Black Dragons (1942) User Reviews (54)

Bela Lugosi Meets The Lone Ranger!

[bsmith5552 · 4/10 · 28 November 2002]

"Black Dragons" is a second feature WWII propaganda film popular at the time. It's not as bad as some would have you believe.

A secret meeting hosted by the respected Dr. William Saunders (George Pembroke)is interrupted by a mysterious stranger names Monsieur Colomb (Bela Lugosi). Shortly thereafter the participants at the meeting begin to turn up murdered, their bodies being placed on the steps of the Japanese embassy in Washington. Colomb is suspected. Federal Agent Dick Martin (Clayton Moore) is assigned to the case and meets Saunders niece Alice Saunders (Joan Barclay) who tries to assist him. The reasons behind Colomb's actions are not explained until the final reel. Until all is explained at the end, the story is hard to comprehend.

Lugosi who had by this time been reduced to appearing in a string of low budget quickies, is actually quite good in this one. He is not allowed to over act as much as he ususlly did and credit for this has to go to director William Nigh. Lugosi's character slinks through the shadows and is reminiscent of his Dracula even to the point of the full close ups of his piercing eyes.

Clayton Moore, a one dimensional actor at best, would become TV's Lone Ranger in a few years. Joan Barclay makes a good heroine.

Although a little dated now, "Black Dragons" is not a bad way to spend an hour.

Just Another Plastic Surgery Movie

[Hitchcoc · 3/10 · 23 February 2006]

Poor Bela Lugosi. Just another day at work. A group of saboteurs attempting to disrupt the American war effort from the inside. It's pretty hard to figure out at first because, while we know these guys are up to something, their method of operation just isn't very clear. I won't spoil it, but the ending in pretty amazing. There are a series of murders perpetrated by our hero. A police force that doesn't know what is going on. What a coincidence that all the victims seem to come and go from the same house. There are comments like, "A true patriot would do this or that." It's obvious while suspicion abounds most of the world wouldn't know a spy or a subversive if it jumped up and bit them. I also was surprised to see Clayton Moore (the Lone Ranger) in a romantic role. I never realized that he ever did anything other than sit on a horse. There is, of course, the smugness of the criminals as they think that they are immune from the killer's guest list. Anyway, Bela is sort of a good guy and a bad guy rolled into one. The best scene in the movie is at the end, but I won't spoil it. As a curiosity, and a period piece, it may be fun to watch for some people.

Surprisingly Entertaining

[ReelCheese · 5/10 · 26 November 2007]

None of the critics have much good to say about it, but BLACK DRAGONS is a much better-than-expected attempt at an entirely new genre: flag-waving horror.

Bela Lugosi is a mysterious man who mysteriously shows up at a renowned doctor's home, soon after which his guests start mysteriously being murdered. Could it be that they had something to hide? Could there be more to them than meets the eye? What initially fails to make much sense is creatively sorted out in a wonderfully fun B-movie manner.

BLACK DRAGONS was made during the Second World War and it shows, quite painfully at times. The use of the term "Japs" will catch some contemporary viewers off guard, but it's really not that bad when you put it into the proper context. The film is clumsily patriotic, and more silly fun than scary or thrilling. Lugosi is an absolute treat, covering up murders and turning on the "Who, me?" act with ease.

It's not a classic, but BLACK DRAGONS is a good, tidy black and white B-film with a certain watch-it-late-at-night appeal. Director William Nigh had a knack for turning poverty row pictures into something special. Some of his other efforts include DOOMED TO DIE and THE FATAL HOUR with another horror icon, Boris Karloff.

More Monogram tripe with some hilariously daft plot twists

[35541m · 18 May 2003]

This piece of tacky WW2 propaganda has Bela Lugosi kill off various fith columnists and leave their corpses outside the Japanese embassy in Washington (with a prominently placed "Closed" sign on its door). Most of the film has Bela darting in and out of various "hidden" rooms in his main foe's rather small house and sneaking up on people from behind them. For example, everyone enters the cellar by going round the side of the house and through some front doors above the cellar; Bela, however, appears to get in via some inside door (so he doesn't have to leave the house). In a scene near the end he drags one of his victims through a previously unseen curtain in the living room and into some huge, medieval-type room with a long table that had previously not featured in the house at all and had somehow been missed by the large contingent of FBI men. Another scene has him sneak into a small room below the stairs, as hero and heroine ascent the stairs, so he can somehow get into the upstairs room of his Doctor victim before the others. These momentary pleasures, though, are outweighed by the ludicrous climatic flashback plot revelation in which it is revealed that Lugosi is a Nazi plastic surgeon who has transformed Japanese agents into these American-looking fifth columnists. The daftest moment, in a thoroughly daft film, comes when Lugosi is double-crossed by the fiendish Orientals and thrown into a cell into which, conveniently, is another prisoner who looks exactly like him (but sans beard) and is about to be released. The Great Man gives a chuckle and takes out his beard-trimming kit (that the Japanese have helpfully left him with). Welcome to Monogram; a Universe all of its own. See also The Ape Man and The Corpse Vanished for more of the same.

Interesting Idea - Poor Execution

[chuckbarris-1 · 4/10 · 13 October 2005]

This film is truly a sorry excuse for film making. The pacing is poor, the budget must have been depressingly low, and the acting is cut-rate (that is, except for Bela Lugosi). The audio at this point in time is also terrible, with so much extra noise in the background that it sounded to me as though a jet were taking off for the entirety of the movie. If these things bother you at all, don't watch this film.

If you can get past this, however, you will find that the idea behind the film is a very good one. A German plastic surgeon (Bela Lugosi) was hired by the Japanese to operate on several Japanese agents and turn them into the likenesses of upstanding American businessmen whom the Japanese have kidnapped and killed. After completing his work, he was betrayed by the Japanese and thrown into prison. He later escapes and travels to America to seek revenge on his patients through a series of highly-publicized murders.

It seemed as though Bela Lugosi was the only decent actor in the film, and, to be honest, the rest of the actors were completely forgettable and stodgy. The leading actress ended up being rather boring and stereotypical, while the police officer assigned to her case was the common, chauvinistic and always correct dominant male that is found in many films of this time period.

I also found that the camera work was completely uninspired, often taking the exact same angles of the exact same rooms time and time again. After a while, this tends to drag the film down, setting a very slow pace for the "action," which is more or less non-existent anyway.

To me, the idea is a fascinating one, and with a better writer, director, script, equipment, and actors it could become an excellent film. Sadly, these handicaps keep the film back for now, and I can't recommend it to anyone but the most open of movie lovers.

Dracula meets the Lone Ranger?

[lastliberal · 4/10 · 10 March 2008]

This was a strange film. A bit horror and certainly film noir. Some fifth columnists meet and mysteriously start dying off with a Japanese dagger in their hands after Monsieur Colomb (Bela Lugosi) shows up.

Soon the Lone Ranger arrives in the person of FBI Agent Richard 'Dick' Martin (Clayton Moore). Martin is ineffective in finding the killer as he is more interested in the niece (Joan Barclay) of a missing doctor, who is part of the gang.

After the last man dies, and the doctor is horribly disfigured by some strange serum, the true story of the group comes out and that is where it gets interesting and weird. I won't spill it.

Lugosi was marvelous as the skulking killer.

Black Dragons (1942) **

[JoeKarlosi · 5/10 · 28 July 2007]

A very strange poverty row production from the period where horror star Bela Lugosi was resigned to taking whatever roles he could get. However, this entry in what we might safely call Bela's "Monogram Nine Series" is really far-out! He plays a strange visitor who first arrives at a reputed doctor's home in the guise of a patient, and then starts to take over the place, holding the doctor prisoner in his own house, and also killing a group of other important men who are associated with him. Lugosi has an old score to settle with these well-to-do types, and it involves his former association with the Nazis and the Japanese. By the time the 61 minutes are over, all will be explained (sort of!). If you're expecting too much sense out of a crazy movie like this, you can forget about watching it. This is not a horror film (though the ending may qualify) but it's a strange one and a rather offbeat curiosity for Bela Lugosi fans. He's also got a few really absurd lines which are a lot of fun. ** out of ****

A muddled Monogram wartime quickie.

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 20 September 2022]

The ending... that's what makes this film memorable: it's so freakin' ridiculous that it's hard not to enjoy. In the film's closing moments, a flashback shows how Nazi surgeon Dr. Melcher (Bela Lugosi wearing a beard) used plastic surgery to turn a group of Japanese spies into exact doubles of American businessmen so that they would be able to form a fifth column and sabotage the war effort. What follows makes this preposterous plot even more hilarious: double-crossed by the Japanese, the surgeon is thrown into a cell with another man (also played by Lugosi, minus the beard). We see the Nazi doctor opening his surgical tool-kit (kindly left on his person by the Japanese) and are to assume that he either shaved off his facial hair to facilitate his (off-screen) escape, or - and this is my preferred option, cos it's so crazy - operated on his own face so that he could better assume the other man's identity.

It's a shame that the rest of the film isn't as absurd - it would be a lot more enjoyable if it was. Instead we get a load of dull nonsense in which the surgeon (now calling himself Monsieur Colomb) turns up at the home of fifth columnist Dr. Bill Saunders and uses hypnotism to control him whilst he takes revenge on the other spies. It's not very exciting or suspenseful, but rather repetitive, and Lugosi really feels like he is going through the motions in this one. As with so many films from this era, we get a handsome All-American good guy (Clayton Moore of The Lone Ranger fame) who is investigating the murders, and a pretty young woman to scream and be menaced (Saunder's niece Alice - played by Joan Barclay - who isn't all she seems).

Still, it's only 64 minutes long, so it's worth an hour of your time just to see those final stupendously daft minutes (gotta love how those Japanese spies seem to change from Westerners in the long shots to Asians in the close-ups!).

Could make for an interesting play

[Bernie4444 · 5/10 · 15 October 2023]

We are treated to eavesdropping on a cabal of fifth-column industrialist leaders snickering over their misdeeds.

So, is this going to be a two-dimensional sabotage movie where the good guys figure out who the bad guys are just in time to save the bacon?

No. This is more insidious. It looks like the cabal has another secret that will be detected and corrected, not out of patriotism but revenge.

Can you guess the secret before it is played out?

Bela Lugosi Dr. Melcher - aka Monsieur Colomb, Cell Prisoner, gets to make his signature light on his eyes look.

Joan Barclay as Alice Saunders plays the love interest.

Wartime Mystery Thriller has Lugosi in fine form as colorful bad guy

[mlraymond · 7/10 · 10 November 2006]

This priceless movie is one of the most entertaining pieces of wartime hokum ever put on film. I can't say much about the storyline without risking giving away the whole movie. Let's just say that a very mysterious foreigner comes to stay at the house of a doctor in Washington, during the Second World War, and arouses great curiosity among everyone he meets. A group of supposedly respectable businessmen are actually involved in Fifth Column sabotage of the American war effort, and the cryptic Monsieur Colomb is bumping them off, one by one, for reasons of his own. This movie is an absolute gas, with a lot of deliberate humor. Lugosi has many great sinisterly funny lines, and it's truly one of his best roles in Forties B pictures. He seems to be having great fun throughout the movie, and revels in his villainy so much that the viewer can't help but cheer him on. There's even a surprising hint of sexuality that's very rare for an old movie, just lightly suggested, but nonetheless there. The pretty young niece of the doctor is intrigued by Lugosi and flirts with him in one scene, where he seems tempted to have a brief romance with her. The stalwart FBI man played by Clayton Moore ( later television's Lone Ranger) is interested in the girl and a bit jealous of her attraction to Lugosi. This film is just so much fun, every lover of old serials and Forties wartime morale-boosting movies should see it. For Lugosi fans, this is one of his most enjoyable performances. Check it out!

Dullness with potential

[Coventry · 2/10 · 20 April 2005]

I probably have to blame myself…but I sure as hell expected more from a movie that goes by the title "Black Dragons" and revolves on secret WWII conspiracies, Nazi plastic surgeons and revenge. This film is a dull failure with an incomprehensible structure. The actual plot (which basically is rather ingenious and intriguing) only becomes clear during an explication near the end, but the problem is that you stop caring a long time before. We see how horror icon Bela Lugosi infiltrates in a society of prominent American politicians and kills them one by one. The story is timed right before WWII and – especially after witnessing the ending – it surely is a premise with lots of potential, so it's quite a shame it isn't elaborated more proper. There is however one great dialogue that I can't resist sharing! Man towards woman: "Do you want to marry me?" "Why?" "So I can beat you up…it's the only way you'll leave this place!" It's the only highlight in an overall very boring movie. Bela Lugosi is lovely – as usual – but his spooky performance alone is hardly worth purchasing this film. If you're interested in seeing other ghoulish performances of his (in movies with decent screenplays), check out "Invisible Ghost", "The Corpse Vanishes", "White Zombie" and of course the 1931 Dracula version.

An interesting Cinema production

[randman0515 · 8/10 · 1 December 2006]

When i first heard about the movie, i figured Bela Lugosi, must be another horror, monster movie. I was greatly surprised about what i saw and i enjoyed the film very much. It supplied great drama and suspense and it kept me watching although the movie hardly lasted more than an hour. I think the story line was a good idea considering the time period and i think it also emphasized the ideas and feelings that Americans were having during that time. And of course Bela Lugosi is a great actor who keeps his audience watching and waiting for his next "strike". I didn't recognize the other actors that were in the movie, but they did very good and believable acting. This movie is a must see and should stand the test of time, although the movies i say that about don't.

A fun mess for 2 A.M.

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 4 July 2004]

The plot of this movie concerns Bela Lugosi killing off rich powerful Americans. Why this is occurring isn't explained until the very end and even then it makes no sense. I have the feeling this was one type of thriller that they grafted a war angle on to when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Is this a good movie? Not in the conventional sense. Its a warm and fuzzy film with some murder and Bela and feels like the all night monster movie marathons that used to play on TV. I've seen this film several times now, usually late at night, and it some how comforts me. I don't know if its a childhood thing or what but its nice to know that somethings never change, like the (not quite) bad Bela movies of old.

Should you see it? Why not, it can't hurt. Its a movie that makes no sense and just sort of is. Just remember if you so watch it make sure you're tucked into bed and the lights are off...

Yet further proof that Bela Lugosi would star in ANY picture

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 18 February 2007]

Bela Lugosi is a real enigma. In the early 1930s, he was on top of the world after appearing in Dracula. Yet, again and again, he made lousy decisions regarding his career. Perhaps he had a bad agent, perhaps his drinking and drug use had a part in it or maybe he was just crazy. Regardless, he ruined his reputation by appearing in pretty much any film--ranging from excellent horror films (such as THE RAVEN) to big-budget flicks (like NINOTCHKA) to grade-Z flicks for the cheapest and shoddiest of studios. Interestingly enough, although he agreed to do this terrible film, he actually turned down the role that later went to Boris Karloff in FRANKENSTEIN! As for this movie, it is a very silly an horridly produced WWII propaganda film that featured a dumb plot and wretched editing. Lugosi spends much of the movie murdering saboteurs--not a bad thing at all. But at the end, we find out that he is himself a Nazi plastic surgeon and all the American-looking men he killed were actually Japanese!!!! The funniest part of this is during a flashback. You see Lugosi talking to a group of Japanese men before he changes them to American-like men. When the camera scans them, the men are clearly Asian. But, on all the other non-close-up shots, they are all VERY Western looking--many with bald heads!! They looked absolutely NOTHING like Japanese men. I suspect the plot must have undergone a re-write and this might account for the obvious mistake. Or, it could just be shoddy production values and editing. In fact, early in the film, they show a street scene in the city and all the cars (circa 1942) are old Model T Fords--obviously from stock footage!!! The bottom line is that the film is bad but also very dull. Unlike PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, it's hard to laugh at the ineptitude--just be put to sleep by it.

Probably the most ridiculous of Bela Lugosi`s Monogram movies.

[umberto_scalli · 13 October 1999]

This is probably the most ridiculous of Bela Lugosi`s nine Monogram movies of the early 1940s, and considering that they include such films as The Ape Man, Voodoo Man, and the Corpse Vanishes, this is quite an accomplishment. This picture, quickly produced following the Pearl Harbour attack, features a gang of Japanese saboteurs posing as US industrialists and their many perils. They say things like "These Americans are like children. They quickly forget the fire that burns their fingers", and "I wish we could blow up more ammunition dumps before we have to leave". The dialogue among them is other worldly! Meanwhile, Bela shows up claiming to be a "very sick man". He tries to project a jaded and philosophical image, saying things like "All men are in danger of dying, the question is when", "One must not flirt with destiny", and "Do you know which way you`re really going?". When the leading lady falls into his arms, he says "Mine can be dangerous", then adds "it`s nothing to worry your pretty head about". A film with both Bela Lugosi and ridiculous dialogue, a great combination.

White Man Wants to Be Chinese Drug Lord

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 6 April 2006]

When I purchased this movie, I was lied to by the case. Twice. It listed the movie as "horror" (it's not) and the case said it had Boris Karloff in it (it has Bela Lugosi, who is better anyway). But that's the case, not the movie itself.

I enjoyed this film. It's a spy tale of Japanese men (played by Chinese) infiltrating American businesses during World War II. And then Bela Lugosi tries to hunt them down one by one.

Not much to say. Low budget, old film, but if you don't mind these things check it out. You'll love the white guy they hired to play the ancient Japanese master... he's on drugs, or at least should be.

Zzzzzz

[piratecannon · 1/10 · 26 December 2012]

Black Dragons was released in 1942 and was apparently designed to capitalize on the hysteria surrounding World War II. This, in and of itself, is interesting enough, as it affords modern audiences a glimpse into the collective mindset of Americans during the post-Pearl Harbor era. There are certainly parallels that can be drawn between some of the psychological implications embedded in Black Dragons with what contemporary U.S. citizens are struggling with in a society still recovering from the unexpected brutality of 9/11, but that's where anything remotely interesting contained in the film stops.

What you really get with this Bela Lugosi vehicle is a dry, sleep- inducing murder mystery that's almost exclusively set in a large house. The story is as muddled as they come. It centers on people who are found dead with Japanese daggers clutched in one hand, and this (it seems) is the stimulus for some sort of massive Eastern conspiracy centered around mind control.

Or something like that.

It's incredibly difficult to make sense of anything that happens, and this isn't just the product of boring writing. The sound of the film ranges from acceptably clear to indeterminably static-filled. At points it sounds like someone is moon-walking across a twenty yard sheet of cellophane. With a film this old, I wouldn't usually linger on something as expected as lackluster sound, but here it really does detract from the overall understanding/appreciation of what's taking place. And that's a bad thing.

Making it to the end of Black Dragons is akin to struggling through a school-assigned documentary: you're watching it because you don't have a choice. In that regard, the most terrifying thing about the film is how much effort it takes to stay awake for the duration of its 64-minute run-time.

"I have come a long way to see you.... I'm a very sick man."

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 2 April 2005]

"Japs Bomb Honolulu During Peace Talks" is the headline that opens this World War II era mystery thriller, featuring Bela Lugosi as a Nazi plastic surgeon who turns six Japanese members of the Black Dragon Society into replicas of American fifth column industrialists. When Dr. Melcher is rewarded for his efforts by imprisonment to contain the deadly secret, he uses his surgical kit (which somehow escaped detection) to magically remove his beard and transform himself into a fellow prisoner who looks exactly like Bela Lugosi. So how were two identical looking prisoners explained away by their Japanese captors? This plot point obviously didn't bother the film makers, so I won't let it bother me beyond mentioning it.

Otherwise, "Black Dragons" is a fairly entertaining diversion replete with murder and mayhem, as Melcher, now Dr. Colomb arrives in the U.S. to systematically remove each of his creations. They wind up as corpses on the steps of the Japanese Embassy in Washinton, D.C., each with dagger in hand, as if in ritual suicide, but obviously as murder victims.

Along for the fun are Joan Barclay as Alice Saunders, niece of host industrialist William Saunders (George Pembroke), and future Lone Ranger star Clayton Moore as a government agent. You'll recognize his voice before his face, and you might not at that if you don't realize he's in this film.

For his part, Bela Lugosi uses the Dracula stare several times in the film to send a departure message to his victims. Gone is the over enunciation of his early film days when he was just beginning to learn English, though the rhythmic quality of his voice is still there.

Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into the the film's final scene, but when Dr. Saunders finally comes out of the room where he was kept immobile by Dr. Colomb, he emerges completely wrapped in a dark blanket or cloak. Unveiling himself as a disfigured old man, I couldn't help thinking - "Darth Vader'!

Dragon turd

[utgard14 · 4/10 · 12 June 2017]

Monogram contribution to the war effort. Bela Lugosi plays a Nazi doctor involved in a plot to surgically alter Japanese saboteurs to look like American leaders so they can take their places. A maskless (and Tonto-less) Lone Ranger saves the day. One of the more dreadful of all the cheapies Lugosi made for poverty row. The plot actually sounds like it could be interesting or even somewhat offensive, which itself can be interesting. Unfortunately, it's just a dull way to spend an hour. Lugosi is relatively subdued, which means his critics can't make fun of him as much but it also means his performance isn't very memorable. I like my Bela performances with lots of ham, thank you.

Not predictive, not interesting, just baffling

[karen-26 · 2/10 · 8 January 2007]

First - nick-623, Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941, not 1942. They didn't have to predict the bombing.

Second - did nobody notice these six industrialist/lawyers/whatever were missing for a rather long amount of time? They were killed *before* the surgery took place! Third - how the heck did Lugosi get out of cabs without being seen? Fourth - why did the Japanese not just kill him, instead of putting him in jail with a convenient look-alike companion and his surgical kit? Fifth - oh, what's the use? This movie has a few interesting moments in it, but by the time they explain what's going on, you'll probably have stopped watching. If not, you won't care.

Dungeons & Dragons

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 11 February 2004]

****SPOILERS**** Bela Lugosi takes center stage in this war propaganda movie about a Japanese attempt to sabotage the US war effort by having infiltrated, some years before their attack on Pearl Harbor, by the secret and powerful Japanese cult "The Order of the Black Dragons" a number of Japanese impostors posing as top US industrial leaders.

Having the Black Dragon members "Americanized" through plastic surgery by the eminent German surgeon Dr. Meicher, Bela Lugosi. This sinister plan was accomplished by having six US industrialists kidnapped and murdered and then having death masks made of their faces. Dr. Meicher used the death masks to make the six Black Dragons look exactly like the the six dead industrialists. After finishing the job for his Japanese "friends" Dr. Meicher was arrested and thrown into a Tokyo dungeon to keep the secret of their plan even from their German allies! Did they-the Black Dragons-also have something like that in store for the Germans? Or was this in some way a ploy by Hollywood back then, in 1942, to split up the Axis?

Sharing a cell with a prisoner who was soon to be released who also had a striking resemblance to himself Dr. Meicher takes out of his coat a surgical kit, that for some reason his Japanese captors forgot to confiscate from him, and then does a plastic surgery job on himself! Which was nothing more then shaving off his beard and mustache. Tricking the Japanese into thinking that he was the other prisoner Dr. Meicher makes good his escape or release from prison.

Now some ten years later in the US with a new face and identity Dr. Meicher, or as he now calls himself Monsieur Colomb, is out to get revenge against those Black Dragons members, masquerading as American industrialists, who tried to do him in. Far-fetched but interesting WWII era movie about betrayal and revenge with Monsieur Colomb, again Bela Lugosi, offing all six Black Dragons who had him jailed and tried to have him executed to keep him silent forever.

Colomb killed four of the impostors and dumped then on the stairs of the Japanese embassy in Washington DC with Japanese daggers planted in their hands which meaning was, this is only my opinion, that they were back-stabbers. Colomb had another of the Black Dragon impostors killed by luring him from his DC office to the home of Dr. William Saunders, George Pembroke. It was Dr. Saunders who was another one of the Black Dragons that betrayed him. Finally Dr.Saunders, who Colomb used to get the other Black Dragons into his trap, was infected with a serum by Colomb that drove him not only insane but made him look like "The Phantom of the Opera". Even though Dr. Meicher-Monsieur Colomb remained loyal to his fatherland throughout the entire movie he did the Allies a great service. By his killing of the Black Dragon members and thus keeping them from destroying America from within he unwittingly made it possible for the fall and defeat of his beloved Fatherland, Germany, in 1945 only proving that revenge, like love, is truly blind.

The future "Lone Ranger" Clayton Moore, as Dick Martin, is also in the movie without his famous mask on playing what seems to be a G-Man. The movie never quite makes clear to the audience just what part of law-enforcement special agent Dick Martin is in: Police, FBI, Secret Service, OSS The Boy Scouts? Moore always introduces himself by flipping open his wallet without saying just who or what he is?

The part of the Grand Dragon, Standford Jolly, was so unintentionally funny that it spoiled the seriousness, yeah sure, of what the film was trying to tell us. Jolly goes around looking and acting as he was either drunk or on drugs and not looking oriental at all looking instead like a 90 year-old, had he lived that long, Leon Trotsky.

Wild And Way Out Claptrap

[bkoganbing · 1/10 · 7 October 2010]

It's strange that three years before appearing in Monogram's Black Dragons, Bela Lugosi got some critical acclaim for his role in the classic Ninotchka where he supported Greta Garbo. That he was now doing this kind of propaganda claptrap shows you just how his career was on a toboggan slide.

The strange Mr. Lugosi arrives at the house of a noted physician and interrupts a dinner party. The guests are five industrialists who are cheerfully talking of sabotaging America's war effort. But one by one they meet their dooms at Lugosi's hands as the film progresses.

Now why is Bela who is clearly not a patriotic American doing this to help the war effort? For that you will have to sit through the slightly over an hour film for that.

Even for a poverty row outfit like Monogram this film was over the top in terms of wartime propaganda. Black Dragons was released in March of 1942 and the attack on Pearl Harbor is referenced so this must have been one quick job by Monogram to inflict this on the movie-going public.

Clayton Moore and Joan Barclay are the love interest and of course this is an opportunity to see the unmasked Lone Ranger who was a handsome devil, why did he want to hide that is a mystery that we'll never solve.

As for the reason for all this homicide, let's just say there's no honor among the Axis.

Great Classic Film With BELA LUGOSI!

[whpratt1 · 10/10 · 9 July 2004]

Everyone viewing this film must remember it was produced in the 1940's and at the time it was a GREAT "B" film and was probably shown along with another feature film on Saturday nights at the local movie houses. If you like Bela Lugosi and want to see him give a great performance which is a different role than he usually portrays, this is the film for YOU! I was able to view this film in Digital Color and it made a world of difference viewing these great veteran actors. Bela Lugosi (Dr. Melcher/Monsieur Colomb, "The Body Snatcher",'45, plays a Nazi who tries to get even with the Japs during WWII. Joan Barclay, (Alice Saunders), "Falcon Out West",'44, investigates all the murders that seem to be happening at the Japanese Embassy and Clayton Moore (Dick Martin), "The Lone Ranger & The Lost City of Gold",'58 gave a great supporting role. By the way, Clayton Moore was considered in his career the best actor to perform the Lone Ranger on Radio and the Movies for years. This is a Classic film and should be ENJOYED and not picked a part. Money was hard to find and we were fighting the BIG WW II ! Hollywood produced lots of "B" films, but Bela Lugosi gave a great performance which will be admired for future generations.

Enjoyable low budget sci fi/horror

[chris_gaskin123 · 7/10 · 31 January 2005]

Black Dragons is another of those movies that has bad reviews, but coming to watch it, turns out quite enjoyable.

A mad doctor transforms six Japanese people into the same amount of Americans at the request of the Japanese organisation The Black Dragon Society. The original Americans that the Japanese have been turned into are killed. The Japenese are then murdered one by one and their bodies dumped at the entrance to the Japanese Embassy in Washington. The FBI are called to investigate and the mad doctor is shot at the end.

The movie's cast includes a good performance from Bela Lugosi as the mad doctor and a pre Lone Ranger role for Clayton Moore.

I quite enjoyed watching this movie and is worth checking out.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

One of the most hideous Z-grade thrillers with no redeeming values.

[mark.waltz · 1/10 · 16 November 2013]

Even Bela Lugosi can't save this war melodrama from the ridiculousness that makes even the schlockiest Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto/Mr. Wong movies seem intelligent. This isn't a horror movie, although there are definite attempts to insert those elements. The plot revolves around an evil plastic surgery scheme where the spies are not who they seem to be.

The entire storyline gets boggled down in Lugosi's ability to make dead men appear to talk simply through his finger seemingly on their vocal cords as their voice speaks his words. People on the other side of the closed door accept the fact that the person talking to them simply wants to be alone, all the while their head collapsed on a desk as Lugosi menacingly stands over them. Joan Barclay, one of the most idiotically written "heroines" in movie history, seems to automatically accept that the uncle she has not seen in years (George Pembroke) is now a locked in recluse, and communicates with him through "houseguest" Lugosi who arrived late one night supposedly as a patient and remained on indefinitely.

When all is revealed at the end through one of the silliest flashbacks, you'll be glad that only just over an hour it is all done. The only elements of horror and mystery is seen through a series of murders where the victim is found with an ancient Japanese knife placed in their hand. The denouncement is an insult to the audience with Pembroke turned into something completely hideous and the flashback insinuating that Lugosi was actually two characters. With painfully boring movies like this, who needs enemies?