Nice effects though.

Let's be realistic.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

"Supernatural" broke new ground, being one of the first films to deal with possession by otherworldly influences. Before the Golden age of Horror, film chillers were usually adaptations of stories by Poe or Stevenson and ghost stories usually had "down to earth" explanations, explained at the movie's end. After the popularity of "Dracula" there came a greater acceptance among the public of things of a super- natural bent. The reasons may also have been that during the early talkies, when sound recording was often limited to one or two sets - movies about faith healers, mentalists and seances became extremely popular. Between "White Zombie" (1932) and it's supposed sequel "Revolt of the Zombies" (1936) the Halperin Brothers made only 2 films - one was the forgettable "I Conquer the Sea", the other was the unusual and innovative "Supernatural" starring the luminous Carole Lombard.With several scriptural quotations, as well as a montage of newspaper headlines and courtroom shots, the scene is set and we are introduced to Ruth Rogan (the always excellent Vivienne Osborne) who is to die in the electric chair for murdering three lovers. Not only is Ruth not sorry, she is eager to kill again - if only she can get a reprieve - No Chance!! Meanwhile, Roma Courtney (Carole Lombard), who is grieving over the death of her brother, John, receives a note from spiritualist Paul Bavian (the always excellent Alan Dinehart), who tell her he has been visited by a "distressed John" and wants to arrange a seance. There is always a naysayer in these movies and in this one it happens to be Randolph Scott, who plays Roma's shoulder to cry on (and hoping to be more) Grant. At the seance "John" appears and accuses Hammond (William Farnum) an old family friend of killing him to eventually take control of his fortune. Afterwards Roma and Grant visit Dr. Houston (H.B. Warner) and find him in the middle of a ghastly experiment. Before Ruth Rogan's execution she had given permission for Houston to experiment with her remains - to see what makes her tick!!! When Roma bursts in, Ruth (looking no worse for her electrifying death) is sitting there and after a flutter of curtains, the harassed doctor demands that Grant "get Roma out of the room" - too late she is already possessed!!!Bavian has a few secrets, not the least that he is a phoney spiritualist. He is the man who supposedly put Ruth on her murderous path and the man she wants to return to life for, in order to kill him. He has also, just before the seance, murdered his landlady, who was getting a bit nosy. Beryl Mercer, usually the epitome of sweet, simpering mothers ("The Public Enemy", "All Quiet on the Western Front") is anything but here. If any actress can be forgiven for rebelling against typecasting, it was Beryl Mercer - maybe she was just taking one last stand, because in this movie her role was that of a sly, drink dependent hag who lived in a roach infested room.Roma, now possessed by Ruth's evil spirit organises another seance and when Hammond is murdered she and Paul take off - he, envisioning a night of lust, she with murder on her mind. Lombard's transformation to the possessed Roma is more than just acting. Makeup creates a harsh look but at the film's end the lipstick, eyeshadow and general darkness of her face disappears and she is the old Roma once again. Again Vivienne Osborne, as the psychotic murderess really steals the show. She excelled at highly emotional parts - it was just such a pity that those roles were few and far between. She retired in the late 40s but even one of her last roles, as the sick querulous first wife of Vincent Price in "Dragonwyck", she was completely memorable.Highly Recommended.

By the thinnest of plot connections in Supernatural is millionaire heiress Carole Lombard connected to Vivienne Osbourne a serial murderess who is awaiting her execution in prison. Alan Dinehart, Osbourne's sometime boyfriend is the one who turned her in to the authorities because he was afraid. With good reason as it turns out.Dinehart is a fake medium, but H.B. Warner is the real deal, a psychologist studying life after death. He wants Osbourne's body after she dies for experimentation and she agrees to it.Turns out he's a family friend of Carole Lombard who is mourning the recent death of her brother, leaving her sole heir to a vast fortune. And Dinehart has designs on it through her. Warner has the best performance in this film. His scientist is part Dr. Frankenstein and part Dr. Van Helsing, the best parts of both. Closely following is Dinehart who is definitely one scurvy rat.Lombard did far better work in her career in those screwball comedies than she does her as a frightened heiress who gets possessed by the spirit of a killer. Supposedly a female serial killer has not been identified, but apparently Supernatural anticipates one will eventually be found.Randolph Scott plays Lombard's boyfriend. He was doing B westerns for Paramount at the time, based on Zane Grey stories mostly. He looks like he'd rather be back in the saddle than in the tuxedo he wears mostly in this film. Of course his part is colorless and he's given little to do, but look concerned.Not the best work for fans of either Carole Lombard or Randolph Scott.

This is a very unusual, interesting and even pioneering horror andhaving read a number of negative comments about this film I can't help feeling people are missing the point almost as much now as audiences did in 1933. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEADTry to see this as not a Carol Lombard film but a bigger budgeted follow up from the guys who made White Zombie. It's a beautifully shot and decidedly unusual story which actually takes it's subject matter quite seriously, while providing some genuinely shocking moments and a chilling ending when the real killer returns. Whilst it's true that Lombard is pretty bland through most of this she does okay in her possessed scenes.But the performance that really stands out for me is that of little Beryl Mercer as the landlady of the faker who attempts blackmail. Mercer, most familiar as James Cagney's simple minded mother in Public Enemy, excelled at playing downtrodden yet naively positive types and always brought a touching quality of innocence to her performances. Even here, as a seedy and unscrupulous character that warmth is evident and it makes you not want to see her hurt. So her terror and disbelief when she realizes her tenant has poisoned her, makes for a very chilling and heartbreaking moment, one of the most powerful pieces of acting I've seen in an early talkie. That scene alone lifts this film far above the normal, and since then I'm always pleased to see her in any supporting cast.

I've seen this film 3 times over the past 16 years and I have to say that it still has its moments. Real pros were in charge of seeing to it that the movie evokes the right mood. No, it's not made in the same vein as "The Blair Witch Project" or any of a number of modern scarefests. Older movies often have a distinct style which is different than that used by directors, cinematographers and set designers today. This should not detract from the appreciation of old scary movies. Black and white cinematography can only enhance them. See the scene with the dead murderess in the scientist's laboratory for an example of what I mean. Brr.