First lets get this out of the way, Boris Karloff is amazing. Karloff brings serious gravitas for a character in a film such as this. Beyond Karloff, however, the acting is quite suspect. Byrd and Gwynne aren't nearly as compelling as Conway and Jeffreys of the 1945 film.
On the story front, there is much more cartoon atmosphere present compared with the 1945 film. The names of persons and places are all gags, hand-canons are constantly going off at seeming random and Tracy's partner bumbles like no other. Whilst this is fun it isn't done well at all. The film still plays to close to 'real'. Overall this creates a strange unbalanced experience.
**Spoiler**
The entire device to get Tracy to the lair of Gruesome (his body switch for Melody) is ridiculous. If all Gruesome wished was to kill Melody, he wouldn't have stolen and burned him. It would have been much simpler to shoot or knife him in the hospital thus avoiding stealing an ambulance &c.
**Spoiler Over**
Overall, the film is enjoyable and worth a watch. It's flawed and questionable, but Karloff and occasional gags pull it together to create something a notch above average.
On the story front, there is much more cartoon atmosphere present compared with the 1945 film. The names of persons and places are all gags, hand-canons are constantly going off at seeming random and Tracy's partner bumbles like no other. Whilst this is fun it isn't done well at all. The film still plays to close to 'real'. Overall this creates a strange unbalanced experience.
**Spoiler**
The entire device to get Tracy to the lair of Gruesome (his body switch for Melody) is ridiculous. If all Gruesome wished was to kill Melody, he wouldn't have stolen and burned him. It would have been much simpler to shoot or knife him in the hospital thus avoiding stealing an ambulance &c.
**Spoiler Over**
Overall, the film is enjoyable and worth a watch. It's flawed and questionable, but Karloff and occasional gags pull it together to create something a notch above average.