Diagonaldi Very well executed

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Prichards12345 First of Columbia's "mad doctor" series for Karloff, this is a well produced and engaging melodrama. It's a nice role for Boris, who by this time was gravitating to the mad scientist role rather than the monster created by them! Here he is a little of both, and he shines in both modes.Karloff plays Dr. Henryk Savaard, experimenter with mechanical hearts (shades of 1936's The Walking Dead). Interrupted in the middle of restoring life to a willing human subject (as Lionel Atwill was in The Mad Doctor of Market Street a couple of years' later) he walks to the noose and of course is soon resusitated by his assistant, embarking on a mad scheme of revenge against those who sent him to the gallows.In truth the movie loses its way a little with the And Then There Were None style wrap up, especially during the abrupt climax where he destroys his mechnical heart after saving his daughter. But overall this is still a watchable and engaging horror pic.

marshalskrieg Boris Karloff plays a mad doctor(surprise!) bent on revenge. In this fast paced effort, we see Karloff emotionally bounce from dignified to devilish and everything in between. Great acting and a neat and very entertaining story. The low budget certainly did not harm this movie at all. This one has a lot of heart, no pun intended. Ironically, it is the one person closest to the doctors own heart that offers the potential victims of his revenge a small chance of a reprieve. Karloff and black and white horror go together like peanut butter and jelly. The expressive manner of Karloff, the crags and lines on his face, the intonation of his voice, the way his talents are used here, plus the prophetic medical story that is presented, all of this combine to make this barely- one- hour and well made film a not to be missed gem by any fan of vintage old school horror....

gavin6942 When Dr. Savaard's experiment in cryonics is interrupted by the short-sighted authorities, his volunteer dies, and he is condemned to death. He vows vengeance if he can survive his own hanging.Boris Karloff will always be synonymous with Frankenstein's monster, but he was capable of being just as fiendish without the makeup. Here he plays a doctor who is wronged by a legal system, only to take his revenge in an even more cruel manner.The film has become a bit prescient in its portrayal of surgery, although the actual machines used for heart surgery is likely nothing close to what they were using here.

bsmith5552 "The Man They Could Not Hang" is an interesting little film if only for its foretelling of artificial hearts and organ transplants by many years.Dr. Henryk Savaard (Boris Karloff) has invented an artificial heart that has been successful in bringing animals back to life after they have been clinically dead. Savaard now wants to try the procedure on a human ans medical student Bob Roberts (Stanley Brown) agrees to be the guinea pig. His fiancé, Betty Crawford (Ann Doran), who is Savaard's nurse is fearful for Roberts' life.As the experiment begins Betty goes to the police in an attempt to stop the experiment. Reporter "Scoop" Foley (Robert Wilcox) overhears Betty's pleas and goes ahead to Savaard's home where he meets Savaard's daughter Janet (Lorna Gray) with whom he strikes up a friendship. Police Lt. Shane (Don Beddoe) arrives at Savaard's laboratory before he can bring the young man back to life, and arrests him for murder. Savaard is tried and found guilty and is sentenced to hang. Before he is sentenced, Savaard vows revenge on those who had a hand in his conviction.Following his execution, Savaard's body is turned over to his assistant Dr. Lang (Byron Foulger) who following Savaard's procedure, brings Savaard back to life. Weeks later, several of the jurors who voted for Savaard's conviction turn up hanged, apparently suicides.Using a note from trial Judge Bowman (Charles Trowbridge) as bait, Savaard lures the remaining parties for his revenge to his home and traps them therein. Included are the Judge, DA Drake (Roger Pryor), Jury Foreman Kearney (Dick Curtis), Betty Crawford, the Coroner (Joe De Stefani) and Lt. Shane. "Scoop" Foley is also entrapped having "crashed" the party.Savaard plans to systematically murder each person at 15 minute intervals. Judge Bowman is the first and dies by electrocution. Next Kearney is poisoned. Betty is targeted next, but before Savaard can complete his murderous scheme, his daughter Janet arrives and......................Karloff as usual gives a great performance. He moves from a kindly dedicated scientist to a madman bent on murder and revenge with ease.The use of an artificial heart put this modest little programmer several years ahead of its time.