EssenceStory
Well Deserved Praise
Fairaher
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
utgard14
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.
Leofwine_draca
Pretty much all B-movie stars of the 1940s ended up making at least one film on behalf of the war effort, and this one is Bela Lugosi's attempt. One of the many cheapies made by poverty-row studio Monogram during the decade, this sees the former Dracula actor playing a Nazi plastic surgeon (!), come to gain revenge on the men who betrayed him. Although BLACK DRAGONS is only an hour in length, viewers will feel every second of this plodding thriller. The budget is non-existent, with the majority of the scenes taking place in someone's house; the dialogue is often absurd, and the actors interchangeable. For a thriller, it works up exactly no thrills or scares, and the only bit I genuinely liked was the climax, which reveals a fine (if a bit silly) twist in flashback.It's hard to lay blame at the door of director William Nigh, who directed dozens of films during this period, including some detective potboilers with Boris Karloff as Mr. Wong. He makes the best of what he can. It's also hard to fault Lugosi, who, despite suffering from addiction and pain at this stage of his career, is still the best thing in the film; you've gotta love his sinister persona and the dialogue he spouts on occasion. There's also a bit where he strangles somebody which is very well staged. But the rest of the cast is humdrum, enlivened only by a brief cameo from Keye Luke (one of Hollywood's most popular Chinese actors) and the appearance of Clayton Moore, better known as THE LONE RANGER, here seeming very wooden as the FBI agent. BLACK DRAGONS is a boring spy flick with only a couple of decent scenes, and it's best to pass this one up in favour of some of Lugosi's better movies.
Dalbert Pringle
Contrary to what I had once strongly believed - Back in the 1930s & 40s, Hollywood did, indeed, churn out a helluva lot of really crappy movies. (I'm talking about really forgettable, garbage-level stuff here)And it was "one-note" actors, just like Bela Lugosi, who starred in this utter trash (which made them even that much more awful, in the long run).Because this Murder/Mystery is now 70+ years old, I honestly did try to cut it some slack and not judge it too harshly for its obvious flaws and its sheer ineptitude - But, the truth is, Black Dragon really did only deserve a measly 3-star rating, at best.Set in the American city of Washington, DC - This irksome, little, WW2, flag-waver had Lugosi's predictable character, Dr. Melcher giving just about everyone within range his famous "evil/hypnotic eye" treatment, as well as talking in some of the most annoying riddles imaginable.About the only thing worthy of any mention in this dismal production was that it also starred a very young (28) and dashing Clayton Moore, who played the diligent G-Man, Dick Martin.
Spuzzlightyear
Atrociously acted, and quite amusing at times, Black Dragons features Mr Yes-I-Can, Bela Lugosi as a suspicious character killing off Jap sympathizers, but why? Lugosi is playing a rather curious Anti-Hero here, More anti then hero, and we're never too sure why he's doing this until the film's most-hilarious final minutes. Until then, Less-Then-B actors take turns emoting with the great one until the film's AMAZING final "twist" which had my mouth on the floor on it's pure preposterousness. Totally cheap, bizarre (why and how DID Lugosi keep vanishing?) and stupid (Hey, let's get some Dracula references in when we can (or maybe that was in Bela's contract?)) This was a fun time-waster.
