Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

mark.waltz Taking the three part "I Love a Mystery" to a new level of confusion, this second entry deals with shrunken heads, missing heads, poisoned darts and an extremely convoluted plot that had me squinting, huh? Jim Bannon's Jack Packard is back, and having just solved the mystery of an Asian cult demanding the head of a man doomed to die within a year, he's now dealing with South American head shrinkers, and all I can say is that even psychiatric help couldn't help my head figure this one out. On a return viewing, it confounded me more, and if the first film in the series had a pretentious ring to it, this one is one for whom the audaciousness bell had tolled. Artistically gorgeous to look at, it is twice as wordy as the first entry in the series (which did improve with the third and final installment), and is a far cry from Columbia's other mystery series of the 1940's of which there were many. At least even with characters coming in and out so fast, I could follow the "Lone Wolf", "Boston Blackie" and "Crime Doctor" series rather easily, but this one just left me shaking my head so much I thought it would fall off. Anita Louise is the leading heroine in this one, and there are all sorts of shady characters coming in and out, and an obvious villain that stood out like a sore neck.

dbborroughs In the wreckage if a plane crash a box is found with a shrunken head inside. The Head is similar to one that is on display in the city museum. When the police bring it to the museum to see if they can help determine its origin its found to be similar to one already on display. While at the museum the Museum the police detective meets Jack Packard and Doc Long who are at the museum to meet a new client, the wife of them man who brought the original heads for display. It seems the woman thinks her step daughter is having her followed, so that she can be killed since her husband has gone missing in the jungle. From there the story spirals out as Jack and Doc try to unravel what the daughter is up to and what happened to her father (their client's husband).Good but not great mystery has way too many plot threads running through it for a 66 minute film. In addition to the basic mystery we have murder, blackmail, a black panther, more questions about the head, taxidermy, shrinks and one or two other things. To be certain it keeps the plot moving but at the same time it feels thrown together.Based on Carlton E Morse's classic radio show I Love Mystery (later I Love Adventure) the film makes limited use of its transferred characters who seem to simply wander through events in order just to clean up some one else's mess. Forgive me the radio show worked because Jack and Doc were men of action not reaction. That said Jack Packard comes across as an imposing figure here who I think comes across as being able to kick just about anyone's butt if he chose to. (I've rarely ever seen any character radiate such an aura of being in charge and the baddest man in the room while doing absolutely nothing other than standing.) I have no idea why they were brought in to this story since if they were this under utilized in the first and third films in the series its understandable why it ended with three films.Still the film is not bad and is worth a look for those who like mysteries of the 1940's.(As for the title's meaning, I don't have a god answer except it sounds good.)

Neil Doyle The "I Love A Mystery" films from Columbia were all based on a radio program of that name and each of them was made into very entertaining mysteries, the sort that Columbia was able to churn out on a tight budget with directors like Henry Levin.This is the most gripping mystery in the batch, full of ingredients that will have you guessing from beginning to end just how all the loose ends will be tied up.It starts off with the shrunken heads discovered when a plane crashes en route from California to Columbia, and then the plot includes a missing explorer who has possibly been murdered, an anxious wife afraid that someone is trying to kill her (MONA BARRIE), a young woman and her fiancé (ANITA LOUISE and MICHAEL DUANE)who resent being followed by detectives, and the detectives hired to cover the case (JIM BANNON and BARTON YARBOROUGH). Also in the mix: a restless black panther and the weird owner of a taxidermist shop (PAUL E. BURNS).Nicely photographed in crisp B&W with appropriate set decorations, it has the look of a better than average programmer from Coumbia (not Republic, as another comment suggests).Guaranteed to surprise and entertain, it's well worth watching.

cinema_universe "The Devil's Mask" (1946) is one of the "I LOVE A MYSTERY" series of B-movies produced by Columbia Studios, based on the then-popular radio show. Poker faced Jim Bannon heads up a duo of private detectives who appear in each of the mysteries.This one begins after a shrunken head is found in the ruins of a crashed plane that was headed from California to Latin America. A woman, who believes that her step-daughter is planning to kill her, hires the pair of detectives.The mystery deepens when the woman's butler is killed by a poison dart from a blow-gun similar to those used by the jungle tribe of head-hunters responsible for the shrunken head. Add a blackmailing psychiatrist, a crazy taxidermist, a ferocious black panther, a few nebulous characters of dubious repute, and you have an atmospheric little chiller that's most enjoyable.You may be able to figure out who the killer is, but that won't stop you from searching out more of these neat little "I LOVE A MYSTERY" thrillers.