The Human Monster (aka The Dark Eyes of London) was directed by English screenwriter/ director Walter Summers, taking its story from an Edgar Wallace book. The films set in & around London, where the plot sees a series of men been found drowned in the Thames- and it seems the murders are pointing towards the charming-yet-creepy Dr. Orloff(Lugosi) who runs a life insurance company, as well as having a connection with a house for the blind. The film's lead cast is filled out with Hugh Williams as Brylcreem & Sauvé Det. Insp. Larry Holt, and Edmond Ryan as a cheeky/ brash US cop Lieutenant Patrick O'Reilly.

The film opens with decidedly grim, and for the time fairly daring footage of suited male bodies lying face down in the mud & water of the grimy Thames. As we move into the body of the film it certain swings into more formal 1930’s crime thriller setting- though we do get nicely creepy & brooding dips when Lugosi does his stuff, or we visit the blind home which has a more than a few eerie denizens; like a bulbous eyed & bucktooth man. Yes, the film does show it’s age, and it often feels a little too twee & nice for its own good- but there is no doubt there are some great moments of subtle unease, dread & grimness here- so if your either a fan of Mr Lugosi or horror edged crime thrillers of the 1930’s I think you’ll enjoy The Human Monster.

Moving onto this Blu Ray reissue, and we get a fairly clear & crisp 2k print of the film, which looks as good as films of this period could. Next, we get two commentary tracks-the first is from film historian Gary Don Rhodes- he starts off talking about the book the films based on, it’s differences to the film, and reviews in the press from the 1920’s when it originally came out. Next, he goes onto talk about the cast & crew, before talking about the reviews the film got it various quarters, and double bills it played on. It’s a very informative & interesting track. The next track comes from film historian David del Valle & screenwriter/ monster fan Phoef Sutton- this, as expected, is a much more chatty affair with the pair discussing where/ when they first saw The Human Monster, the film been one of the first horror films to appear in the later 1930s after the genre fell out of favor with critics. Before going on to discuss Lugosi's role & acting in the film, and his filmography in general. Once again a very worthy track. We get a trailer, and image gallery as well as liner notes by film historian Patrick McCabe on the reverse of the release sleeve.

So in finishing this is another nicely done reissue of an older horror/ thriller from the folks VCI entrainment- with two most worthy commentary tracks.