The Mad Magician

The Mad Magician (1954) is a black-and-white horror-thriller starring Vincent Price, and you can watch online on iFILM. John Brahm directed it as a 3D feature, rushed out to ride the wave Price had started with House of Wax a year earlier.

Don Gallico invents dazzling stage illusions but longs to perform them himself. On the night of his debut, his greedy manager Ross Ormond shuts the act down and hands Gallico's signature buzz-saw trick to an established star, The Great Rinaldi. Ormond has already taken Gallico's wife, too. Broken and furious, the magician falls back on his real gift — masks and makeup — and starts erasing his rivals one by one, wearing their faces to do it.

In a brisk 72 minutes it works as a whodunit and as a showcase for Price, who clearly relishes playing the wronged avenger. Solid comfort viewing for fans of vintage horror and a great actor in his element. Stream The Mad Magician (1954) online on iFILM.