Flashback Friday: The Corpse Vanishes

Welcome back to Flashback Fridays! Every Friday we will post a review of a movie from years past. If you have a movie suggestion click here to let us know.

I wanted to kick off the first Flashback Friday with a personal favorite movie of mine. This movie is always the first movie I pick to watch when I am bored, sick in bed or just want something as background noise. It’s not a perfect movie, and honestly at times makes no sense, but I adore it. This week we’re reviewing The Corpse Vanishes from 1942.

Pat is a journalist that covers the society section but is tired of reporting on what people wear to the big events around town. She wants to cover something hard hitting so when brides start to die at their weddings, she takes it upon herself to investigate it. That investigation leads her to a doctor’s home where he might be more involved than he lets on.

One of the reasons I first watched this movie was because I am a huge fan of Bela Lugosi. I have made it a goal to watch all his movies and this one is pretty easy to find. Someone forgot to renew the copyright on it so it’s available on a lot of streaming platforms. You can find it on the Paramount+ app and on Tubi.

There isn’t really a reason why I should love this movie as much as I do. The plot makes little to no sense and the acting is…what you would expect from a 1940’s horror movie. It’s not the best but it’s also not terrible. The movie does move along quite well and since it’s only an hour long it packs quite a bit in. There are times I wish they would have gone into more detail but movies in the 40’s tended to be only an hour to an hour and a half at most. You can do what you can with that amount of time.

Without giving too much away, Bela Lugosi plays Dr. Lorenz, He and his wife live in a big house outside of town which a lot of people refuse to go to. Pat, in her investigation into the deaths of the local brides, finds out that a very rare orchid is found on the bodies. She finds out that Dr. Lorenz is the one who first created the hybrid and so she goes to see him. While on her way there she meets Dr. Foster who is working with Dr. Lorenz. That’s when things get weird.

Okay, the dead brides are pretty weird but Dr. Lorenz and his wife’s reaction to Pat wanting to talk them about the flower is even weirder. Pat wants to talk to them right away but the doctor says to wait until morning and that she can stay with them. She refuses but ends up staying anyway. She gets woken up by a strange man playing with and smelling her hair (super creepy) and realizes her wardrobe conceals a doorway.

She runs to get Dr. Foster and ends up finding Dr. Lorenz and his wife sleeping in coffins. Dr. Foster tells her everything is fine and to go back to sleep. Pat, on the other hand, goes through the wardrobe and finds something shocking.

This is literally the first half of the movie. There is still so much more after this, including a sexist publisher who doesn’t believe Pat but the minute Dr. Foster, a man he doesn’t know, shows up and says the same thing he is satisfied. Gross. As someone that worked in the newspaper industry I can tell you, things haven’t changed much.

If you are looking for a quick movie with lots of plot and pretty decent acting then I suggest you watch The Corpse Vanishes.