I have to say, I'm a big fan of these Inner Sanctum mysteries. For the most part, they are better than average--I would even say they are excellent little chillers & "Weird Woman" is one of the best.Lon Chaney--taking a respite from his monster roles--gets a rare opportunity at being a leading man. Some will debate whether Chaney had the looks or the ability to play such parts, but I think he did an excellent job with nearly all the Inner Sanctum roles he was given. Of course, I'm a big fan of Lon since my early childhood--so maybe my opinion is a little biased.Chaney seemed to want more of these leading man type roles during this point in his career, but seemed to get mostly typecast as a "horror man" which may have attributed to some of his personal demons--not to mention the shadow of his late father. Of course, those horror roles for which he was typed led to Lon becoming immortal for generations of fans--moreso than probably a lot of the guys who were playing romantic leads during Chaney's career.Getting back to "Weird Woman", Anne Gwynne was always one of my favorite 1940s beauties, Evelyn Ankers is as pretty as ever--not to mention diabolical--and the supporting cast for this picture may be the best assembled for any of the Inner Sanctum films (Strange Confession boasts a first rate cast as well).Overall--if you're a Lon Chaney fan or just a fan of the old Universal classics in general--then I would say all 6 of the Inner Sanctum mysteries are required viewing.8.5 out of 10....

Well, Lon Chaney Jr. that is. After being cast as various monsters, most famously The Wolfman, and a moron in Of Mice And Men, Chaney must have found temporary relief the Inner Sanctum series of second feature mystery potboilers, in which he was the sophisticated leading man, nattily dressed and sporting a pencil-line mustache like Errol Flynn. And he's surprisingly believable in this mode. Just goes to show you how those 1940's pinstriped, double-breasted suits with padded shoulders could spruce up any mug. Considering Chaney's bulk, just picture what an unbelievable sex symbol he would have made dressed like the average young to middle age guy now -- with a goofy tee shirt, knobby knees showing beneath baggy shorts, with a ball cap on backwards like the dumbest of the Bowery Boys! Thank God for the old black and white movies when men dressed like men instead of overgrown Beaver Cleavers! But I digress...In Weird Woman, Chaney is a suave college professor, the love idol of not just one, but three beautiful babes -- Anne Gwynne, Evelyn Ankers, and Lois Collier. Gwynne is his wife, a pretty, young half-savage he has brought back from a sociology study in the South Seas. The orphan of another professor, she was brought up by the savages, unfortunately with all their heathen superstitions, something of a problem for the logic-minded prof. Even more of a problem is the bimbo co-ed Collier, who has a serious crush on him. Biggest problem of all is Ankers, the librarian he had been using before he brought the little brown babe home, now as the bimbo describes her, "a jealous old cat." Ankers, scheming for revenge, is behind all the mischief that occurs -- not a spoiler, this is known all along. How all this unfolds, how it affects the professor, his superstitious wife, and the rest of the campus, and the way the villainess gets her comeuppance is all very suspenseful and entertaining.Even more entertaining is how well the authors of this story (Fritz Leiber Jr novel, Scott Darling adaptation) understand and reveal the cut-throat inner dynamic of a college faculty. Real life professors and administrators and their spouses may find their portrayal as snippy, catty, licentious, insecure, and overly competitive uncomfortably close to home! If this movie were remade today, no doubt the much adored professor would be a woman, still with the pin-stripe suit -- but the spurned librarian would still be one, too! Changing times, changing times! But it wouldn't be such good a movie in any way, even with a zillion-dollar budget and the top "talent" available today.Weird Woman, along with the other 5 low-budget pictures in the Inner Sanctum series, is a good example of how the big studios of Old Hollywood without halfway trying could turn out entertaining, good-looking movies. All well-acted by Chaney and the other second tier actors involved, artistically filmed with lots of spooky night scenes, well directed with an intense psychological angle, scored with appropriately eerie music by Roy Web, all maintaining a fun creepy atmosphere throughout. Great little filler movies, the longest only 67 minutes. If you like the first one you watch, have a double feature!

"Ilona, there's something about your smile right now that makes me think of Jack the Ripper." Revered Professor of Anthropology, Norman Reed—also a successful novelist—meets a beauty while touring a jungle, marries her, and brings Paula back to the states, encountering all sorts of problems, caused by the conniving Ilona who feels scorned for his not choosing her. The topic of this second Inner Sanctum Mystery, "Weird Woman" is reason and logic versus superstition and fear, Professor Reed, cracking under the pressure applied by the scheming Ilona who plants seeds, watching them flower much to her delight, as Norman's life gets worse and worse. Ilona is the source of absolute misery to everyone within Norman's orbit, so positively driven to inflict pain for the rejection she feels.So a professor, Millard (Ralph Morgan, playing the "weak husband, controlled by dominating wife" character), is told by Ilona that Reed has discovered a thesis he stole material from for his book. Millard, tormented by the thought of being discovered as a plagiaristic fraud, commits suicide. Ilona convinces Millard's wife, Evelyn (Elizabeth Russell), that Paula's voodoo witchcraft and Norman's desire to receive a loftier position (Millard was a candidate for) caused the suicide. Ilona knows her assistant, student Margaret (Lois Collier), is enamored with Reed and sees an opportunity to deceive a young man, David Jennings (Phil Brown)—in love with Margaret, although she doesn't feel the same way—into attempting to murder Reed. It starts by simply working into David's mind that Norman is to blame in regards to his love going unrequited. When Norman shuns Margaret's advances, considering her a melodramatic kid, it provides Ilona with another chance to spurn David's anger into action. Then you have an enraged Evelyn confronting Paula about all the tragedy that has came to Monroe because of her. An accidental shooting, which takes place as David and Norman are scuffling over the gun (David, wholly overcome by Ilona's deception, even fired two shots at Norman as a warning of what was possibly to come), could be the final nail in Professor Reed's coffin. Ilona's craftiness has Reed in a fix, that's for sure. Can Reed discover Ilona's schemes or will he answer for a manslaughter charge he didn't commit?While I didn't much care for all the jungle chanting, I was surprised by how acidic, mean-spirited, and piercing the dialogue is in this film, especially by Ilona and even Norman who doesn't appreciate the other women trying to win him away from Paula, who he adores and cherishes. Elisabeth Risdon steals the film as the Dean of Women, with lots of memorable lines, including the one I mentioned at the front of this review. She's completely supportive of Reed, even as his life is being torn apart, and has a keen judge of character. The script is talky, and "Weird Woman" is the stuff of soap operas where a happy marriage, however critically judged by the community of Monroe, is wrongfully assaulted by vamp Ilona. Ilona is easily Evelyn Ankers most compelling part, getting a chance to play a really evil character with a black heart, unable to rein in the jealousy that motivates her to create the ensuing melodrama. I wasn't particularly fond of Reed's insistence of Paula to abandon her pagan beliefs in order to appease him, just because he considers them illogical and backward. Still, Chaney brings the Talbot pathos we are accustomed to during his Universal period, presenting a victimized innocent undeserved of Ilona's treachery. Anne Gwynn—the woman Carradine's Dracula wanted as his vampire bride in "House of Frankenstein"—is pretty and vulnerable, her character raised by the natives and a pawn to Ilona's predatory methods. The conclusion—regarding Ilona's fate—is stunning and encourages the possibility that maybe not everything in life can be logically explained.

In the 1940s, Universal Pictures made a nice series of mysteries under the umbrella of "The Inner Sanctum" films. Each starred Lon Chaney, Jr. and were nice little mystery films--especially good since they were B-movies--with a lower budget and pretensions since they were intended as a second film in a double-feature.In this film, Chaney is a Sociology professor who meets a woman on a South Pacific island. Oddly, while everyone there looks Polynesian, she looks like Rita Hayworth's sister--with very white skin and 1940s American style hair! Despite bad casting, the film mostly has to do with Chaney and his bride's life once they return to his university in the States. It's obvious that Chaney's old girlfriend is an evil shrew and she spends most of the movie treating the newlyweds horribly. In response, the bride decides to use her island magic to protect them. However, when the scientifically minded Chaney finds out, he destroys her trinkets and immediately bad things begin to happen! How all this is worked out made me very happy--as the film didn't take a cheap or easy way out and created a very good mystery with a fitting conclusion. A very good film from a very good series.By the way, this film is one of six that have been released on DVD--with three episodes on each DVD. This is from Disk 1 and also includes DEAD MAN'S EYES and CALLING DR. DEATH (a great title)--both of which are of comparable quality. I strongly recommend you see the series and if you like it, also try Columbia Pictures' WHISTLER series--as it's very similar in style.