No. 13 Demon Street--sounds likes a nice place to visit & maybe I would want to stay. But seriously, folks, is there anything here of note beyond the presence of Lon Chaney as Satan. As far as Satan on the big-screen, what could have more fitting during this time than Mr. Chaney--who, unfortunately at this point in his career was probably getting by more on name value than anything else. Not to say the man couldn't anymore, but I'm sure all the serious Lon fans know about the live tv drunk incident that sent his career to B-movie hell.At any rate, Chaney does make a great Satan (shocker, I know). At's that is pretty much the big draw for this film. Satanya is nice to look at, the stories in between Satan's segments passable entertainment & the closing reel is pretty good. Basically this is for the hardcore Chaney purists who will watch pretty anything the man did--even dreck like "La Casa Del Terror."

Lon Chaney as Satan—how could I not watch this movie?!? Well, he's the best thing about this anthology directed by Curt Siodmak regarding Beelzebub's using a suicide victim, Satanaya(Karen Kadler) to bring him souls from earth, and in return he'll see about giving her a tribunal to reward her for doing his bidding. Don(John Crawford), a fine photographer but lout to women, "kills a woman" while on vacation in Massachusetts, his psyche slowly unraveling as the guilt begins to overcome him. Essentially, the first tale is about a man coming apart at the seams, his frailties as a misogynist getting the better of him as a photograph he took of the "murder victim" torments him. The second tale concerns a scientist, Dr. Siestrom(Frank Taylor), who becomes obsessed with an "anthropological find", basically a woman encased in ice, found in a mine, even murdering an anthropologist in charge of *studying* her, so he can have her all to himself. It will prove to be his undoing when attempts to melt the ice and release her from the icy tomb. The third tale follows a man who has been suffering nightmares about a building, visits a psychic informing him that she sees in her crystal ball that he will be dead by midnight. He wants to know the one who will commit this deed and she tells him it will be her! So he rushes out telling her she'll have to find him first! John Rainer(Michael Hinn) and the fortuneteller spend most of this tale discussing the murder that is supposed to occur in a manner of time, the supposed victim deliberating on how he'll survive (contemplating killing her in order to live). The final scene, after Satanya is successful in "luring" her former lover to hell, has Satan unveiling his plan to give us the atomic bomb to destroy ourselves so he can have more space (since hell is becoming crowded!). Chaney is a delight as a gleeful Satan, seemingly having a ball in the role, but this collection of Swedish television shows, edited into a movie format, barely linked together, are mostly dull, cheap, with a lack of real thrills. The third tale, involving Rainer's trying to escape a tragic fate foretold to him by a spooky psychic, is the most atmospheric while the second tale, regarding the scientist and the frozen girl he has become infatuated with, is the silliest. My favorite sequence of events comes in the first tale where every time John looks at a photograph, the girl he killed seems closer and closer; it's a simple but affective way of symbolizing death's drawing nearer and nearer. Before each tale, Satan gives Satanya an object (camera, crystal ball, etc) to take back to earth as a means to kick-start the proceedings. Chaney's eyes light up when his Prince of Darkness addresses Satanya's comments on having to return to participate in bringing him new victims as he mentions that they contribute to their own demise--he just assists them!

This feature film is taken from three episodes of a Swedish TV series "13 Demon Street". Oddly, the show was made in the US in English and was then subtitled for Sweden! An odd pedigree, to say the least! While I have never seen the actual show (there's not a whole lot of Swedish television being shown here at the present time), it appears to have been a rather low-budget horror series. Whether or not it was all connected together by a demon (played by Lon Chaney, Jr.) in the show or just this movie is anyone's guess.The show begins with Chaney on his throne in Hell--enjoying his job immensely! He summons a young suicide victim and gives her some assignments back on Earth. These assignments are the three segments taken from three separate TV episodes.The first involves a sex pervert photographer. At first, he just seems really creepy but later when he commits a meaningless murder, you realize what sort of sick, twisted freak he really is. The woman, then, is the means of passing judgment on the guy--making him see visions in one of his photographs that literally ends up scaring him to death. Afterwords, the woman regrets her involvement in this, but considering how sick the man was, the viewer is left celebrating the death--and thinking perhaps this demon isn't such a bad fellow after all! Next is a tale about the discovery of a prehistoric woman who is discovered frozen in ice. Naturally, this woman is the agent sent by old Mr. Diabolical himself and it is imbued with strange powers. Despite being in suspended animation, when men see her naked and encased in ice, there is a strange reaction within them--they are transfixed by her beauty and must possess her. As one of the workers talks to her and imagines a weird past-life relationship with her, you realize just how strange this particular segment is! And, by the end, the guy is a raving nut! The third segment has this female agent of evil bringing a crystal ball to a fortune teller. It begins with a guy talking to a psychiatrist about some recurring dreams. The doctor gives a rather tenuous interpretation that the guy is dying to know the future--though the guy says he has no desire at all to know! But, following the doctor's advice, he seeks out a fortune teller. Looking into this evil crystal, she tells him he's about to die! And, it seems, she is fated to kill him! She says she has nothing against him and has no desire to kill him, but it WILL happen because the crystal ball says it must!Despite the high 'cheese-factor' and low budget, I did enjoy the film. One reason in particular was due to Chaney. While he certainly was no thespian, here he is quite enjoyable because he gets into the part--laughing and playing it up quite a bit. He was very entertaining and it's among his better work. Plus, the stories were pretty good--and quite different from the stuff you'd see on "The Twilight Zone" or "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". I'd sure like to be able to see the rest of the series to find out if they're all as good as these selected episodes.

This cheapo horror omnibus features Lon Chaney Jr. as the devil. He sends a young female suicide victim back to Earth on a series of interventions involving men destined for purgatory. The film is split up into three short stories within this framework.The first story about an amoral photographer and a ghost has a reasonable premise but it isn't executed very well. The idea of the ghostly woman in the photograph advancing ever nearer is a little reminiscent of the central idea in Ring. And it's a good idea but there isn't enough time for the story to develop and the ending feels rushed.Story two about the discovery of a prehistoric woman found in-cased in a block of ice is a complete washout. The lead character has an obsession with the ice lady that is never explained. He kills his colleague, the ice melts and the lady vanishes. It all seems a bit pointless.The third story about the man who encounters the fortune-teller is probably the best, as it has more time to develop. However, despite an intriguing set up, the pay-off is distinctly uninteresting.The Devil's Messenger is not terribly good but, as it contains three stories within a 75 minute film, it does at least move along at a brisk pace.