Based on the stage play The Terror by Howard W. Comstock and Allen C. Miller, Doctor X shouldn’t be disregarded by today’s horror fan just because it was made in 1932. It’s packed with murder, cannibalism, sex workers, strange relationships, frightening special effects and so much more. Because it was made in the two-color Technicolor process, it looks nothing like you’d think either, nearly a painting come to life. Large cities got to see this version while other countries and smaller towns only had black and white, which is how audiences saw this movie when it made its way to television in the 1950s.

It was feared that the color print was gone until the death of Jack Warner, who had one. The true color vision of Doctor X was donated to the UCLA Film & Television Archive, who did a digital restoration in 2020.

Lee Taylor (Lee Tracy) is writing about The Moon Killer, a serial murderer who has been killing during every full moon. Each body has pieces missing, as if they were eaten, which has driven the police insane as they search for suspects.

Doctor Xavier (Lionel Atwill) is the police’s expert on the case, yet they believe that he may be the suspect as well. After all, the brains are removed with surgical skill with a scalpel similar to the one he uses. If not him, it could be the other experts at the Academy of Surgical Research: Dr. Wells (Preston Foster), an amputee who has written several studies of cannibalism; Dr. Haines (John Wray), a voyeur; Dr. Duke (Harry Beresford), who is paralyzed and Dr. Rowitz (Arthur Edmund Carewe), who is studying the mental impact of the moon.

The police are morons, as they trust Dr. X enough to let him investigate this case, bringing together all the suspects. Each of them is connected to an electrical system that tracks their heartbeat in the hopes that reenacting a murder will tell Dr. X who The Moon Killer is. Only Wells is not in this experiment, as the murderer has two hands while he has just one.

As Dr. Xavier’s butler Otto (George Rosener) and maid Mamie (Leila Bennett) act out the horrible slaughter, Taylor starts to fall for Dr. X’s daughter, Joanna (Fay Wray), despite the fact that she outright hates him for writing that her father was probably the suspect that everyone should watch for.

The lights go out and when they come back on, Rowitz is dead, a scalpel in his head. That night, when his body is set out, it gets cannibalized. Mamie runs and Joanne must take her place as the experiment continues, but that’s when the killer — SPOILER! — is revealed as Welles, who has been creating inhuman flesh and he wants to kill Dr. X’s daughter next.

She’s saved by Taylor and because this is a pre-Code horror movie, he sets Welles on fire and tosses him out a window.

The success of this movie led to Atwill and Wray appearing in Mystery of the Wax Museum. Before that release could be filmed — which also has effects by Max Factor — they were also in The Vampire Bat. While The Return of Dr. X is not a sequel, Night Monster, which also stars Atwill, is a remake.

The Moon Killer is based on Albert Fish, who was called the Moon Maniac. He was still murdering while this was being made, as he was arrested shortly after this was in theaters.

Doctor X is from some other world, a place filled with weird jokes, strange killers and a doctor’s home that seems like it’s more dungeon than domicile. I can’t wait to go back there again.

You can download this from the Internet Archive.

Here’s a drink.

The Moon Killer

• 2 oz. bourbon
• 4 oz. cider
• .5 oz. maple syrup
• 4 dashes angostura bitters
• Dash cinnamon
• Dash nutmeg

1. Mix all liquid ingredients in a glass with ice.
2. Accent with cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.