Truly Dreadful Film

Sorry, this movie sucks

As Good As It Gets

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Man with Two Lives (1942) * 1/2 (out of 4) A man (Edward Norris) is killed in a car wreck but his father asks a scientist to try and bring him back. The scientist is able to bring the man back but it doesn't take too long to notice that the once sweet kid isn't acting hisself. Director Rosen was a specialist at these poverty row films and this one here is pretty much a retelling of the Karloff/Lugosi film Black Friday. There are a couple nice ideas thrown around here about the wrong soul entering a body and how a father would react to the body of his son but with the soul of someone else. These moments are too few and for the most part we're left with a stale attempt at horror and drama. The biggest problem is certainly the screenplay, which tries to rush everything into a 61-minute movie. None of the performances are very good either but I guess that's to be expected. Another problem is that the movie ends only to have another ending pop up out of no where and this one is extremely stupid to the point where I might call it one of the worst I've seen.

"Black Friday" did this plot so much better, which is why it is remembered and "The Man With Two Lives" is just a forgotten potboiler. "Shed No Tears" was it's working title and it would have been a better one as he was a thoroughly evil character for most of the film.Philip Bennett is newly engaged when he is involved in a traffic accident. Dr. Clark (Edward Keene) has been involved in some experimental operations on animals - bringing them back from the dead. His colleagues urge him to try his operation on Phillip, who has died. As he is operating , a dangerous criminal, Wolf Panino, is going to the electric chair and trans migration of the soul occurs. When Phillip awakes from the operation, he has the soul of Panino. He is a changed person, he is rude to his family and starts to hang around Panino's old haunts. He takes over Wolf's old gang - going by the name of Philip Bennett, he also romance's Wolf's former girlfriend - who smells a rat. Bennett, as Wolf, is determined to even up scores and starts to eliminate his enemies.Bodies pile up, including the girlfriend and a policeman, then his own family begins to fall victim.But - I HATE those "bad dream" movies - you always feel let down. This film would have been better if he had stayed in character as Panino and had a final shoot out. Eleanor, his fiancée, would have ended up sadder but wiser with his brother. Edward Norris, the star, had a big career mostly in B movies.Not really recommended.

With the opening scene, you had to believe this was going to me a moody and atmospheric sci-fi/horror thriller. I was really impressed with all the lab equipment and scientific looking gizmos, probably the best I've seen besides the original "Frankenstein" movie. Dr. Richard Clark (Edward Keane) has been experimenting in the revival of life after death, and it really looked like it was going to be his story. Instead, we have a quick introduction into the theory of the 'transmigration of the soul', and the picture takes a sharp one hundred eighty degree turn and winds up being a gangster flick. Not all that bad mind you, but you have to get beyond a lot of the credibility defying gaps that keep the picture moving forward. Like the way Philip Bennett (Edward Norris) moves in on the Panino gang, shoots Mitch Larsen (Jack Buckley), and just takes over without any of the other gang members batting an eye. Or when mobster Eric (Elliot Sullivan) seeks out Chief of Detectives George Bradley (Addison Richards) to rat out Bennett. It's made all the more plausible by the way the whole thing ends, which I must admit I usually find to be very frustrating. But this time I was willing to cut it some slack because that's the only way the story wound up making any sense to me. Catch this one as an entry in the twenty movie/five DVD package from Mill Creek Entertainment as part of their 'Beyond The Grave' collection. It's an entertaining story that keeps you interested in what will happen next, even when you figure out it can't be happening.

As a writing teacher, there are two ending I never allow my students to use: "Then I woke up" and "Then I Got Run Over by a Truck." I am now going to add, "Then I got a bump on the head." I feel it's utterly unfair to use these tricks to cover up a lack of imagination. The whole issue of transmigration could have been handled with some intelligence and craft, yet, in this film, they either couldn't or wouldn't do that. I'm not saying it's totally worthless, but it is so predictable in its progress, except for the stupid ending. There are even gangsters who go to the police to get help from this guy. They should have done him in immediately. It's just a forgettable, borderline horror/sci fi film, with nothing new to offer.