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6.2/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Chandu the Magician remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like movies that feel like they were stitched together by someone who just discovered the concept of shadows, then yes. It is pure 1930s pulp craziness. If you need your movies to have, you know, logic or coherent pacing, stay far away from this one. It's for the crowd that likes their cinema a bit dusty and smelling of old theater velvet.
Bela Lugosi is in this, and frankly, he’s the only reason the screen doesn't just go blank. He plays Roxor with this wild, wide-eyed intensity that makes you wonder if he forgot where he was or if he was just living his best life. He’s got this scar on his face that moves around depending on the angle, which is a detail I’m sure nobody on set cared about.
The plot is basically a fever dream. A scientist gets kidnapped because, obviously, he has a death ray. Because what else would a scientist have in 1932? Chandu shows up to save the day, and he does a lot of waving his hands around and squinting to perform magic. It is very convincing if you ignore the wires.
There is a scene where a group of people just stand around while Chandu does his hypnotic stuff, and I swear one of the extras in the back is just looking at his shoes for a solid minute. It’s charming in that “nobody had enough coffee” kind of way. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Across to Singapore, though way more obsessed with capes.
The "magic" effects are just overlays of blurry light, and honestly? They look cooler than half the CGI in modern blockbusters. They don't try to look real. They just try to look mystical, which is a bold choice that actually works.
Some of the dialogue is just people explaining what they are currently doing. "I am now walking toward the door to stop the machine." Yes, we can see that. Thank you.
I found myself wondering if this would have been better as a silent movie, maybe something like Life, just to avoid the clunky script. But then you’d miss Lugosi’s voice, and that would be a crime. The guy could make reading a phone book sound like a dark ritual.
There’s a weird moment where the pacing just stops dead for a bit of exposition that adds absolutely nothing. It’s like the movie took a nap right in the middle of a chase scene. If you blink, you won't miss anything. If you take a nap, you’ll probably wake up right when the death ray finally starts to glow. ⚡
It’s not a masterpiece. It’s barely a coherent movie. But it has that specific vibe of early cinema that feels like a secret handshake between the filmmakers and the audience. Just don't look too hard at the sets, or you might see them wobble.
IMDb 5.7
1913
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