Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

kevin olzak 1932's "Behind the Mask" was the earliest Columbia title included in the hugely successful SON OF SHOCK television package of the late 1950s, reteaming Boris Karloff and Edward Van Sloan following the just-completed "Frankenstein" (shooting wrapped Nov 21 1931). Headlining is the studio's top workhorse, Jack Holt (father of Tim), playing an undercover FBI agent posing as a convict, pumping information from Jim Henderson (Karloff), part of the dope smuggling ring run by a mysterious 'Mr. X.' The somewhat dim Henderson hardly taxes Boris, who virtually disappears at the midway point (we later learn of his offscreen capture); the real revelation is seeing Edward Van Sloan in dual roles- he looks like himself in two scenes as Dr. Alec Munsell, involved in the FBI investigation, but is unrecognizable in heavy beard and glasses as Dr. August Steiner, chewing the scenery with great relish. It's a juicy, scene stealing villain, sounding very much like an evil Van Helsing, able to lawfully dispose of enemies through surgery on the operating table, rather than wielding a knife in the street, which would only attract attention. Lovely Constance Cummings finishes her third film opposite Karloff, following "The Criminal Code" and "The Guilty Generation," while Thomas Jackson, shortly after his successful pursuit of Edward G. Robinson's "Little Caesar," surprisingly comes to a bad end. Jack Holt went on to work with Bela Lugosi in a later Columbia, 1935's "The Best Man Wins" (and with John Carradine in 1942's MGM "Northwest Rangers"). Many viewers, particularly Karloff fans, grouse that it's not really a horror film, but there's certainly enough horrific touches to qualify for SON OF SHOCK, a solid pre-code melding of crime and chills. "Behind the Mask" made one appearance on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, July 8 1967 (followed by 1961's Mexican "Bring Me The Vampire").

bensonj This is real Saturday matinée serial stuff, the nonsense plot complete with a drug-running gang of baddies in thrall to a nameless boss that they contact by leaving a message on a primitive Dictaphone's answering machine. Holt is pathetic as a secret service man supposedly infiltrating the gang. Van Sloan plays a villainous M.D. who, for no reason that's apparent, spends his spare time hovering in a room with flashing lights and a Jacob's ladder. His make-up and accent have a distinctly Semitic (or anti-Semitic) shade, but his is the only performance of much interest in the film. The finale does have a nice moment. As Van Sloan prepares to perform a fatal operation on Holt, without anesthesia, he says, "You will be able to bear the pain as I cut through your skin" (demonstrating long cut with finger). "It is only when I cut into your inner parts that you will realize that you are HAVING AN EXPERIENCE!" He then quotes Nietzsche on unbearable pain, and says, "We will find out if this is merely an aphorism." In a intentionally cute switch, it is the girl who saves the nearly nude man bound to the operating table. (That's about all the talented Constance Cummings is given to do in this film.) The explanation of her sudden appearance–"How did you get here?" "His gun dropped to the floor and I grabbed it."–is about as perfunctory as the rest of the film. Is the leader of the Citizens Reform Committee secretly the head of the gang? What do YOU think?

wdbasinger A macabre mystery with many elements of the supernatural/shudder scientific genres.Boris Karloff plays a lead henchman in the service of a mysterious Mr. X. His performance does not suggest a red herring role, but he is sinister enough as a grim-faced gangster to keep one's interest throughout the picture. Early on, it seems possible that the sinister Dr. Steiner played by Edward van Sloan may seem to be a more likely candidate for Mr. X., but his performance raises enough doubts to keep the viewer in a constant state of suspense.A very fine "B" feature for the night owl crowd.7/10.Dan Basinger

Ale fish What must have started life as a pretty ordinary crime picture is dressed up for the box office with some of the popular flourishes of the day such as electronic gadgets and a mysterious criminal mastermind.Karloff gives excellent value as villain's chief henchman and thankfully gets plenty of screen time.Although director and cast were all well experienced in pictures, the performances tend to be on the dull side, particularly Jack Holt in the lead. The pace of individual scenes is a little slow too, almost as if everyone concerned were making a conscious effort to hold back from the excesses of the silent days.No classic, but you could do worse.