Composer, conductor, arranger Sonny Burke does an amazing job on the music for "Hand Of Death," and this lab scene gone wrong is the pièce de résistance! It's utterly fascinating from start to finish, with eerie organ and bongo drums, and then it builds and builds and builds until it turns into an explosive nightmare of bottles and beakers with piano and even eerier organ and horn blasts from Hell. Have fun!!
John Alonzo as Carlos, the lab assistant, had a distinguished acting career going back further than his role as Tomas in "The Magnificent Seven," and then right about 1967, he decided to be on the other side of the camera, and had another long and distinguished career as an Oscar nominated and Emmy winning cinematographer before passing away in 2001! 
John Agar looks like he is in complete control right about here! 
Uh,Oh, Remember, Carlos said, "Maybe it isn't possible to mix a hypnotic drug with nerve gas!" and I'm thinking I've got to agree with him because, I'm sorry, that just sounds like a bad idea!!!! 
Ow, That really hurts!!!! 
Alex Marsh falls asleep at this point, having breathed in way too many nasty vapors!! 
Although the music is above reproach, it would have been nice to have some scarier imagery than bottles swirling about! How about something like the gargoyles from "The Wizard Of Oz?" 
Okay, this has been a public service announcement, kids, under no circumstances are you ever to mix hypnotic drugs and nerve gas, let this be a warning to you!!! You can avoid Big Problems like this!!
2 comments:
In one of the great undiscovered books of the Bible, there is a passage that reads, "And John Agar makes all things desolate ...."
Very underrated movie! When John steps out of the shadows after his girlfriend discovers her dead, shriveled up father, is one of the most shocking things I've ever seen!!
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