"The Frozen Ghost" is another "Universal" studios film from their "Inner Sanctum" series with Lon Chaney Jnr. Released in 1945 to no critical acclaim of any kind, this feels a bit heavy-going and it's only on for barely 61 minutes! One good thing, is that Lon Chaney Jnr has Evelyn Ankers as his leading lady once again. Martin Kosleck makes for a good villain - he has that typical dodgy look!

Like B westerns at the time the title The Frozen Ghost has nothing to do with ghosts. All the folks here are alive though in suspended animation.Possibly this film might have been better had Universal gotten old horror film standbys Bela Lugosi or Boris Karloff to do the title role. Lon Chaney, Jr. is a fine actor and can be frightening indeed on a occasion, but his role as a mentalist who has convinced himself that he can kill with a thought really required someone like those two titans of horror.In any event Chaney is doing his mentalist act with assistant Evelyn Ankers and when a drunken customer ruins his act he wishes him dead and so he is. His agent and friend Milburn Stone persuades Chaney to retire and spend some time helping another friend of Stone's Martin Kosleck run his wax museum.Kosleck is our bad guy, he's done many a sinister role most prominently Joseph Goebbels in a few films. In this he's a scientist doing the usual ghoulish things that scientists do. When his assistants Tala Birrell and Elena Verdugo disappear Chaney thinks he might have something to do with it. So does homicide cop Douglass Dumbrille for once a good guy.The Frozen Ghost is not up to the usual Universal standards of Gothic horror. Chaney is very much miscast in the lead here.

Lon Chaney stars as a famous hypnotist, Gregor the Great, crippled emotionally after a belligerent, alcoholic volunteer drops dead while in the middle of his act, performing for an audience, believing he is responsible despite a coroner's report clearing him of any sort of murder. Alex Gregor felt hate for the volunteer due to the idiot's bad behavior, even mentioning that he could kill him, and this is what torments the hypnotist. He is so tormented, Alex quits his gig and decides to help Valerie Monet (Tala Birell) with her wax museum business, using the former celebrity to help bring in customers. Maura Daniel (Evelyn Ankers) was to marry Gregor (she is his assistant, often put under hypnosis and foretells what certain people in the audience are thinking) before the embarrassing death, which led Alex to call of their engagement and leave the profession. Of course, she still loves Gregor and wants to rekindle their broken relationship. Valerie Monet and her niece, Nina (Elena Verdugo; the gypsy in "House of Frankenstein"), both fall for Gregor (haha, these Inner Sanctum mysteries always have all the ladies completely enamored with Chaney's characters) leading to multiple complications. Martin Kosleck (the mad sculptor in "House of Horrors" co-starring Rando Hatton) is a former plastic surgeon, driven from the practice due to a patient's "miscalculation", now Madame Monet's wax sculpture artist, Dr. Rudi Polden, one of those creepy, *eccentric* weirdos who talks to his figures as if they were alive. Rudi is infatuated with Nina and has a severe dislike for Gregor because he "bosses him around". In actuality, Rudi is jealous because Nina carries a torch for Gregor (who considers her a child). There's plenty of jealousy to go around, though, as Valerie competes for Gregor even if he doesn't have the same feelings for her as he does for Maura. Milburn Stone is Gregor's business agent, George Keene, who seems interested in helping his client get over this obsession with causing death through hypnotic suggestion. When Valerie disappears after an argument with Gregor results in him using his hypnotism, out of anger, to "predispose" her, Alex is worried that he has killed again, blacking out for a period before finding himself near a pier. Douglass Dumbrille rounds out the cast as a pesky inspector who considers everyone a suspect in Val's disappearance, soon eyeing Gregor when Nina also vanishes (after making a startling discovery when one of Rudi's wax sculptures is a bit *too* lifelike.).A wax museum, a diabolical sculptor, a double-cross in the works for poor Gregor, hypnotism, disappearances, suspended animation, and a hero's tormented psyche questioning his unique ability as if it were a dangerous weapon he cannot control, "The Frozen Ghost" has a lot going on. I think by this point, the "Inner Sanctum Mysteries" series was starting to show its age, the fourth film has some pretty bland writing and practically little imagination, not to mention, Chaney's role isn't as interesting as, say, Kosleck's. Chaney is a weary, tortured soul—sound familiar? That's all it is, honestly, I wish the series had mixed things up (like they did in "Weird Woman" when Evelyn Ankers was given a juicy villainous part), and given Chaney a chance to play the corrupt character instead of always being saddled with the Lawrence Talbot victim. It isn't that Chaney cannot portray a heel, just watch "The Alligator People".Anyway, there's one surprising moment out of left field, when the story reveals a plot to have Gregor committed, the mastermind perhaps not who you would expect. Evelyn Ankers, after probably her best part at Universal Studios with "Weird Woman", resorts back to beautiful love interest to Chaney, a supporting part that doesn't require much from her other than the "stand by your man" aspect her characters are often provided. Kosleck has a keen ability at portraying the kinds of characters who can make your skin crawl; his love for Nina unrequited, only fueling his psychopathic behavior. The screenplay certainly throws in everything but the kitchen sink so there might be something for fans of Universal horror to enjoy.

Another "Inner Sanctum" mystery with Lon Chaney Jr. giving another so-so performance.Here he plats a mentalist who (he thinks) accidentally kills a man with his mind. It seems the man died of natural causes but he can't shake the feeling. He breaks up with his girlfriend (Evelyn Ankers) and goes to Madame Monet's Wax Museum to relax (!!!). There he thinks he accidentally kills Madame Monet (Tala Birell) with his mind. But the body disappears. What's going on?It's just OK. It's very well-directed (especially during the opening hypnotic show & the shots of Chaney's feet) and has some pretty good acting by Ankers, Birell and Milburn Stone (as his manager). Also it's nicely atmospheric. But it meanders, there's plenty of padding (even at an hour) and tons of plot holes. Also the final resolution is pretty silly but it DOES fit.OK undemanding fare.