Good start, but then it gets ruined

Dreadfully Boring

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I said in another review that I reserve one star for movies so awful I couldn't finish watching them, but I have to make an exception for Pillow of Death. Spoiler alert, please do not read this review if you have not watched the movie because I am going to describe the ending, so you are warned. This movie sets up the viewer to cheer for Lon Chaney's lawyer character as well as his secretary, after he is accused of murdering his wife. The police in this movie seem obsessed with arresting and charging people with murder for almost no reason at all, and then immediately releasing them for lack of evidence, raising the obvious question of why they were arrested in the first place. Anyway, other murders follow, and the viewer is led to believe that someone is trying to frame Lon Chaney. An especially obnoxious, annoying, stupid jerk of a guy keeps popping up and sneaking around and trying to get Chaney's secretary romantically interested in him, and she constantly tells him to get lost. I thought maybe this jerk was a "red herring," then after a while I thought maybe he was actually the murderer. My prime suspect was the fake medium, who also seemed intensely interested in using his supernatural hocus-pocus to prove Chaney guilty. Near the end of the movie I was sure of three things. One, Chaney was innocent. Two, Chaney and his secretary would wind up happily together. Three, the real murderer would at last be exposed (along with superstition), and justice would prevail. In case you missed my earlier warning, stop reading now unless you have seen the movie, spoiler ahead. I was wrong. In one of the most absurd endings to a "murder mystery" I have ever seen, Chaney turns out to be not only guilty, but also a raving lunatic. That's right, his only motive is that he is insane. And if that were not enough, his secretary, who seemed to love him and believe in him, immediately winds up with the stupid annoying little jerk who has chased her and enraged her. Give me a break. Now I know why that weird guy who was the talking Inner Sanctum head in the first five was absent from this one -- he was embarrassed to be associated with it! One star, but my actual rating would be about minus 100.

According to cranky old goat George Cleveland, the Kincaid house is filled with ghosts, some of whom he obviously thinks are still alive. That includes his imperious sister, Clara Blandick, who acts like she runs the county and would like to see Lon Chaney Jr. to the sheriff's and make sure he's destroyed. The victim is the wife of Chaney, who has been dating Brenda Joyce (Cleveland and Blandick's niece) behind his wife's back. Having wanted a divorce, he's spared from that thanks to the wife's timely demise. All of these characters (plus a few more) become suspects, and thanks to an amusing script, this final "Inner Sanctum" film is a treat.The set of the Kincaid home is very familiar from many other Universal films, including some of their classic horror films. Of the "Inner Sanctum" films, this is the closest to a horror film, with the ghostly element bringing along a spooky pacing, complete with strange laughter, the crackle of moving chains in the attic, and insinuations of the family's shady past. Blandick is delightfully imperious, a far cry from her strict but loving Auntie Em in "The Wizard of Oz". It's also her last extremely large part in a film, and she chews it up delightfully. Cleveland is a lovable delight, arguing with his sister as if they were still teenagers.A reunion for Chaney and Joyce after "Strange illusion", this is one film where I didn't find Chaney ridiculously miscast as a romantic character. He's just part of the ensemble here, given as much as everybody else, and strictly part of the ensemble. J. Edward Bromberg plays an expert on matters of the spirits of the dead, while Rosalind Ivan is coldly polite but less outspoken as a distant Kincaid relative obviously mooching off the family. There's also an eerie seance, complete with ghostly voice. The "Inner Sanctum" series may not be filled wiry masterpieces but at least it ended with a fairly enjoyable finale.

This is the second "Inner Sanctum" film I have watched so far, after "The Frozen Ghost", and this one is the better of the two, mainly because it follows a traditional "whodunit" format where nearly every character is considered a suspect at one point or another. There seem to be two basic alternatives: either there is something truly supernatural going on, or someone is trying to make others believe that there is something supernatural going on. But in an effective and startling ending, a third option is revealed....Just don't read Leonard Maltin's comment before viewing the movie because he spoils everything! As in "The Frozen Ghost", the production is polished and the casting is good. **1/2 out of 4.

Reviewers really disagree on the merits of this final Inner Sanctum entry. To me, it's the most fun of the six, although I think the first entry Calling Dr. Death (1943) is the most imaginative and comes closest to what the series was trying to achieve in the realm of psychological horror.What lifts this 60-minutes are several droll performances, a great Gothic set (no doubt left over from an A-production), and a pretty good whodunit that kept me guessing. George Cleveland's crusty old man remains a real hoot, and a role he appears to be really enjoying. Note too cop Winton Graff's subtly droll reactions to Cleveland's scrappy character. Too bad they don't have more scenes together. Then there're the two sourpuss old women. I especially like Rosalind Ivan's ditzy old gal with her subtle tongue-in-cheek. (At the same time, i also can't help noticing the rather woeful Bernard Thomas as the young neighbor, demonstrating again how the war had depleted Hollywood's ranks of young male talent.)And check out that elaborate Gothic set, so richly appointed that it adds needed spooky atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere, the lighting bill must have come to all of five dollars. Come to think of it-- I wonder if the cast kept bumping into each other. Also, I certainly didn't anticipate the solution to the whodunit. Cleverly, it doesn't follow stereotype. No, there's nothing memorable here, but this series programmer is more subtly amusing than most and better than the series norm, at least, in my view.