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It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

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

Carole Lombard stars with Randolph Scott, Alan Dinehart, Vivienne Osborne, and H.B. Warner in "Supernatural" from 1933, directed by Victor Halperin. Halperin apparently did not like Lombard's performance in this, regarding her as better in comedy.The story begins with a woman, Ruth Rogen (Osborne), on death row after being convicted of several murders of men with whom she was involved. She has asked one of her exes who managed to stay alive, Paul Bavian (Dinehart) to visit her in prison. He's the one who betrayed her to the police, so one suspects, despite her forgiving words, that she's hoping to make a shiv out of soap and let him have it should he show up. Bavian is a fake medium, and he contacts the twin sister, Roma (Lombard), of one of Rogen's victims, saying he has a message from her brother. This of course is the first step in getting his hands on her money.A doctor, Carl Houston (Warner) gets Rogen to agree to let him have her body after execution so he can do some sort of electronic ray experimentation, believing that the mind goes on after death. Rogen agrees to it, hoping this means she can still get at Bavian.It happens that during one of his experiments, Roma arrives to see him and Rogen's mind takes over hers. Enjoyable film, as preposterous as they come, with some wonderful cinematography and great sets. The beautiful, glamorous Lombard does a terrific job as the sweet, unhappy Roma becoming the murderous Rogen, and the other performances are excellent, though they may seem a bit dated now. Beryl Mercer as Bavian's landlady is terrific in a small role, and Vivienne Osborne is a standout.See this if you have the opportunity.

All leading ladies must have something in their repertoire which they despise. Myrna Loy had "The Mask of Fu Manchu" and Carole Lombard has this, an hour long thriller where she is the vessel which a dead murderess uses to seek revenge. Not a great film by any means (and one that Lombard resented having to make), it is actually pretty enjoyable for its spooky atmosphere, haunting photography, and the melodramatic performance of Vivienne Osborne as the most malicious psychopathic murderess in film history. There's a good thrill or two to be had in this, especially when nosy landlady Beryl Mercer gets a bit too nosy and the antics of doctor H.B. Warner who fears that once Osborne is executed for her crimes, her evil spirit may not be finished.Lombard doesn't really get much to do in this other than open her eyes extremely widely for the scenes where she is infiltrated by the dead woman's spirit. It certainly wasn't a juicy part for her after all the good things she had been doing up to that point and I can see why she resented having to do it. You have to suspend belief in many places, and if you manage to do that, you will find yourself having a good time.

Negative reviews of this film should be seen in context. Most Carole Lombard fans are looking for light comedies and romances, certainly not horror pictures. Horror fans, however, must be delighted to find Lombard starring in this movie from the Halperins, who produced the successful Lugosi vehicle "White Zombie" in 1932.Only a few times in the 1930s' golden age of horror did these films get the star power and production they deserved. Among major studios Paramount led the way with this type of film, even predating Universal with John Barrymore's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in 1920 when the only horror films were coming out of Germany. In the '30s Paramount, encouraged by Universal's success, cast Charles Laughton in "The Island of Lost Souls" and Frederic March in a remake of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." In "Supernatural" Lombard is fine in the lead role of a woman possessed by the evil spirit of a murderess. And while this film is not a classic, it is an effective horror film by a major studio. The fact that it rates 6.0 stars is amazing when you consider what types of films Lombard's fans are used to seeing her in.

Supernatural (1933) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Decent horror/thriller from Paramount has a woman about to be executed for killing three of her lovers during an orgy. She asks for her forth lover to come visit her but when she refuses she swears revenge. After her death a doctor accidentally releases her spirit into the body of a good girl (Carole Lombard) who then tries to carry out the death wish. This here was directed by Victor Halperin who directed White Zombie the previous year and the biggest difference between the two films is that this one here actually moves at a rather fast pace unlike the Lugosi title. On the other hand the story is a bit too dry to be fully entertaining and both Lombard and Randolph Scott give pretty mediocre performances.