs, murder schemes, and pay-offs - are revealed one by one, up until the nail-biting conclusion.

The Snow Creature

Engaged in an expedition in the Himalaya Mountains, Dr. Frank Parrish (Paul Langton); his photographer, Peter Welles (Leslie Denison); and guide Subra (Teru Shimada) are faced with a terrifying snow beast that captures Subra's wife - f-rcing the group to hunt the mythical creature down. After sedating it, they carry it back to civilization where it's flown to California for research. But before Dr. Parrish has the chance to study the beast, it breaks out of its confinement and escapes into the city streets. As death and destruction are heaped upon the terrified population, authorities are faced with only one option - to sacrifice science and bring the beast down.

The Vampire Bat

Bodies drained of blood bearing tell-tale twin neck punctures are turning up all over the European village of Kleinschloss. Though the deaths appear to be the work of vampiric creatures, detective Karl Brettschneider (Melvyn Douglas) passes the notion off as mere superstition - until he speaks with prominent physician Dr. Otto von Niemann (Lionel Atwill), who suggests that killer human bats may indeed exist. When the finger of suspicion falls upon innocent simpleton Herman Gleib (Dwight Frye), who has a fondness for bats, villagers gather in an angry mob and hunt Herman down. Satisfied that they've put a stop to the killings by lynching Gleib, the villagers are horrified to learn of a fresh murder - one that Herman couldn't have possibly committed.