Mine owner Rood (C. Henry Gordon) is a rather unpleasant individual who keeps his sister Laura (Doris Lloyd), her son Rex (William Lundigan) and his own daughter Marian (Nan Grey) under his thumb. Plus he has some dodgy dealings in his past. He discovers a black doll on his desk, which means he is marked for death!
Soon afterwards he is knifed in the back by an unknown assailant. Marian's private detective boyfriend Nick (Donald Woods) is on hand to help out the case, being led by hapless detective Renick (Edgar Kennedy)...
A fairly standard crime B-movie set in a country house and with the usual fast moving plot and red herrings, the Mexican black dolls add a bit of novelty and mystery. The film is fine enough, with enough entertaining scenes to be worth a watch though you may not remember much about it afterwards. The film's main issue is that it suffers from making the enthusiastic amateur detective too clever (and a bit smug) and the professional crime fighter too stupid!
