Supernatural

A rip-along Paramount weirdie that gaily yokes primitive psychobabble with spiritualist charlatanism, yet concedes to the afterlife all the important plot interventions, Supernatural was the only big studio outing for the unsung Halperin brothers (Victor Hugo directing, Edward producing), whose low-budget toils had paid off the previous year with the poetic horror classic White Zombie. Here a mourning Lombard falls prey to a fake medium, while her doctor's dabblings lead to her possession by the evil soul of an executed murderess - seeking, wouldn't you know it, revenge on the same medium. Looney stuff, of course, but enlivened by a superb opening montage sequence (school of Vorkapich); by Halperin's toying comparisons of the trickster's art with his own accomplished illusionism; and by Lombard's half-incredulous presence in such surroundings.