The awesomely-titled final entry in Universal's Inner Sanctum series. It's the only entry in the series to not feature the opening of the creepy head in the crystal ball introducing the Inner Sanctum. The plot is relatively simple with Lon Chaney, Jr. playing a married attorney who is having an affair with beautiful Brenda Joyce. Chaney intends to divorce his wife but before he can, she's found dead and he becomes the prime suspect. But this is the Inner Sanctum so it can't be that simple. So add a psychic, visions of the dead wife, and more murder to the plot. As usual with the series, there's a nice supporting cast behind Chaney that includes J. Edward Bromberg, George Cleveland, and Rosalind Ivan. Pretty good close to the series. Shame there wasn't more. By the way, pay attention to the book that Chaney's wife was supposed to be reading before her death. Who would write something like that?!?

"Pillow of Death" is such a ridiculous title that one figures it must be good, and for the first two-thirds it more or less is so. Jerome Ash's cinematography is outstanding, Frank Skinner's music is appropriately dramatic; the sets -- left over from something else -- are fabulous and the performances are at least adequate in most cases to suit Babcock and Bricker's rather prosaic tale. However, a sense of routine starts to set in as the storyline advances -- each turn of the plot is accompanied by a shot of a screaming headline; characters begin to behave in a potted way and don't have very much dimension. Even given that, one can still have fun trying to figure out whodunit in this whodunit, but my crystal ball tells me very few will find the solution of this riddle particularly satisfactory. Ultimately, some may find the time spent watching "Pillow of Death" spent better in the company of one's own pillow, catching one hour's sleep rather than patiently enduring this title.

I recently purchased the Inner sanctum box set with all 6 of the Inner sanctum movies and was not disappointed at all.I really enjoyed Pillow of Death, OK its a corny title but it had everything in it if you enjoy old dark houses, whodunits,murders in the night etc.Lon chaney gave a decent enough performance in it and was supported by a good cast including the lovely Brenda joyce and the solid J.Edward bromberg i have read a few reviews which slate this film so i watched with trepidation and was pleasantly surprised it is a great little B movie which universal made in the 40's to much credit, it is atmospheric with many twists and turns moving along at a lively pace, i personally didn't find it dull or slow..if you enjoy the old black and white horrors from this period i am sure you wont be disappointed..just watch it with no great expectations and im sure you will see its not as bad as it has been painted. Without giving anything away it will keep you guessing all the way through..enjoy it for what it is.

The sixth, last and least of the "Inner Sanctum" mysteries and, curiously enough, the only one not to feature the 'talking head' intro. It's still fairly enjoyable, particularly in its first half (and, that, thanks largely to the presence of heroine Brenda Joyce's curmudgeonly uncle - played by George Cleveland), but rather sluggishly-paced (this being the longest in the series). At least, the final revelation provides a welcome change of pace.The plot involves a lot of archaic (and, ultimately, irrelevant) haunted-house clichés, including a couple of séances presided over by J. Edward Bromberg as a medium who goes by the silly name of Julian Julian (the sight of his head tilted backwards in trance-mode is sure to provide convulsions of laughter - as does his deadpan delivery of the preposterous dialogue, my favorite being the film's very last line: "The word 'abracadabra' is anathema to the true believer in the occult"!)...but equally hilarious are Rosalind Ivan's melodramatic fainting spells (the script contriving to have her discover each and every corpse!). Regrettable, too, is the monotonous regularity of Bruce Thomas' unannounced appearances (as an insufferable teenage neighbor smitten with Joyce) at the Kincaid household - made via a secret passage in their basement.In the end, I have to wonder whether director Fox's involvement (who specialized in Grade-Z stuff) has something to do with the fact that this particular film is the one that comes closest to the level of a "Poverty Row" potboiler, with respect to its look and overall quality (as a matter of fact, even the cast is lackluster this time around)!