Professor Paul Kristan (Ralph Morgan) is a kind, wise and good man, worshipped by the people of his village, especially by beautiful Marguerite (Maxine Doyle), to whom he is betrothed. BUT, he does have a hunchbacked assistant, which, in a horror movie, is as good as saying that the prof is the killer. The problem is, Kristan doesn't know he's the 'monster' responsible for tearing out locals' throats and drinking their blood: he suffers from a malady that makes him faint and forget what he has done, his sickness the result of his mother being bitten by a vampire bat when she was pregnant.
The superstitious locals believe that a giant bat is responsible for the deaths, but Marguerite's level-headed friend David (who has known her since school and is in love with her) doesn't believe this: he reckons that the killings are the work of a man.
A poverty row effort with a sympathetic monster, Condemned to Live evokes the tragic horror of The Wolf Man, which would follow six years later. As such, it makes a welcome change from mad scientists and genuinely evil villains, although revealing Kristan as the killer early on robs the film of mystery and reduces the horror, the only tension coming in the final act, when the professor is alone with Marguerite (and even then, we know she is going to be rescued). Director Frank R. Strayer struggles to keep the action moving at a reasonable pace due to an overly talky script (and stiff performances), and the visuals are uninspired and unmemorable.
The film ends in tragic fashion, with an angry mob pursuing hunchback Zan, who they believe to be the killer, only for Kristan to tell them that it is he who committed the murders. The prof then leaps to his death off a cliff, followed by his faithful assistant. Oh well, at least that leaves Marguerite free to hook up with David, the lucky so-and-so.
The superstitious locals believe that a giant bat is responsible for the deaths, but Marguerite's level-headed friend David (who has known her since school and is in love with her) doesn't believe this: he reckons that the killings are the work of a man.
A poverty row effort with a sympathetic monster, Condemned to Live evokes the tragic horror of The Wolf Man, which would follow six years later. As such, it makes a welcome change from mad scientists and genuinely evil villains, although revealing Kristan as the killer early on robs the film of mystery and reduces the horror, the only tension coming in the final act, when the professor is alone with Marguerite (and even then, we know she is going to be rescued). Director Frank R. Strayer struggles to keep the action moving at a reasonable pace due to an overly talky script (and stiff performances), and the visuals are uninspired and unmemorable.
The film ends in tragic fashion, with an angry mob pursuing hunchback Zan, who they believe to be the killer, only for Kristan to tell them that it is he who committed the murders. The prof then leaps to his death off a cliff, followed by his faithful assistant. Oh well, at least that leaves Marguerite free to hook up with David, the lucky so-and-so.