Movie Review: The Dark Eyes of London (1939)
The Dark Eyes of London is a horror film directed by Walter Summers, written by Edgar Wallace (King Kong), Patrick Kirwan, and Walter Summers, and stars Bela Lugosi (Dracula), and Hugh Williams.
The story is about some murders that keep happening mysteriously, and It’s up to Detective Larry Holt (Hugh Williams) to get to the bottom of it. Holt has a partner from the Chicago police department that is helping him on the case. The lieutenant from Chicago is very rough around the edges and doesn’t like to do things the way that they do them in London.
Dr. Feodor Orloff (Bela Lugosi) is not just a Dr. He’s also a life insurance agent who also acts as a lending agent, and when people default on their payments for the insurance, he offers them loans. When they default on their loans, they sign over their policy to him and then seem to have trouble staying alive afterward.
This film plays out more like a murder mystery than horror, but this is just because it was made in 1939. For the time, it was probably pretty frightening even if it didn’t have any supernatural elements. Bela Lugosi was great in this as the twisted doctor, and the rest of the cast was awesome. There were even some pretty impressive special effects mixed in there for 1939.
Overall, we would definitely recommend this to horror fans who might also like murder mysteries or old-school detective shows or movies.
You can order The Dark Eyes of London as of today remastered in all its glory on Network here:
https://new.networkonair.com/british_horror_classics
Check out all of the features after the trailer below!
THE DARK EYES OF LONDON (1939)
The early British horror masterpiece and a worthy successor to his work on the Universal
Monsters movies, screen icon Bela Lugosi takes centre stage as a demented scientist on a
killing spree in The Dark Eyes of London, the first British film to receive the ‘H’ censor rating
for being ‘Horrific for Public Exhibition’. Adapted from a novel by Edgar Wallace, this
landmark British film is featured here as a brand-new high definition remaster from original
film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
Special Features
• Brand-new audio commentary with Kim Newman and Stephen Jones
• Kim Newman and Stephen Jones discuss Lugosi’s work in the UK at the Edgar
Wallace pub in London
• US titles
• US trailer
• Image gallery
• Limited edition booklet written by Adrian Smith
• Limited edition O-card (Blu-ray exclusive)
ON BLU-RAY AND DVD 11 OCTOBER
• Limited edition poster postcards (Blu-ray exclusive)
Tech Specs
• 1080p HD
• Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
• Running time: 76 mins
• HOH subtitles
• Certificate: PG
• Region code: B
• BD Cat: 7958360,
DVD Cat: 7956167
• RRP: BD: £17.99,
DVD: £12.99
• Original Release: 1939
