Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

JohnHowardReid To judge by "Murder by the Clock" (1931), never was a director more aptly named than Edward Sloman. Slow man? Under Sloman's snail-speed direction, time and clock seem to be not just standing still, but actually running backwards. Of course, the stagey, dialogue-riddled, but proudly "B"-grade and super-suspenseless script doesn't help. Nor do the cheesy production values, plus the self-consciously hammy acting from all concerned, with but two exceptions, namely Martha Mattox and rather unexpectedly, William "Stage" Boyd. "Who's the very worst offender among the players?" you ask. Irving Pichel, I'm sorry to say! Although Lilyan Tashman runs Pichlel mighty close, she does model some really attractive clothes.

kevin olzak 1931's "Murder by the Clock" has remained a forgotten horror from the early 30s, but not by such eminent film historians like William K. Everson, who dutifully included it in his 1974 book CLASSICS OF THE HORROR FILM. Had it been made at Universal, no doubt it would be as well remembered as "Dracula" (which preceded it) or "Frankenstein" (which followed it), but Paramount did their share of terror classics too ("Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "Island of Lost Souls," "Murders in the Zoo"). The sultry and seductive Lilyan Tashman (Mrs. Edmund Lowe) epitomizes what the word 'vampire' meant to audiences prior to Lugosi, a huge star going back nearly ten years, whose life would sadly end from cancer just three years after she made this. Irving Pichel, as the halfwit son with the strength of a bull, preferred working behind the camera rather than in front of it; nevertheless, as an actor, only his memorable work opposite Gloria Holden in "Dracula's Daughter" can compare with his macabre characterization here. Comic relief is supplied by Sally O'Neil's maid and Regis Toomey's Oirish cop (she co-starred with young Lon Chaney in 1933's "Sixteen Fathoms Deep," while Toomey's next film would see him co-starring with Boris Karloff in Universal's "Graft"). No, Paramount rarely dabbled in horror during the 30s, yet there wasn't a single dud among them.

Prichards12345 Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde...and Murder By The Clock??? There's a reason this semi-horror thriller hasn't joined the ranks of those famous movies from 1931, and it's that this film is nowhere near the same level. It has some good things, but can't decide if it's a mystery (a shadowy figure commits a murder, and about five minutes later lets the audience know he did it!) horror (some mild Edgar Allan Poe Premature Burial stuff) or Vamp movie - the female kind, not the undead! The plot basically concerns Laura Endicott's (Lilyan Tashman) manipulation of the pathetic males she's lumbered with into each committing a murder in order to get her hands on the family fortune. It's fun to see Irving Pichel - after all he directed An American Tragedy and The Most Dangerous Game! - as the retarded brother constantly going on about killing people with knives and strangling them! And the film raises a few atmospheric moments. One or two of the cast moved on to Paramount's other horror show that year - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Murder By The Clock failed to set the box office bell ringing, probably because it lacks the new supernatural element of the previously mentioned horror flicks. The direction is nothing special and the pace is slightly leaden. But it ain't bad as these things go, and is worth a look.

kidboots This is a superb horror/thriller that soaked up the atmosphere from the new cycle of eerie and atmospheric horror films that were taking the movie public by storm. The stars were Lilyan Tashman in a sleek "Lady Macbeth" type role and William "Stage" Boyd as Lt. Valcour.Julia Endicott (Blanche Frederici), Miss Roberts (Martha Mattox) and Julia's imbecile son Phillip (Irving Pichel) come to pay their respects to Phillip's father in a magnificent family crypt. Visually it is very impressive, along with Karl Struss' superb camera work. Julia has a fear of being buried alive, so she has had a horn installed that is heard throughout the movie whenever a murder is about to take place. Irving Pichel is wonderful as the scary and menacing Phillip.Herbert Endicott (Walter McGrail) is on a visit to his aunt but in the cab he is being grilled by Laura,(Lilyan Tashman) his wife, who wants him to claim his inheritance. Julia decides to leave all her money to Herbert and not Phillip - but Herbert and Laura must live in the house as one of the conditions of the will. Once they are installed in the house Julia is murdered and Phillip, with his obsesssion with knives and death by strangulation is instantly arrested. Lt. Valcour (William "Stage" Boyd) is not convinced - he thinks more attention should be given to Mr. and Mrs. Endicott. At the funeral Valcour sees Laura holding hands with Jimmy, her lover (Lester Vail) and knows he is on the right track.Herbert, who is the real murderer, is stricken with conscience and wants to go to the police. Laura then pays a visit to Philip - getting him all hot and bothered - and proposes that if she were only free, they, (Laura and Phillip) could live happily in the old house together. Suddenly there is an escaped lunatic at large!!! She has also whispered in the ear of Jimmy as well. When Herbert turns up strangled - who is the killer???? The murderous and gleeful gleam in Tashman's face when her scheme comes together is wonderful to see.There is a romantic subplot involving Regis Toomey as a young policeman and Sally O'Neal as the maid but it is never allowed to get in the way of the main story. Being a pre-code horror things don't go always to plan - you may be surprised at the end result. The ending was very similar to "The Maltese Falcon", which preceded it into cinemas by a few months.Highly Recommended.