Noirvember 2019 – “Pillow of Death”

Greetings. Time for another entry in our Noirvember series. And this one is… possibly not noir… Oops. But it IS classified as „Film-noir, Horror, Mystery” on IMDb and that is enough for me to justify making it a part of this „series” because it is truly something.

Pillow of Death stars the world’s least charismatic man, Lon Chaney (Jr.), in the leading role. It was directed by Wallace Fox, who made quite a few low-budget horror adjacent flicks (I have seen The Corpse Vanishes and Bowery at Midnight, both starring Bela Lugosi; both pretty bad).

I liked Pillow of Death right from the get go because the action begins in an old, dark mansion which is my absolutely favourite setting for anything. Another thing I love are jolly or quirky old people and we get introduced to a few right at the start. These are the Kincaids (until the very end I could not be sure about how exactly they are related but I think it’s the brother with his two sisters), a rich family discussing what is going on with their niece who runs around at night with her married boss. 

The boss is Lon Chaney Jr. himself – who would NOT want to run around at night with Lon Chany Jr., huh? He drops off the niece, Donna, who is his secretary, at the mansion. It seems that they may have a relationship that is not strictly professional, let’s put it this way.

The discussion of Donna’s behaviour does not last long because it turns out that Lon Chaney Jr.’s, or Wayne Fletcher’s, wife was murdered. (Yes, he has – had a wife). And let me tell you, his reaction to the news is incredibly dramatic.

The police are at the scene pretty quickly but what’s more important is that there is also Julian – the psychic investigator. Not only is he a psychic investigator, he is also a good friend of the deceased, Vivian. He claims to have gotten a „message” from Vivian about the suffering she was going through. You see, Vivian was really interested in the paranormal and Julian even called her a medium. It soon turns out that Julian is also a well-known figure in the Kincaid family.

As the husband of the victim, Wayne Fletcher becomes a suspect pretty much immediately. Since they were together the evening of the murder, Donna provides him with an alibi. She showcases a true feminist attitude, proudly declaring that she DID spend the night with her married boss and she did not think there was anything inappropriate about two coworkers spending time together. Besides, Wayne wanted a divorce anyway. Let’s just say that that last part does not exactly help his case. 

Donna seems to be the only person who thinks that Wayne is innocent. The police, her family, and her ex-lover/stalker Bruce are all convinced he killed Vivian, especially when it comes out that the timelines do not match: Donna was still at home with her family when the murder was committed.

I am going to go through the entire plot of the film, so spoilers ahead.

Because this movie is incredible, the logical course of action for everyone connected to the case is to have a seance in which Julian is going to talk to Vivian and ask her directly who murdered her. As you do. And she does speak (out loud, everyone can hear) that it was, in fact, her husband that killed her. 

Then it gets even weirder as Vivian’s ghost continues to talk, this time to Wayne himself, and lures him into the cemetery when it turns out her body disappeared from the mausoleum. He, a murder suspect, tells about all of that to the cops (because he is a dumbass).

Sadly, a new tragedy strikes: Uncle Sam Kincaid dies in his sleep. Or, as the newspapers put it, „Killer claims a new victim!”. They have a new seance (of course) and while it’s happening Donna discovers that her stalker Bruce has been sneaking around the house via some secret tunnels and peeping on the family. She does not seem too concerned about it.

Soon, an aunt (I think), Belle, is also dead and Julian turns himself in for murder. He does not confess, just assumes that they will arrest him because of his peculiar connection to the Kincaid family.

That night Wayne stays at the mansion with Donna. Another woman living there, Amelia, still thinks Wayne is guilty so she locks him alongside Donna in a closet where she will kill them with gas (I did not omit much of the plot, this all really happens as I wrote it). Luckily Julian appears, he was let out because the police literally did not have any proof to keep him locked in, and saves everybody. He also manages to shade Donna, who does not seem that concerned that her entire family is dead, by congratulating her on inheriting the Kincaid fortune.

Donna and Wayne decide to spend the rest of the night by exploring Bruce’s secret passages she finally mentions casually. There, they find… Vivian’s body. And Bruce appears and says he stole it to freak Wayne out so that he would confess to the murder. Which is an absolutely normal human behaviour and a rational thing to do.

But! It’s not over yet! Wayne hears Vivian’s voice once again and she tells him to describe how he murdered Uncle Sam. And he does! He really was the murderer all along! He killed both Sam and Belle with… a pillow. With a pillow. Get it? The Pillow of Death? I… have no words. 

Vivian’s ghost tells Wayne to kill Donna who was standing in the doorway and heard Wayne’s confession. Luckily, she is saved at the last moment by the police and Bruce who truly is the one for her. 

(But Bruce is still creepy, right? I mean, he saved her life but he also literally broke into her house on multiple occasions to peep on her. Oh, and he stole a dead body. Oh well, things we do for love).

The Pillow of Death is an absolutely ridiculous movie and it it not exactly a noir but I DID have a lot of fun watching it and I know I spoiled the whole thing here but I still recommend checking it out and experiencing the madness firsthand.