The Soul of a Monster

The Soul of a Monster is a 1944 American horror film directed by Will Jason and starring Rose Hobart, George Macready, Jim Bannon, Jeanne Bates and Erik Rolf.[1][2] The film involves the near-death George Winson, leading to Anne Winson to call upon the devil to keep her husband alive, which leads to a hypnotist named Lilyan Gregg making an appearance as Winson recovers. Upon his recovery, the previously kind-hearted Winson turns evil, following Gregg's spell. But Ann and her friends are not susceptible to Lilyan's mesmerizing prowess, enabling them to launch a counteroffensive against the Dark Prince.

The Soul of a Monster
Directed byWill Jason
Produced byTed Richmond
Screenplay byEdward Dein[1]
Starring
CinematographyBurnett Guffey[1]
Edited byPaul Borofsky[1]
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures Corp.
Release date
  • 17 August 1944 (1944-08-17)
Running time
61 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States[1]

Plot

As the nearly dead physician Dr. George Winson grows closer to death, his wife Ann Winson fails to get help from Dr. Roger Vance or the pastor Fred Stevens and prays to any source that she thinks could help. This leads to the strange woman Lilyan Gregg to arrive and start caring for Macready who miraculously recovers, but becomes a cold and cruel person. Gregg's power over Winson estranges him from Winson. Gregg begins to use to Winson for her needs, including having him murder Stevens. Gregg has Winson stalk him through the streets which leads to Macready fleeing once Stevens turns at him with a cross.

Meeting with Vance, he finds that Winson has no pulse and after an operation, he accidentally cuts Winson finding he has no blood. Vance then confronts Winson but is later run down by Gregg. In critical condition, Dr. Roger Vance calls Winson to his side as Gregg tells Winson to let Vance die. Later, Stevens then approached Winson to tell him to break the hold Gregg has on him. Winson returns to church to pray for him. Winson approaches Gregg and realizes the woman's control on him. This leads to Gregg deciding to murder Winson and make it look like a suicide. Gregg shoots Macready who continues to advance towards her, finally pushing her through a window to her death. Winson's entire experience turns out to be a dream, as Winson awakens to Winson praying for his recovery.

Cast

Production

The Soul of a Monster was developed under the title Death Walks Alone.[1][3] It was in production between May 25, 1944 and June 13, 1944.[1]

Release

The Soul of a Monster was released on August 17, 1944 by Columbia Pictures Corp.[1]

Reception

From contemporary reviews, The New York Times declared that the film "was "an entry for the all-time looney prize! A preposterously foolish film."[3]

From retrospective reviews, Gen Blottner, the author of Columbia Noir, praised Burnett Guffey's "brilliant photography" but stated that Edward Dein's screenplay "causes the film to come up empty" and that "The copout-ending reduces a fairly entertaining horror-noir to a bunch of hooey."[3]

References
  1. "The Soul of a Monster". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  2. Erickson, Hal. "The Soul of a Monster (1944) - Will Jason". AllMovie. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  3. Blottner 2015, p. 210.

Sources
  • * Blottner, Gene (2015). Columbia Noir: A Complete Filmography, 1940-1962. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786470143.
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