First off, this is not a horror movie in any way for those who might be thinking that due to the poster or the fact Turhan Bey is in it. During the '40s he appeared in several of the lesser Universal horror films. This isn't one of them. This is a somewhat noirish psychological thriller about a widow, a fake psychic, and a dead husband that may not be so dead. I see a lot of praise for this in the reviews here but this is one time when I'm not in agreement with the majority. Frankly, I found this to be a real bore. The cast is nice and the twists look good on paper but the whole thing is just so unexciting I could barely stay awake during it. Also I don't get the praise for the cinematography. The film looks fine but, again, I'm just not seeing what others are seeing. It's nothing special, in my opinion. Give it a look and judge for yourself but keep expectations low.

THE SPIRITUALIST is a typical mystery thriller of the 1940s that seems indebted to the likes of Hitchcock's REBECCA. The opening sequence, in which a bereaved woman is standing on a beach at night and listening to her dead husband's voice calling her, is effectively spooky and ties in well with the whole Gothic sub-genre of the era that invariably involved rambling old houses, kooky partners, and mysterious events of the past.As it transpires, this film is even slower paced than most, and the first half only offers repetitions of the above event, mixed up with a little back story and some romance that threatens to drag the pace down to a plodding level. American viewers watching this under the title of THE AMAZING MR. X will invariably be disappointed by the movie's lack of incident and general sluggishness.Those with the willpower to persevere will find that the second half picks up somewhat substantially, with decent crime and thriller aspects added to the story and a strong, suspenseful climax. While Lynn Bari and Cathy O'Donnell come across as wet blankets, Turhan Bey does well in a complex part while Donald Curtis steals his scenes. Some surprisingly effective special effects round off the story nicely.

Certainly not an 'amazing' film, but enjoyable none the less. I would almost call it a skeptic movie since it pulls back the curtain on the tricks of a self-proclaimed spiritualist. I always enjoy films that expose 'mediums' for the charlatans they really are. There is nothing subtle about the cinematography of this film, there was a bit of an overkill on fog, shadows and low-angled shots. The film's cast got shaken up at the last minute and was originally supposed to star Carole Landis who died of an intentional drug overdose just two days before filming. This film is in the public domain and available to watch online for free.

The Amazing Mr.X starts off a little slow but then starts to pick up some speed. Its a very interesting and unique old School type thriller. It has an interesting way of shifting the bar to subtle to making you guess what could possibly happen next. Although this movie can appear boring at times, it is a great opening into a psychological portal of the late 1940's. The actors also play their character roles with great feeling that also adds to the mystique of the entire film. Old School movie fans will definitely enjoy this intriguing thriller. Overall the movie is decent with some minor kinks in it, it lacks in the action department but the story plot makes up for this flaw. I definitely recommend this to any Old School Horror/Thriller fan.