IMDb RATING
4.6/10
3.5K
YOUR RATING
A scientist, aided by an old hag and her two sons, kills virginal brides, steals their bodies, and extracts gland fluid to keep his ancient wife alive and young.A scientist, aided by an old hag and her two sons, kills virginal brides, steals their bodies, and extracts gland fluid to keep his ancient wife alive and young.A scientist, aided by an old hag and her two sons, kills virginal brides, steals their bodies, and extracts gland fluid to keep his ancient wife alive and young.
Tristram Coffin
- Dr. Foster
- (as Tris Coffin)
Angelo Rossitto
- Toby
- (as Angelo)
George Eldredge
- Mike
- (as George Eldridge)
Pat Costello
- Attendant at Alice's Wedding
- (uncredited)
Gladys Faye
- Mrs. Wentworth
- (uncredited)
Joe Gilbert
- Wedding Guest
- (uncredited)
June Glory
- Saleswoman
- (uncredited)
Dick Gordon
- Wedding Guest
- (uncredited)
Sheldon Jett
- Burnside
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe oldest movie ever to be featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988)., and one of the very few from the 1940s. The Mad Monster (1942) is a close second, having been released one week after this film.
- GoofsIn the bar, Peggy the cigarette girl is carrying a tray of cigarettes supported by a strap that wraps around her neck. Patricia then asks to talk to her in the dressing room. When they walk into the dressing room, Peggy is still carrying the cigarette tray, but the strap has disappeared.
- ConnectionsEdited into Muchachada nui: Episode #1.4 (2007)
Featured review
Bela Lugosi makes it worthwhile
*The Corpse Vanishes* doesn't waste any time getting down to business. Just about the first thing we see is a bride at her wedding dropping dead during the ceremony. The next thing we know, her body has been stolen away in the wrong hearse. (Important safety tip: When having cadavers taken away by hearses, ask to see the driver's identification.)
Amazingly, it turns out that this is only the latest in a series of such macabre incidents. I don't know about you, but if I were about to be married in a city where this was going on, I would probably delay my wedding (or at least hold it in another city.)
We soon learn that the dead brides are being used by Bela Lugosi as a source of something-or-other that he draws out of them with a nasty-looking syringe. This stuff then gets injected into his wife to restore her beauty; she's apparently suffering from some rapid aging disease or something.
A Spunky Girl Reporter (boy, they had a lot of them back then) finds out that all the dead brides had been given a rare orchid just before the ceremony. She then discovers that the local expert on this plant is (you guessed it) Lugosi. She winds up as an not-very-welcome guest of Bela and his wife. Their servants are an older woman and her two sons, one a dwarf and one a mute hunchback who likes to fondle the hair of the dead brides. (There's some speculation at one point that the brides are only in suspended animation, but this question is never resolved.)
*The Corpse Vanishes* is a wild bit of Grand Guignol, with all kinds of spooky stuff thrown in. We find out that Bela and his wife like to sleep in coffins. There is no explanation for this, except for the fact that they find them more comfortable. (This whole household makes the Addams Family look like the Brady Bunch.)
A couple of familiar faces other than Bela show up in this thing. The dwarf is played by Angelo Rossitto, who played various little people in everything from *Freaks* to *Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome*. Bela's wife is played by Elizabeth Russell. Fans of classic horror may best remember her as the woman who calls Simone Simon "Moia sestra" ("My sister") in *Cat People*. She's a striking and exotic woman, who manages the remarkable task of being more sinister than Bela.
This film is short on plot logic (surely there must be an easier way to obtain the bodies of young women than at their weddings) but it delivers more than enough in the way of creepy thrills. And of course there is the insinuation that Bela needs the glandular fluid of a virgin and a really big assumption - even in 1942 - that brides are virgins. How do you know they are virgins? Because, in the words of Fonzie of Happy Days fame - "Virgins never lie about these things."
I give it a five out of ten just because of the old world charm and mystery Bela brings to any role, no matter how low budget the film.
Amazingly, it turns out that this is only the latest in a series of such macabre incidents. I don't know about you, but if I were about to be married in a city where this was going on, I would probably delay my wedding (or at least hold it in another city.)
We soon learn that the dead brides are being used by Bela Lugosi as a source of something-or-other that he draws out of them with a nasty-looking syringe. This stuff then gets injected into his wife to restore her beauty; she's apparently suffering from some rapid aging disease or something.
A Spunky Girl Reporter (boy, they had a lot of them back then) finds out that all the dead brides had been given a rare orchid just before the ceremony. She then discovers that the local expert on this plant is (you guessed it) Lugosi. She winds up as an not-very-welcome guest of Bela and his wife. Their servants are an older woman and her two sons, one a dwarf and one a mute hunchback who likes to fondle the hair of the dead brides. (There's some speculation at one point that the brides are only in suspended animation, but this question is never resolved.)
*The Corpse Vanishes* is a wild bit of Grand Guignol, with all kinds of spooky stuff thrown in. We find out that Bela and his wife like to sleep in coffins. There is no explanation for this, except for the fact that they find them more comfortable. (This whole household makes the Addams Family look like the Brady Bunch.)
A couple of familiar faces other than Bela show up in this thing. The dwarf is played by Angelo Rossitto, who played various little people in everything from *Freaks* to *Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome*. Bela's wife is played by Elizabeth Russell. Fans of classic horror may best remember her as the woman who calls Simone Simon "Moia sestra" ("My sister") in *Cat People*. She's a striking and exotic woman, who manages the remarkable task of being more sinister than Bela.
This film is short on plot logic (surely there must be an easier way to obtain the bodies of young women than at their weddings) but it delivers more than enough in the way of creepy thrills. And of course there is the insinuation that Bela needs the glandular fluid of a virgin and a really big assumption - even in 1942 - that brides are virgins. How do you know they are virgins? Because, in the words of Fonzie of Happy Days fame - "Virgins never lie about these things."
I give it a five out of ten just because of the old world charm and mystery Bela brings to any role, no matter how low budget the film.
helpful•70
- AlsExGal
- Oct 29, 2020
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Case of the Missing Brides
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 4 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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