User:Teblick/Inner Sanctum Mystery film series

The Inner Sanctum Mystery film series consisted of six films produced by Universal Pictures in the 1940s, all of which featured actor Lon Chaney Jr..

Background
Simon & Schuster, the company behind the Inner Sanctum Mystery radio series and novels, sold screen rights for use of the title to Universal in June 1943. The contract did not include rights to any stories, however. Each film in the series included the opening statement "Universal presents an Inner Sanctum mystery by arrangement with Simon and Schuster, Inc. Publishers."

The talking head
Each of the six films is introduced by a talking head inside a crystal ball. Charlie Ellbe, writing in the book Recovering 1940s Horror Cinema: Traces of a Lost Decade, opined that the scene "suggests influences exterior to cinema ... the film as remediated directly from radio."

The series

 * Calling Dr. Death (1943)
 * Dead Man's Eyes (1944)
 * The Frozen Ghost (1945)
 * Strange Confession (1945)
 * Pillow of Death (1945)

Critical response
In his book, A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series, Ken Hanke described the series as "very different territory for Universal, though they likely have their roots in the studio's vastly enjoyable Crime Club films from the late '30s." He added, however, that the Inner Sanctum films were "more thoughtful", with "delusions of intellectualism.