Pillow of Death (1945)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

According to cranky old goat George Cleveland, the Kincaid house is filled with ghosts, some of whom he obviously thinks are still alive. That includes his imperious sister, Clara Blandick, who acts like she runs the county and would like to see Lon Chaney Jr. to the sheriff's and make sure he's destroyed. The victim is the wife of Chaney, who has been dating Brenda Joyce (Cleveland and Blandick's niece) behind his wife's back. Having wanted a divorce, he's spared from that thanks to the wife's timely demise. All of these characters (plus a few more) become suspects, and thanks to an amusing script, this final "Inner Sanctum" film is a treat.The set of the Kincaid home is very familiar from many other Universal films, including some of their classic horror films. Of the "Inner Sanctum" films, this is the closest to a horror film, with the ghostly element bringing along a spooky pacing, complete with strange laughter, the crackle of moving chains in the attic, and insinuations of the family's shady past. Blandick is delightfully imperious, a far cry from her strict but loving Auntie Em in "The Wizard of Oz". It's also her last extremely large part in a film, and she chews it up delightfully. Cleveland is a lovable delight, arguing with his sister as if they were still teenagers.A reunion for Chaney and Joyce after "Strange illusion", this is one film where I didn't find Chaney ridiculously miscast as a romantic character. He's just part of the ensemble here, given as much as everybody else, and strictly part of the ensemble. J. Edward Bromberg plays an expert on matters of the spirits of the dead, while Rosalind Ivan is coldly polite but less outspoken as a distant Kincaid relative obviously mooching off the family. There's also an eerie seance, complete with ghostly voice. The "Inner Sanctum" series may not be filled wiry masterpieces but at least it ended with a fairly enjoyable finale.

OK, so maybe my title line for this review doesn't apply--seeing as how by this point in the Inner Sanctum series, the prologue with the floating head in a crystal ball was not used. "Pillow of Death" was the last of the popular Inner Sanctum series--a series that gave Lon Chaney a chance to act minus arduous monster makeup & I would agree with the sentiments that this is the least of the 6 films that were made--which is not to say it's a bad movie; far from it--but it does have a very slow pace to it.The story itself is engaging enough to overcome the slow movement of the film & the cast is first rate. Aside from Chaney--who I'm a big fan of--I enjoyed J. Edward Bromberg as "Julian Julian" & George Cleveland was quite the hoot as Sam Kincaid.POD probably stands out from the rest of the Sanctum series as it's the sole picture where Lon turns out to be a true bad guy. I also enjoyed the dark atmosphere of the film as seemingly all the action takes place at night--making for some interesting visuals and use of shadow.Overall--while I probably would dock this one a few points--I think it only speaks to how highly I thought of the previous Inner Sanctum mysteries that came before it.7 stars

I recently purchased the Inner sanctum box set with all 6 of the Inner sanctum movies and was not disappointed at all.I really enjoyed Pillow of Death, OK its a corny title but it had everything in it if you enjoy old dark houses, whodunits,murders in the night etc.Lon chaney gave a decent enough performance in it and was supported by a good cast including the lovely Brenda joyce and the solid J.Edward bromberg i have read a few reviews which slate this film so i watched with trepidation and was pleasantly surprised it is a great little B movie which universal made in the 40's to much credit, it is atmospheric with many twists and turns moving along at a lively pace, i personally didn't find it dull or slow..if you enjoy the old black and white horrors from this period i am sure you wont be disappointed..just watch it with no great expectations and im sure you will see its not as bad as it has been painted. Without giving anything away it will keep you guessing all the way through..enjoy it for what it is.

Reviewers really disagree on the merits of this final Inner Sanctum entry. To me, it's the most fun of the six, although I think the first entry Calling Dr. Death (1943) is the most imaginative and comes closest to what the series was trying to achieve in the realm of psychological horror.What lifts this 60-minutes are several droll performances, a great Gothic set (no doubt left over from an A-production), and a pretty good whodunit that kept me guessing. George Cleveland's crusty old man remains a real hoot, and a role he appears to be really enjoying. Note too cop Winton Graff's subtly droll reactions to Cleveland's scrappy character. Too bad they don't have more scenes together. Then there're the two sourpuss old women. I especially like Rosalind Ivan's ditzy old gal with her subtle tongue-in-cheek. (At the same time, i also can't help noticing the rather woeful Bernard Thomas as the young neighbor, demonstrating again how the war had depleted Hollywood's ranks of young male talent.)And check out that elaborate Gothic set, so richly appointed that it adds needed spooky atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere, the lighting bill must have come to all of five dollars. Come to think of it-- I wonder if the cast kept bumping into each other. Also, I certainly didn't anticipate the solution to the whodunit. Cleverly, it doesn't follow stereotype. No, there's nothing memorable here, but this series programmer is more subtly amusing than most and better than the series norm, at least, in my view.