The middle of this Republic programmer has among it some of the most sinister and horrifying dialog in the history of horror films. Erich von Stroheim gets to recite a speech that will have you gripped to the edge of your seat. He is a well respected doctor and scientist who only takes the patients recommended to him by other doctors, but I'd turn that offer down even if it was my only alternative. Today, there are many names for the type of mental illness he has, but really, it all comes down to pure, undeniable madness. He's a total perfectionist and a genius, and in this case, he doesn't just have a touch of madness; he has an entire brain filled with it. In love with Harriett Russell who chose to marry a close medical colleague of his (John Bohn), he goes completely bonkers when Russell begs him to operate on her husband. To say that the operation fails is an understatement; it doesn't go awry, it goes eerie. Von Stroheim's assistant (Dwight Frye) realizes something is wrong and makes the mistake of confronting him. The story is gripping but full of plot holes. But I just dare you to take your eyes off of von Stroheim. He goes between being calm, cool and collected to totally hammy, and in his big speech reminds me slightly of that British star of mayhem and murder, Tod Slaughter. How it concludes really might have you getting the willies, although certain aspects are quite funny too.

Famed surgeon Andre Crespi is called on the perform a life saving operation on Dr. Stephen Ross, a man who won the heart of the woman (Estelle) that Crespi had fallen for. Crespi manages to perform a successful operation, but during the recuperation, he gives a drug to Ross that gives him the appearance of death. When Ross is pronounced "dead", Dr. Thomas (a staff member at Crespi's hospital) suspects Crespi of killing Ross, but Crespi overwhelms Thomas, and locks him in a closet while Crespi attends the funeral and burial, with Ross still alive. Not sure of what Crespi did, Thomas and colleague Dr. Arnold dig up Ross' body for an autopsy, but when Ross "comes back from the dead", what will happen next? Intriguing film based on Poe's "Premature Burial" with a very sly, mad performance by Von Stroheim and very well done subdued performances by the rest of the cast. The film was shot in the Bronx, so production values are not the peak of excellence, but even the direction could have been better with many close-ups and shots of the actors that are a few seconds too long. A score to the film would have helped, and the romantic subplots w/ the doctors & nurses (2 of them) detract from the main story, but the story is enough to help this B movie. Rating, 6.

Wow! What a great performance by Erich Von Stroheim as a doctor who tries to get revenge on the man that took his girl away. Von Stroheim once again plays an overly obsessed man in a range of quiet meekness in one moment and tyrannical rage in another. His character of a lonely, frustrated man filled with nothing but hate at the loss of losing the girl he loved to another man is frightening and sympathetic at the same time. This film is very creaky, has little action, and almost no musical background, yet Von Stroheim's performance carries the film on his shoulders and delivers the goods. Some great scenes in the film show Von Stroheim's range as an actor from his thumping of a pencil for an half hour and finally snapping it to his corpse beside manner where he tells his captured prey his wicked, diabolical intentions. Dr. Crespi somehow makes his hated enemy appear dead but in reality leaves him alive only to be buried alive. The glee in Dr. Crespi's face glows and really turns what could have been a horrible film into a quite enjoyable one. Add to the fun the presence of Dwight Frye(who has a scene digging up a grave) and you have a wonderful horror picture from the heyday of horror. Above all, this film shows us just how good this man was at acting, and it shows us the loss we have that he was not utilized more.

Even though Erich von Stroheim privately referred to this film as "The Crime of Republic," he delivers one of his most gracefully modulated early sound performances in this beguiling low-budget shocker. One of the better examples of the mad-doctor-gets-revenge-against-normal-man-who-stole-his-girl genre of the mid-thirties ("The Raven," "Murders in the Zoo," "Mad Love"), "Crespi" is made especially memorable by its low-key, dapper star, who wears designer lab coats, keeps a baby skeleton in his office as a sort of mascot/alter ego, and shows a refreshing lack of patience with the earnest, romantic idiots he's surrounded with.