Watch The Crimes of Stephen Hawke For Free

A Masterpiece!

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936) ** 1/2 (out of 4)London is under a crippling terror as people are being crushed to death by a man known as The Spinebreaker (Tod Slaughter).THE CRIMES OF STEPHEN HAWKE starts out unlike any other movie that I can remember. It starts off at a radio station where we basically get a radio broadcast for the first seven or eight minutes and then we finally get to the main story. In a rather shocking manor, it starts off with a child being murdered.This here was the third film Slaughter made following THE MURDER IN THE RED BARN and THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. Britain had pretty much put a ban on American horror movies and these British films had to walk a careful line. With that said, this here makes the murder of a child all the more shocking. There are some rather graphic and violent deaths for the era, although they aren't bloody or gory. The sound effects and screams of the people being crushed are certainly the highlight of the picture.As was often the case with these films, the main reason people watch them today is for the over-the-top and at times wacky performance by Slaughter. I don't know how to describe him other than saying he was like John Barrymore had he gone insane and had a mental breakdown to the point where he was a raving dog. Once again he's all over the place here and he really makes himself stand apart from the other actors. The other actors are good but they just can't overtake the all-mighty Slaughter.As far as the film goes, it's certainly a bit better than the star's previous two films and a strong argument could be made that this here is about as entertaining as his horror pictures got.

Tod Slaughter, Britain's first horror star – and still up there with the best – is at his lip-smacking, eye-rolling best in this decent horror offering that plays to his strengths. Directed by George King, who helmed many such pictures, this might not be as well known as SWEENEY TODD but it certainly packs a punch in its story of the 'Spine Breaker', a ruthless murderer essayed by Slaughter, who enjoys breaking the bones of his victims. Seen today, this film is still fairly shocking in places. It opens with the murder of a child, for instance, who we hear getting his spine snapped! From then on, there's a ton of plot packed into a barely hour-long running time. Slaughter sets himself up in a dual role as usual, with his innuendo-laden moneylender and sinister night-stalking killer. Watch out for the script that offers great lines for the actor, like "I'll get to grips with you soon enough" and "I'll be right behind you".Elsewhere there's a one-legged one-eyed hunchback hopping around for some menace, a ménage a trois between Slaughter's daughter, her lover and a creepy/lecherous aristocrat, and a sub-plot that sees our antagonist locked up in jail for nicking bread! Villains are whipped with cat-o-nine-tails, corpses raise beneath their death sheets, and there's a barnstorming climax that sees Slaughter being pursued to the rooftops! The other actors don't really get much of a look in, to be honest; this is Slaughter's film alone, and he makes a real ham of it. You don't see classic overacting like this in modern cinema! He's a real delight and this is one of his most entertaining flicks. As an added bonus, the film seems better for what precedes it: an excruciating comic-radio-duo, Flotsam and Jetsam, who sing for an age, and then the appearance of the infamous 'cats meat' man, a humorous butcher. Sure, it's dated, sure, it's cheap, but it sure is a lot of fun.

By spine, I meant suspense. You know, whom the killer in the first scene and know what's playing out isn't for real. It wasn't scary nor much of a thriller. It's disappointing. It's just didn't stand out, and based on how many bother to watch the movie, it's seem that this movie is nearly forgotten due to that reason. The film isn't even television formatted as the title word card doesn't even fit on the screen. There seems to be a lot of wide shots in the movie that doesn't show everything when watching the DVD on TV. The movie opens at a BBC radio studio, where a variety program is being broadcast. After the singing duo of Flotsam and Jetsom and a comic butcher perform, Tod Slaughter appears as himself to perform a radio play about Stephen Hawkes. By the opening, you can see what is wrong with the film. Rather than building suspense by having the events play out. The movie is telling us that the actor is just acting, and it's just a play. What kind of horror movie starts its movie with upbeat music and a comedy act? Also the movie doesn't go back to the radio studio, that's the last we heard from them. So what was the point that scene? It waste time. Anyways, we are taking back to a period piece set type of a movie where Hawkes like all serial killers, appears to others, a model citizen. A money-lender, he is compassionate and caring toward his clients. In a sick incest way, he's also deeply extremely attentive to his lovely daughter, Julia (Marjorie Taylor). On his free time, he become a killer known as the 'Spine Breaker' who viciously kills his victims in a gory and painful manner for his ability to snap his victim's spines. It was pretty shocking to see a child get killed in this 1936 film by Stephen. It wasn't until WWII that the board of censors would enforced codes for horror movies and banned them if they were too violence. This film manage to escape those codes. Like every horror movie at the time, he is aided by his assistant, a strange hunchback, surprising not name Igor. It's seems like every other scene is him driving Stephen Hawkes place to place to hide from the law and Matthew Trimble (Eric Portman) who vows to hunt him down. Stephen rarely looks scary due to his cowardly ways. He's always on the run in this movie. Once in a while, Todd Slaughter acts scary or creepy by hamming or cheesy sinister laughs, but it felt over the top theatricals from his theater performing days when he was playing Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Murder in the Red Barn, or Crimes at the Dark House. It didn't help the movie that it didn't have much of any music to it. There is long scenes that would have been deeply improve with haunting music. The opening and the ending are the only ones I can remember having such music. It's truly is hard to watch. Slaughter is the only reason to watch any of his films, but I will warn you. It's nearly unwatchable.

"Stephen Hawke is a moneylender whose compassion for his clients is only outshined by his devotion to his lovely daughter. What she and the rest of the public don't know is that Stephen Hawke is leading a double life. At night, he becomes 'The Spine Breaker', a notorious killer with the habit of viciously killing his victims in the most horrible ways imaginable," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. Silly movie, enriched as much as possible by two under-appreciated British stars - murderous Tod Slaughter (as Stephen Hawke) and Shakespearian Eric Portman (as Matthew Trimble) - both deserving better productions.**** The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936) George King ~ Tod Slaughter, Eric Portman, Marjorie Taylor