The Mad Magician

John Brahm's 1954 film is a revenge story set in the world of stage magic. Don Gallico invents illusions for other people; he wants to perform under his own name, but his manager cancels his show in order to hand his buzz-saw trick to another star. Gallico then begins staging both his illusions and his revenge himself, constructing each killing like a trick and hiding behind masks. The film was shot for three-dimensional projection, which is why objects are thrown at the camera, and those moments look odd in flat presentation. Vincent Price plays the character as both pitiable and threatening. It is short and its plot follows the familiar shape of its genre. Who it's for: viewers who like fifties horror and Vincent Price. Who it's not for: anyone expecting an original plot; the film follows its predecessors.