Boris Karloff's performance is wonderful as always, mainly because the moral ambiguity with which he presents his character makes it unique. Most "mad scientist" movies portray truly mad doctors who perform their awful experiments for less-than-pure purposes. Karloff, on the other hand, kills only a mortally-wounded, insolent trainer, and an exceedingly evil cheater ("there's always the river"), and does it for a wonderful young woman who he truly cares about. Karloff augments this story by making his character nearly the most sympathetic player in the story. The sheriff is crooked, the polio scientist accommodating, the men in town drunken gossipers, and even the girl's boyfriend "afraid of what he doesn't know". The only characters we really root for are the mother and daughter, and the happy ending centers on the daughter, so we are appeased. Overall, the acting (outside of Karloff) is OK, but nothing special, and the direction pedestrian, but this makes for a solid hour of entertainment and thought.
