I’m a big fan of Bela Lugosi, especially when considering the early stars of horror—excluding the silent era—but he appeared in quite a few low-quality films compared to actors like Boris Karloff, Vincent Price and Lon Chaney Jr.. This serial is one of them; it's essentially a copycat of the 'Charlie Chan' series. I usually enjoy these kinds of productions, but this feels like an abbreviated version, trimmed down from the original 15 episodes—which totaled around four-and-a-half hours—to just 70 minutes. It does feature some good supporting actors, Joan Barclay and Bruce Bennett, playing a woman attempting to become a daring news reporter instead of simply writing about society events for the paper, and her boss, respectively. They find themselves romantically involved as they investigate attacks on rival businesses in San Francisco’s Chinatown, all linked to the operations of Lugosi's employer, portrayed by Luana Walters as the alluring Dragon Lady. Lugosi delivers a performance that justifies the price of admission as a truly awful and heartless villain. My copy is part of Mill Creek’s massive ‘Nightmare Worlds’ collection, and if you like serials, Lugosi or 1930s detective movies similar to 'Charlie Chan', it's an acceptable, budget-friendly option that’s worth checking out. I would have liked to see the complete version myself, but that’s just my preference. If you only have a slight interest in this type of film or prefer Lugosi in his more frightening roles, you might find this dull. In that case, it's best to watch his better-known films with larger budgets and more skilled directors—they provide a much richer experience.

Source on TMDB