This is billed as a horror film but it’s also a dark comedy. Roddy McDowell makes it a must see for anyone who likes to see an actor having a great time. He’s Arthur Pimm, an assistant museum curator with not just a screw loose but the whole hardware store.
The statue of the 1550 Golem of Prague is the only thing left in a warehouse fire. The place belonged to a museum. On the scene are curator Harold Grove and his assistant Arthur Pimm. Grove is looking at an inscription of the side of the statue. Pimm says he’ll get a flashlight from the car. He hears Grove scream. He’s dead.
Pimm lives with the skeleton of his mother and thinks he has supernatural powers. The Golem is taken to the museum. Pimm thinks he’s going to be the next curator. Museum head Trimingham thinks he’s too young and says he’ll get a raise. The new curator will be Professor Weal.
Pimm has a thing for Grove’s daughter Ellen (Jill Haworth). She just wants to be friends. Jim Perkins, the representative of a New York museum is on his way over to check out the Golem for his museum. When he gets there he also checks out Ellen.
Pimm sees a scholar about the Golem. He finds out that a scroll placed under its tongue will bring it to life. There’s also a warning that it cannot be destroyed by fire, water or force. He thinks the statue gave him a hint as to where to find the scroll. It pointed to its feet and that’s where Pimm finds it. He puts the scroll in it’s mouth and hears a heartbeat. He informs the Golem that he is its master.
He sees Ellen in the park and they take a drive to the Thames across from a bridge. Ellen says she’s never seen him so animated. He asks her to go to Paris with him for two weeks. She doesn’t take him seriously. He says he can do lots of things including bringing down the bridge if he wants to.
At the museum Weal tells Pimm there’s a new rule. No employee is allowed to linger in the display rooms. He orders the Golem to kill him and then smash a display case with rare jewels inside. To impress Ellen he takes the Golem to the bridge and has him bring it down. A bus went down with it.
Ellen and Jim are up close and personal when she hears a bulletin about the bridge over the radio. The phone rings. It’s Pimm asking if she heard and tells her to meet him. Jim goes instead. Later on Inspector White is real suspicious of Pimm and starts believing in the Golem. He arrests Pimm.
Pimm summons the Golem and it breaks him out of the prison hospital. He drives a kidnapped Ellen and the Golem to a castle where a Miss Swanson is going to display the statue. When she finds out what’s really going on things go crazy. Inspector White gets the army involved.
This movie is a lot of fun and McDowell is terrific.
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