THE AMAZING MR. X (1948)
(a.k.a. THE SPIRITUALIST)
Article #799 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-23-2003
Posting Date: 10-10-2003
Directed by Bernard Vorhaus
Featuring Turhan Bey, Richard Carlson, Lynn Bari

A woman who has begun hearing the voice of her dead husband hooks up with a medium in order to contact him.

Title check: “Amazing” is always a matter of opinion, but since we’re referring to a medium, it’s appropriate enough, though I do think that anyone known as Mr. X should have a last name that begins with an ‘X’. At heart, I prefer the quieter alternate title.

Though it really isn’t a horror movie, it certainly plays like one during the first third of the movie, enough so that it easily falls into the realm of fantastic cinema. It starts off pretty strongly, but loses a bit of steam during the middle section; however, there is a plot twist about two-thirds of the way through that definitely threw me for a loop and added a new factor to the story, and even though it left me with a few unanswered questions (I’m very unsure about why a certain character is doing what he or she is doing), I have to admit that I was quite satisfied with the movie as a whole. In particular, I think this is may be the best performance I’ve seen from Turhan Bey; it’s certainly a far more complex character than the ones he was usually given. I also like the final moments, which involve a crow. Horror fans may want to give this one a look.