Yet again, a non-horror movie being passed off as one. 1933’s THE WORLD GONE MAD is listed on IMDB under crime, mystery, drama, and thriller. Not horror. And that’s because, unlike Mill Creek Entertainment, IMDB knows what it‘s talking about.

DA Avery Henderson is investigating corporate fraud, and getting too close to the truth. So Graham Gaines hires Christopher Bruno to have him killed. When Henderson’s assistant DA Lionel Houston takes up his predecessor’s work with the help of long-time friend and reporter Andy Terrell, the bullets start flying and secrets are revealed.

THE WORLD GONE MAD was made soon after the 1929 stock market crash and some of that hysteria and fear has carried over. We see one corporation perpetuating a massive stock fraud on its investors--all unbeknownst to its president and CEO--and the effects something like that has on the people it touches. I was greatly surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie; stock markets and such don’t interest me all that much. But thanks to Pat O’Brien as Andy Terrell, I found myself almost mesmerized and engrossed. As the hyper-active (one character refers to him as “Cyclone”) reporter, O’Brien steals every scene and makes THE WORLD GONE MAD something to see.

The story was decent enough. Nothing special. Standard corporate double-crossing fare. You can probably see similar stories in any number of movies from the last decade (“Arrested Development” and “The OC” are both listed on IMDB under “Investment Scandal”). There were no special effects to speak of, and even the climax was only mildly suspenseful. There’s no mystery because the movie opens with Gaines hiring Bruno to off DA Henderson, so we know from the get-go whodunnit.

The look of the picture is the same as you’d find in any other movie of the era, the common folk live in luxurious apartments they couldn’t possibly afford in real life while the rich live in mansions decorated on budges I couldn’t make in a year. Everyone’s suit is pressed and their cigarettes never go out, and the women are always in silk dresses with nary a hair out of place.

Aside from O’Brien, the bulk of the credit for THE WORLD GONE MAD has to go to writer Edward T. Lowe, Jr. (THE VAMPIRE BAT, HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN) for the dialogue and creating such a watchable character, even if the story itself was only so-so. I don’t necessarily think THE WORLD GONE MAD deserves to be labeled a “classic” (it wasn’t breaking any new ground or setting new standards in its genre), and it’s most definitely not horror, but as a stand-alone event, it’s a worthwhile rental and certainly deserves at least one viewing.



other Horror Classics
Carnival of Souls
Atom Age Vampire
Creature from the Haunted Sea
Nightmare Castle
Black Dragons
The Invisible Ghost
One Body Too Many
White Zombie
Attack of the Giant Leeches
The Screaming Skull
The Beast of Yucca Flats
The Terror
Revolt of the Zombies
The Giant Gila Monster
The Fatal Hour
Dead Men Walk
The Mad Monster
Maniac
Metropolis
The Vampire Bat
The Ape
The Monster Maker
The Killer Shrews
The Brain That Wouldn‘t Die
King of the Zombies
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Bluebeard
The Corpse Vanishes
Night of the Living Dead
Doomed to Die
Phantom of the Opera
The Indestructible Man
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Nosferatu
Swamp Women



PS, thanks to Sue for adding this one to the database.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older