Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

MAN-MADE MONSTER

MAN-MADE MONSTER (1941). Director: George Waggner.

"Those scoffers who babble of trivialities!"

Dr. Paul Rigas (the ever-delightful Lionel Atwill) wants to use electricity to turn mediocre individuals into useful members of society. Dan McCormick (Lon Chaney Jr.) seems like the perfect person to experiment on because only he survived when a bus crashed into some electric power lines, killing everyone else aboard. Reporter Mark Adams (Frank Albertson) wants to do a story on Rigas, but pretty much has to settle for romancing his associate's daughter, June (the always reliable Anne Nagel). Dan is also stuck on June, but he has more to worry about when Rigas' experiments turn him into a killing machine. The characters are one-dimensional but the actors help put this over, and there's a good score by Hans J. Salter.

Verdict: "Who can tell what tomorrow's murders may be?" **1/2.

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