Phantom Creeps, The

The Phantom Creeps is an American film serial produced by Universal Pictures. It was co-directed by Ford Beebe and Saul A. Goodkind and spanned twelve chapters, which began being screened in theaters on October 17th, 1939. The script was written by George Plympton, Basil Dickey and Mildred Barish based on a story concept by Willis Cooper. The film serial incorporates elements of science fiction, but also includes tropes of the spy & action genres.

The Phantom Creeps stars Bela Lugosi as Doctor Alex Zorka, Robert Kent as Captain Robert "Bob" West, Dorothy Arnold as Jean Drew, Edwin Stanley ad Doctor Fred Mallory, Regis Toomey as Lieutenant Jim Daly, and Jack C. Smith as Monk. These are the only cast members to appear in all twelve chapters. Other notable actors include Edward Van Sloan, Dora Clemant, Anthony Averill and Hugh Huntley.

Appearances










Fun Facts

 * The tagline for this film is, "Crashing...smashing...dashing through 12 spine-shivering chapters!", as well as, "Sinister scientists... foreign spies... federal agents... and a pretty girl... crashing through amazing adventures!".


 * The Phantom Creeps is the 112th serial released by Universal Pictures.


 * This film is the 44th Universal Pictures serial to have sound.


 * Actor Bela Lugosi is best known for his portrayal of the infamous vampire lord, Dracula, as immortalized in the 1931 Universal Pictures classic, Dracula.


 * The initial three chapterss of this serial were lampooned during the second season of the television comedy spoof series Mystery Science Theater 3000.


 * The imagery of Murray the Robot from Rob Zombie's animated comedy film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto is based on the robot featured in The Phantom Creeps.