Wordiezett So much average

Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Leofwine_draca Tod Slaughter, Britain's first horror star – and still up there with the best – is at his lip-smacking, eye-rolling best in this decent horror offering that plays to his strengths. Directed by George King, who helmed many such pictures, this might not be as well known as SWEENEY TODD but it certainly packs a punch in its story of the 'Spine Breaker', a ruthless murderer essayed by Slaughter, who enjoys breaking the bones of his victims. Seen today, this film is still fairly shocking in places. It opens with the murder of a child, for instance, who we hear getting his spine snapped! From then on, there's a ton of plot packed into a barely hour-long running time. Slaughter sets himself up in a dual role as usual, with his innuendo-laden moneylender and sinister night-stalking killer. Watch out for the script that offers great lines for the actor, like "I'll get to grips with you soon enough" and "I'll be right behind you".Elsewhere there's a one-legged one-eyed hunchback hopping around for some menace, a ménage a trois between Slaughter's daughter, her lover and a creepy/lecherous aristocrat, and a sub-plot that sees our antagonist locked up in jail for nicking bread! Villains are whipped with cat-o-nine-tails, corpses raise beneath their death sheets, and there's a barnstorming climax that sees Slaughter being pursued to the rooftops! The other actors don't really get much of a look in, to be honest; this is Slaughter's film alone, and he makes a real ham of it. You don't see classic overacting like this in modern cinema! He's a real delight and this is one of his most entertaining flicks. As an added bonus, the film seems better for what precedes it: an excruciating comic-radio-duo, Flotsam and Jetsam, who sing for an age, and then the appearance of the infamous 'cats meat' man, a humorous butcher. Sure, it's dated, sure, it's cheap, but it sure is a lot of fun.

Rainey Dawn I'll admit it - I quickly became a Tod Slaughter fan. I *think* I first saw him as a kid but I can't really recall - I know about 3 years ago I started becoming very familiar with him and quickly became a fan. Like most people, I watch Tod Slaughter films for Tod Slaughter's performances. He's quite good - very theatrical and lively on film so he makes an otherwise mediocre film entertaining.Now this film is more than just Tod Slaughter being an entertaining, it's actually a pretty good story on top of it. One of Slaughter's best films.I love the atmosphere in this one. It's very much of a Victorian Gothic film - it's no masterpiece but it's one that really enjoyed watching.9/10

kidboots Tod Slaughter was as different as could be from his American counter parts Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. He was part of the British tradition of barn storming stage melodramas that toured the provinces in the gas light era. The audience would boo and hiss the villain, sigh over the heroine and cheer the hero. In Sydney, Australia, in the 1960s and 70s theatre restaurants came into fashion and Neutral Bay Music Hall changed it's program every few months. I remember seeing "The Springheeled Terror of Putney Green" (which Slaughter also made into a film), "Fleet Footed Jack" and "Her First False Step" - they were all great fun. Tod Slaughter was straight out of that gas light tradition, in fact the beginning of "The Crimes of Stephen Hawke" is at pains to point out that the plays the thing and it's all make believe.For the first ten minutes it is like a radio program with an odd novelty act "Flotsam and Jetsam" who seem to look at the daily papers for inspiration for their satirical songs. Then the announcer introduces Slaughter as having "murdered thousands of people and been hanged thousands of times" then Slaughter continues "yes and I'm still alive to tell the tale"!!! He then proceeds to tell listeners about his strangest role - Stephen Hawke, who is kindly yet a fiend. Within minutes "kindly" Stephen Hawke has left his trademark on a small boy who dared to order him from the gardens - "my garden isn't for people like you" the snotty nose brat tells him. Yes, Stephen Hawke is the "Spine Breaker", although to everyone in the village he is a kindly money lender who gives generously to his friends. Slaughter may not have been able to match his Hollywood co-horts as far as production values, but in evilness he was second to none. The thought of killing a child in the first few minutes would have been unthinkable to Karloff or Lugosi.His one joy in life is his ward, Julia, and it is at her party that the "Spinebreaker" strikes again. Only Nathanial, Hawkes down trodden clerk knows his real identity and also that his generous reputation hides a mean and cowardly nature - he gleefully turns a widow and six children out onto the street, all for owing 10 pounds!!! Suspicion now starts to fall on Hawkes, especially as people begin to notice his extremely strong hands and when his good friend, Mr. Trimble, dies, his son Matthew finally gets to the bottom of the hunt for the killer, who has escaped from prison by changing identities with a poor man who has just stolen a loaf of bread!!!Surprising to see that Eric Portman, such a distinguished actor of the 1940s, specialising in introspective, urbane villains, got his start playing the young hero in Tod Slaughter movies, this one and "Maria Marten". This definitely isn't my favourite Tod Slaughter movie, for anyone wanting an introduction I would recommend "The Face at the Window" (1939).

chrismartonuk-1 The opening scene plays out like every parents worst nightmare as Tod - casing a large country house - tempts an inquisitive child to See "a paradoxical paradox" and gleefully breaks his spine. This film was made in the immediate aftermath of Sweeney Todd's surprise success across the Atlantic and shows every hint of being custom made to cash in on Tod's newfound success - he is even given a special introduction in the prologue. An original script - as opposed to a musty Victoria melodrama original - it is very much Sweeney Todd-lite as Hawke cracks lines about "getting to grips" whereas the demon barber made grisly puns on "close shaves" and "polishing off". Tod is allowed to be more sympathetic with this being one of his few films were he fails to lust after a girl less than half his age. He is even allowed to protect his girl's honour as he escapes from prison very cleverly and slays the lecherous Miles Archer who openly lusts after her. Instead, he is a proper Father to his "adopted" daughter who is allowed to shed a few tears over him after his fatal fall at the end. The rest of the cast is the usual thin gruel that surrounds Tod, with the sole exception of destined-for-bigger-things Eric Portman who brings as easy an authority to the role of the hero as he did to Carlos the gypsy in Maria Marten - especially in the scene where he - in pursuit of Hawke - makes himself at home in an inn and plants his feet upon the table. The usual black humour is present - one fellow inmate of Tod's in the cell who notes Hawke's strange attitude to imprisonment says "he must be married". The man was not only the cheap and cheerful British quota quickie answer to Boris and Bela but an entire theatrical sub-genre unto himself. Victorian melodrama never had a more stalwart champion.