Dr. John Garth (Boris Karloff) is convicted of a mercy killing and sentenced to hang. With the time he has left, he is allowed to continue his experiments in prison. He creates a serum that reverses aging and tries it out on himself. But side effects of the serum turn him into a homicidal maniac. Karloff is terrific in a role very similar to many others he had played before and always perfectly. He was so good at creating sympathetic performances out of characters that other actors would have played in broad strokes. Nice supporting cast that includes the always good Edward Van Sloan, Evelyn Keyes, Bruce Bennett, Don Beddoe, and the underrated Pedro de Cordoba. You might not recognize some of those names but it's a solid cast for a 'B' picture. Not the best of Karloff's mad scientist films but highly enjoyable anyway. Definitely give it a shot.

Kindly Dr. John Garth (Boris Karloff) is found guilty of a mercy killing and sentenced to hang. While in prison he experiments in trying to find a serum that halts old age. He uses the blood of an executed murderer and tries it on himself. He is then pardoned and finds the serum works...but it turns him into a cold-blooded killer which he has no control over.This is pretty much a forgotten movie and it's easy to see why. It's pretty slow and dull with terrible dialogue and questionable science. Also it's (technically) not a horror movie--it plays more like a melodrama with horrific touches. Wonderful actress Evelyn Keyes is in here too but is given nothing to do. Karloff single-handedly saves this from total disaster. He's just great in his role--he makes the worst dialogue sound like Shakespeare! Also when the killing urge takes over you can actually see the changes in his face and mannerisms and there are also some nice atmospheric scenes at the end. There's a funny lapse in continuity--Keyes finds out by the morning paper about a murderer--but a scene outside the house shows it's night time! This is really only for Karloff fans. I give it a 4.

It's sad that Before I Hang which started off with so much possibility, ended up with Boris Karloff playing yet another mad scientist. The film was alluding to stem cell research three generations before it was a possibility. The film begins with Karloff receiving a death sentence for a 'mercy' killing of a patient. In light of what subsequently happens you've got to wonder if Karloff was telling the whole truth as he spoke before the death sentence was passed.Passed it was though, but Boris had the good fortune to get to a prison where the doctor, Edward Van Sloan, was a fan of his work and he persuades warden Ben Taggart to allow to him to work with him in the last few weeks of his life.Of course those are some eventful weeks, made even longer when the governor commutes his sentence. Bodies start piling up all around Boris when he starts injecting himself with that concoction he's brewed up.Karloff will of course please his legion of fans, he gives them the Boris they've come to expect. But I think this film could have been so much more and said so much more if not relegated to Columbia's B picture factory.

A scientist devoted to solving the process of aging is convicted of a "mercy killing" and due to hang, granted permission to continue his experiments with colleague Dr. Ralph Howard(Edward Van Sloan, of Dracula fame)in a prison laboratory until his sentence is to be carried out. After developing a serum, and with only a few hours left before facing his hanging, Dr. John Garth(Bortis Karloff)decides to inoculate himself with the use of blood deriving from an executed murderer, with tragic results. Granted a reprieve by the governor with his sentence reduced to life-in-prison, Garth finds that he's actually getting younger, but the blood from the murderer used in the serum which was inoculated in his veins contaminates him with an uncontrollable urge to kill which places innocents in danger. In fact, Garth strangles Howard before a thief enters the lab, with a scuffle killing the man. Garth is considered an innocent harmed in that scuffle when in fact he was the man behind both deaths. Released a free man, his old friends he wishes to inoculate become targets thanks to the inner desire to kill, one by one victims of handkerchief stranglings. Garth will hope to pass on knowledge to his daughter's fiancé Paul(Bruce Bennett)before turning himself in to the proper authorities. But, will he be able to do this before the urge to kill actually threatens the life of daughter Martha(Evelyn Keyes)? Meanwhile, the police suspect Garth might be behind the stranglings and investigate accordingly.Nice little 60 minute B-movie programmer with a fine performance from Karloff as the tragic victim of corrupted blood, an experiment gone awry. Many will find similarities to many films he was making at the time, playing scientists who meant well, falling prey to unforeseen circumstances regarding unusual experiments often rejected by the medical community at large. The "victim of science" theme isn't fresh by today's standards considering so many films have been made since this film concerning scientists/doctors and their attempts to advance the medical field/life through unorthodox means. I think Karloff's sympathetic performance reels in the viewer and the film is nicely produced adhering to the typically blessed Columbia Pictures studio system where even low-budget offerings carried a polished look and style(..see "Cry of the Werewolf" for further proof). Karloff was always adept at portraying characters far older than he was and this ability is used here where he starts out as a man perhaps 60 or so, looking younger as the film continues. You expect nothing less than excellent when Karloff headlines your movie. I relish the fact that there many of these less heralded films in Karloff's resume still left for me to discover. So often we back his career into a corner where he's known for his Universal and Val Lewton films, when there's a plethora of little underrated titles ready for the viewing public.