THE FATAL HOUR. Man, they weren’t kidding. And it’s an hour I’ll never get back.

I’ve said it before, and unfortunately I’ll probably have to continue to say it: just because you have an actor who is most famous for his roles in horror movies in your movie does not automatically make it a horror movie. In this case it’s Boris Karloff starring as--and I shake my head at having to say this--James Lee Wong, the “Chinese copper”. And it gets worse; Karloff played the Chinese Wong in at least 5 movies. With his English accent.

In this case, the story is about a murdered cop and the investigation into his death, and the deaths of those that follow as Wong and San Francisco police captain Bill Street (Grant Withers) try to find the murderer before the already-considerable body count grows. They’re aided--although Capt Street probably wouldn’t use that term--in their efforts by reporter Bobbie Logan (Marjorie Reynolds).

Man, that was a chore to get through. These 1930s and 40s crime movies all seem to be taken from the same outline, featuring the same character types, and unfolding at about the same pace. They’re strictly plot-by-numbers work and what the movies insist is only taking about an hour to play seems more like three or four.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Grant Withers did provide a small amount of enjoyment, mostly at the way he’d play Capt. Street at his most anxious and put-upon. He and Reynolds had a pretty good chemistry, as well.

But the movie itself was almost too much to handle. Dull, dull, dull.

The story had something to do with jade smuggling, I think. And there’s a jeweler who’s son is dating the girlfriend of the guy who runs the seaside bar where the jewels are smuggled into, but she’s also dating the head of some radio station. The jeweler winds up dead, as does the girlfriend, and the evidence points to the son, but Wong realizes that a timely radio broadcast, coupled with a new remote control radio, may hold the key to the actual time of death, forcing the murderer to reveal himself.

It actually did get interesting in the last ten minutes or so, but at 69 minutes, that’s about an hour too late. Mostly it’s a lot of talking and accusations, but very little HAPPENS.

If anyone out there honestly considered THE FATAL HOUR either classic or horror, they obviously have very low standards in both areas. It’s a detective story, not horror. And this thing is in no way at all a classic. It’s forgettable, it’s pedestrian, and it’s not a movie I’ll ever need to watch again.


other Horror Classics
Carnival of Souls: http://www.epinions.com/content_403446140548
Atom Age Vampire: http://www.epinions.com/content_403512856196
Creature from the Haunted Sea: http://www.epinions.com/content_403596349060
Nightmare Castle: http://www.epinions.com/content_404037799556
Black Dragons: http://www.epinions.com/content_404796575364
The Invisible Ghost: http://www.epinions.com/content_405221379716
One Body Too Many: http://www.epinions.com/content_405861076612
White Zombie: http://www.epinions.com/content_405939326596
Attack of the Giant Leeches: http://www.epinions.com/content_409233493636
The Screaming Skull: http://www.epinions.com/content_414279896708
The Beast of Yucca Flats: http://www.epinions.com/content_414752214660
The Terror: http://www.epinions.com/content_415068622468
Revolt of the Zombies: http://www.epinions.com/content_415464984196
The Giant Gila Monster: http://www.epinions.com/content_415958077060


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older