In this Inner Sanctum story based on the novel CONJURE WIFE, a professor meets and marries an exotic native woman. Unknown to him is the fact that she was raised by superstitious natives who believe her to have supernatural powers.
Here's something I just learned, and fills in a blank about what year we started watching the great Universal movies playing on TV. Well, in 1957, Universal released 52 of their titles and called it their Shock Package. Then in 1958, they released 20 more titles and named it, Son Of Shock!! Boy is that poster misleading!!
It stars Lon Chaney as Norman Reed , Anne Gwynne as his wife Paula, Evelyn Ankers as Ilona Carr, Ralph Morgan and Elisabeth Russell.
The story starts with Professor Norman Reed at his home after returning from the South Seas with his new wife, Paula. They brought many items from the island to decorate their home, and now he's pondering how these items of superstition play a role in native life. Then he has a flashback of when he met his wife to be...
On vacation, Reed walks in on natives dancing to drum beats, he watches.
After the dancing ends, he walks right on in on the gathering and the male natives are ready to pounce on him until a mysterious woman enters the scene.
Reed makes the mistake of trying to touch the woman and he pays the price, big time. After that, the rest is history.
At Norman's party for his return, his old flame is there to belittle his new wife Paula. Later when she has Norman alone, Ilona tells him that she wants him, so he should dump Paula. Norman basically tells her to go to Hell...
Unfortunately, Norman and Ilona work in the same building at the university, so, it's easy to spread rumors about the staff. Like here, this student's girlfriend has a crush on Reed and got the job as his secretary over Ilona. She tells him that the professor has a thing for her...
Then she comes up with a tale about a manuscript that could get her friend Evelyn's husband (professor Sawtelle at the university) in trouble and Norman knows all about it and is going to expose him!
Sawtelle dies and Ilona starts spreading the rumor that Paula and her voodoo were behind the... MURDER!
Then, Norman follows Paula into a cemetery only to find her stash of voodoo paraphernalia, which he ends up trampling on in anger.
Back at their home, Norman demands that she get rid of all the items and burn them in the fireplace, including her sacred amulet...
After Ilona has spread even more lies, Norman and the jealous boy at school have another confrontation, this time the kid brings a gun!
Yes, in the scuffle, the moron shoots himself, Norman's blamed, but he's released from jail (on bond) because the boy lived.
Everything is going crazy until Norman tells Evelyn (who still blames Paula for her husband's death) that all the mayhem being created points in one direction... ILONA!! Evelyn sees the light and agrees to help in exposing the Royal Bitch!!
Evelyn invites Ilona over to show her something, on the floor... She has made up a story about a dream she had, and a tall figure told her that the liar would die in (I think) 13 days at one minute after midnight. Ilona sees her own face on the voodoo doll on the rug. Wild!!
Evelyn keeps repeating, and the liar will die in 13 days! Evelyn really despises the evil Bitch at this point, very satisfying.
Ilona sees this when there are exactly seven days left til doomsday.
On the last night, Ilona shows up at Evelyn's place and demands to have the doll, and in doing so, exposes herself as the person responsible for the insanity... With Norman, Paula, the head of the university and the dead boy's girlfriend, Margaret, listening in the shadows.
Ilona jumps out the window and gets onto a trellis to get away, but, her weight causes some boards to break and she falls through, hanging herself with some vines, at exactly at one minute after midnight, just like in the made up dream! This was a good one!
1 comment:
I think that's an anomaly. Aren't like all women weird??
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