Weird Woman (1944)

Lon Chaney, Jr. - The Love God, 15 October 2007

While doing field research, Professor Norman Reed (Lon Chaney, Jr.) meets and falls in love with a beautiful, exotic woman. He marries her and brings her home. Things couldn't be any better for the Professor. That is, until he discovers his wife is still practicing the voodoo type ceremonies of her homeland. He forbids her from carrying on with the superstitious mumbo-jumbo. But at what price? Professor Reed's life is suddenly turned upside-down and he faces the ultimate – a charge of murder. Is it the voodoo or something more close to home but equally sinister that threatens Professor Reed's future?

Of the six Inner Sanctum mysteries, Weird Woman is one of my favorites (Pillow of Death being the other). I suppose some who've seen the movie might think I've overrated it, but these kinds of movies work for me. Weird Woman is a quick-paced mystery that, at just over 60 minutes, never outstays its welcome. The "mystery" isn't really hard to figure out, but the all the back-stabbing and other trickery is a lot of fun. The cast is a blast. Besides Chaney, Weird Woman features some of the best females working in B-films of the 40s – Anne Gwynne, Evelyn Ankers, Lois Collier, and Elizabeth Russell. Overall, I've go very few complaints.

One thing that really puzzles me every time I've seen Weird Woman is the way the script has almost every female in the cast react to Chaney. Watching beautiful women like Gwynne, Ankers, and Collier swoon after Chaney is a hoot!

7/10