BLACKOUT (1950)

Maxwell Reed and Dinah Sheridan

BLACKOUT (1950). Director: Robert S. Baker.

Chris Pelley (Maxwell Reed of Shadow of Fear) lost his sight in an accident but is scheduled to have an operation that will restore it. Before that he goes to an appointment and discovers that he has entered the wrong flat and  even stumbled over a dead body. The body disappears and nobody believes him. After a successful surgery, Chris returns to the flat and encounters Pat Dale (Dinah Sheridan of No Trace) and her grumpy father (Kynaston Reeves of Fiend without a Face), who has been out of sorts ever since his son died in a plane crash. Attracted to one another, Chris and Pat begin their own investigation into whoever the dead man was as well as whosoever killed him. Because of this both of them not only find themselves in danger but discover that sometimes dead men walk again ...

Chris is in a bit of a pickle -- Michael Evans on the far left

Blackout has superior photography and scoring, and all told is not badly done, and well-acted as well. But somehow it just never catches fire and comes off as a decent but distinctly minor crime drama. Maxwell Reed, who I have seen in many working class roles, this time plays a dapper, urbane type and is as good as ever. Dinah Sheridan is a bit bland but okay. Annette D. Simmonds offers more spice as a gal who is in with the bad guys but tries to help Chris to her regret. Patric Doonan is Chalky, an old pal of Pat's brother who may know more than he's telling, and Michael Evans (of The Young and the Restless) is effective as Guy Sinclair, who is mixed up in the thick of things. An eerie house that figures in the story looks like something out of Psycho. Robert S. Baker also (co-) directed the much more interesting Jack the Ripper. Maxwell Reed married Joan Collins two years after this film but their marriage only lasted four or so years. 

Verdict: Acceptable suspense story with some good settings and performances. **1/2. 

FIEND WITHOUT A FACE

One of the fiends goes on the attack!

FIEND WITHOUT A FACE (1958), Director: Arthur Crabtree, Colorized. 

Canadian locals near an American air base with an atomic power plant blame the Army for everything from less milk from the cows to too many noisy flights overhead, but then when dead bodies start turning up everyone gets worried. Townspeople and military people alike are beset by invisible creatures that are somehow able to suck out brains and spinal cords from victims through two holes in the skull. The foolish Professor Walgate (Kynaston Reeves) has managed to materialize his thoughts in the shape of living, malevolent brains that have now strangely multiplied and are on the attack. The brains use the atomic power to become visible to Walgate, Major Cummings (Marshall Thompson of It, the Terror from Beyond Space), Barbara Griselle (Kim Parker), whose brother was the first victim, Captain Chester (Terry Kilburn) and others in the exciting climax. Will the brains take over the town?

Kim Parker and Marshall Thompson

Fiend Without a Face is a silly but fun monster flick with some decent acting and more than decent stop-motion animation of the brains, along with excellent, creepy sound effects. The brains are not only able to pull themselves along the ground by using their attached spinal cords, but can actually launch themselves into the air! The whole thing is very much like a comic book story, with absurd "science" and a great deal of illogic. Walgate tries to explain how the brains came to be in one sequence, but his explanations only cause more confusion. But in the long run it doesn't matter as Fiend is short, fast-paced, and very entertaining and amusing. Thompson manages to keep a straight face throughout and always claimed that he actually directed much of the movie. James Dyrenforth, who plays the ill-fated mayor, was also in The Giant Behemoth. Arthur Crabtree also directed the zesty Horrors of the Black Museum. 

Verdict: You can't beat those brains! ***.