Man-Made Monster
Mad scientist turns a man into an electrically-controlled monster to do his bidding.
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- Cast:
- Lon Chaney Jr. , Lionel Atwill , Anne Nagel , Frank Albertson , Samuel S. Hinds , William B. Davidson , Ben Taggart
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Reviews
One of my all time favorites.
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
Best movie ever!
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
After miraculously living through an otherwise fatal bus crash, "Dynamo" Dan McCormick (Lon Chaney Jr.) finds himself being studied by two scientists. Dr. Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds) wants to see if the electrical jolt that McCormick endured was somehow responsible for his being the sole survivor of the accident. Lawrence's partner, Dr. Rigas (Lionel Atwill) has other, more sinister plans for the big lug. He exposes McCormick to increasing doses of voltage, to fulfill his own secret agenda . Unfortunately, Dan becomes utterly dependent on Rigas' electrical treatments for his very life! Of course, this goes from bad to worse, and McCormick eventually becomes a human glow-stick of the killer zombie variety! Chaney and Atwill are terrific in their roles, helping to make MMM a semi-classic. This movie gets extra points for the gloriously familiar lab equipment and for Rigas' awesome goggles!...
Man Made Monster (1941) its a decently made cheap B-movie from Universal studios, it stars Lon Chaney Jr before being famous for starring in The Wolf Man.Its not the best of the universal horror films, not even the best one from the 40's but I think its pretty serviceable. I would say that its a pretty good underrated gem but perhaps its too flawed and absurd to be considered as one of the best of its kind, however, the film its genuinely entertaining and enjoyable beyond it just being a fun campy sci-fi film. I would recommend it for any horror fan who is interested, it has good performances (especially by Lon Chaney Jr) and some fun to watch special effects that I believe were good for the time.
Silly horror film with a mad scientist (played by Lionel Atwill) charging a nice guy (Lon Chaney Jr.) with volts of electricity over a long period of time. Eventually Chaney becomes addicted to it and begins to go mad.The characters are clichés, the plot is ridiculous but this moves quickly and (for a low budget picture) is pretty well made. The special effects that make Chaney glow at the end are obvious but kind of fun in a strange way. Atwill chews the scenery (and is clearly enjoying himself) and Chaney is very good in his role. In the last half he (for some reason) can't talk so he has to show all his emotions through body language and facial expressions and he pulls it off. This isn't really a good movie but I remember enjoying it on late night TV when I was kid and I have fond childhood memories of it. I give it a 6.
Plot— to control his mind, a mad scientist (is there any other kind) sends a big current of electricity through a carnival guy making him glow like a neon sign. Trouble ensues.Anyone familiar with horror pictures of the 30's and 40's knows that under no circumstance do you let Karloff, Zucco, or Atwill strap you down, especially in a laboratory. Pity poor Chaney Jr. He's really a nice guy, but after one horizontal session with Atwill, he lights up like Main St. on a Saturday night. But then he should have seen it coming— after all, Atwill's laboratory has more bells and whistles than Cape Canaveral. Chaney'll never get his old life back now that he's turned into a walking light bulb.Worse, after Atwill has fried Chaney's brain, the big guy has all the personality of a zombie. So, what does the trial court's head doctor say is wrong with him after he's murdered a guy —why, acute melancholia, of course. Sounds to me like the screenwriter has something against head doctors. But then, he doesn't much care for district attorneys either. Because a woman drops dead of fright right after the righteous DA says the public has nothing to fear. Hope the guy has a back-up job.Good slick production from a practiced Universal crew. I especially like Corky the dog, a fine canine actor, along with ingénue Anne Nagel who certainly lit up my corner of the room. All in all, I guess we have electricity to thank for these pre-war laboratory monsters and then nuclear radiation for the post-war mutant monsters. One way or the other, they're still a lot of fun, like this one.