A 1939 Sci-Fi Horror 12-chapter Film Serial directed by Ford Beebe and Saul A Goodkind that has a military officer (Robert Kent) going after a rogue scientist (Bela Lugosi), who is determined to use his personal stock of Applied Phlebotinum and Mad Science to get revenge on his enemies and enrich himself.
The movie also stars Dorothy Arnold, Edwin Stanley, Regis Toomey, Edward Van Sloan, Frank Mayo, Jim Farley, Eddie Acuff, Reed Howes, Ed Wolff, and Jack C Smith.
It was released on January 7, 1939.
The serial was popularized in the Nineties when the first few episodes were aired as part of several episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Tropes for the film:
- Ambiguous Syntax: Creeps who are phantoms, or someone called The Phantom who creeps? Yes.
- Compilation Movie: The serial was re-edited into a film for TV syndication in 1949. Rifftrax released a riff of this version in 2018.
- Double-Meaning Title: The title, The Phantom Creeps could be interpreted as referring to the robot-spiders (They are 'Phantom Creeps') or Doctor Zorka, himself (He calls himself 'The Phantom' and he creeps about causing trouble).
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: When Dr. Zorka's wife is accidentally killed early on when one of his plans misfires, he's so crushed, he stops using his weapons of warfare For the Evulz and starts using them in a targeted fashion against those who would try and steal them, blaming her untimely demise on the same parties.
- Invisibility Cloak: One of the first inventions Zorka reveals is an belt that turns him invisible, allowing "The Phantom" to creep around to stymie his enemies.
- Marquee Alter Ego: Like Harrison Ford in the 1993 The Fugitive movie, Dr. Zorka is introduced wearing a thick beard that he shaves to disguise himself when going rogue, allowing Bela Lugosi to spend most of the serial with his iconic look.
- Stock Footage: The serial uses a variety of stock footage to stretch its budget, ranging from car crashes all the way up to actually using footage of the Hindenburg disaster.
- Tagline: "CRASHING...SMASHING...DASHING DYNAMITE! 12 spine-shivering chapters of thunderbolt action and amazing adventure!".
- Unnecessarily Creepy Robot: Dr. Zorka has a giant robot with sharp claws, glaring eyes, and a monstrous, fang-filled mouth. The robot doesn't actually do anything significant over the course of the serial: it opens the door to Zorka's secret lair, stands guard, and occasionally moves heavy objects around the lab. Near the end of the serial, once Zorka's minion sabotages it, it goes down to an Army light machinegun. There's really no reason for it to look that scary, except to establish that its creator is villainous.
