Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Lon Chaney Jr plays Satan - the devil himself - in this fun, often funny, little film. There are 3 segments and in-between them you will see Satan (Chaney) giving Satanya (Kadler) her next assignment which leads to the next segment.The first segment is about a photographer who is a sex pervert. He commits murder and a woman that helped him regrets helping him. There is a photograph that will "haunt" the photographer... he becomes literally scared to death.The seconded segment is of some miners that discovers a whole and well preserved prehistoric woman frozen in ice. They get her out with ice still surrounding her. One man falls in love with frozen woman, he believes he was with her in a past life... he becomes crazy. (An excellent segment).The third segment is of a man who keeps having a reoccurring dream, tells his psychiatrist and the doctor has the man to sorta play out the dream. The man ends up at a fortuneteller who sees his fate in her crystal ball - he will die at midnight by her.The film is not scary but it is fun to watch in it's way.8/10

What on paper might have seemed like a good idea for a television series fortunately never made it that far, possibly playing in some second rate movie theater as part of a double bill with another piece of schlock. The premise has Satan himself (Lon Chaney Jr., that brilliant thespian of 1950's and 60's horror crap) sending the latest arrival in Hell back to earth to bring him more souls and ultimately go back one last time with the plan of obtaining more room, since hell is obviously running out. Looking like your local garbage man or mail deliverer, Chaney speaks his lines with an eternal grin, like the cat who swallowed tweetie bird with one gulp, seeming more like the prince of annoyance than the prince of darkness. The individual segments when Chaney isn't on actually rise this film's ratings up a bit and show a bit of creativity.First, there's a segment involving a camera man who is being stalked by a picture of a mysterious house with a woman he is having a strange affair with seemingly getting closer and closer. When she does appear, she's strangely obsessed, but as she realizes that he's getting nuttier and nuttier by her presence, she prepares to go. Why this premise would lead him to a life of damnation makes no sense, but the plot line surrounding her picture shows that at least someone was thinking simply beyond the shock value of having a film of people being damned.Next, is a tragic story, quite sad actually, concerning the discovery of a girl from millenniums in time found in a block of ice in a cave, and the efforts of a love-starved man to rescue her from her icy tomb. Finally, there's the story of a man who learns that he is to be murdered by a gypsy fortune teller at midnight and his efforts to prevent it from happening. Each incident has its own level of spookiness and certainly are better than any of the segments which feature Chaney at his most horrible. Chaney does of course get a twist at the end, and he overacts with relish. Filmed very cheaply, this has moments of gripping fear, but not everybody will be taken with the idea of Satan using an innocent woman (named Satana, no less...) to bring him more souls pretty much against her will.

Yes, Lon Chaney does look old and worn out in this picture, but he's one of my all time favorites so I'm willing to cut him some slack. I've almost completed watching all the stories in my Twilight Zone Definitive Edition, and it struck me that the ones presented here could all have been reworked as part of the Serling legacy. They have just the right amount of irony with classic twist endings to justify consideration as TZ appropriate stories. My favorite was probably the ice block girl and the professor - come on, you just knew she was going to open her eyes at some point, didn't you? But gee, since when does an iceberg melt from the inside out? Good concept, but it just doesn't hold water.Nor does the idea that the picture of the house in the first episode was the World Magazine guy's favorite, one of the best he's ever seen! What??!! IT WAS A PICTURE OF A HOUSE!!! I'm no expert, but I bet I've seen a dozen pictures today that looked better, and I'm not even trying hard.OK, since I'm at it, I might as well mention the final story, probably the most Twilight Zonish if you will. Guy sees a fortune teller and her crystal ball and becomes convinced he's doomed. He would have been a lot better off if he hadn't stabbed the gypsy. Things like that never end well.Well you don't expect much from these bargain bin flicks, but I have to say, this was better than what I was expecting. Chaney as Satan was the bonus no doubt, looking for a way to annex Earth for his domain to make room for more souls. On that note I'll finish up, I think it's starting to get hot in here.

"Three macabre tales of terror are featured in this frightful thriller hosted by the incomparable 'Mr. D' (Lon Chaney Jr.). A psychotic photographer is faced with a beauty that haunts his pictures and dreams in one tale. A scientist becomes obsessed with a frozen 'Ice Princess' that leads to an unfortunate ending in another tale. Finally, a man fears his own death after a visit with a fortuneteller in the last of these horrifying stories," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Although possessing three individual stories, "The Devil's Messenger" does have a unifying plot strand, featuring the character portrayed by Karen Kadler ("Satanya"). She has committed suicide, and is sent back to Earth, by Lon Chaney Jr. (as Satan), on various missions. Other than that, the stories don't have much to do with each other. Unfortunately, Mr. Chaney is an uninteresting devil. The first story, featuring John Crawford (as Donald Powell) is the best, with good photography and "A Most Unusual Camera" (Twilight Zone) worthy plot.*** The Devil's Messenger (1961) Herbert L. Strock ~ Karen Kadler, John Crawford, Lon Chaney Jr.