The main attraction of this Sam Katzman effort is the sight of Bela Lugosi in ape man make up – he plays a mad scientist whose experiments with apes have sent him half ape. He works in a basement with a gorilla nearby and has a weird sister. To my knowledge Lugosi never played a werewolf who we got to see transform on screen (he was one in Wolf Man but we only saw him and the shadow of a wolf) but this is the next best thing.
To be honest it’s not much of a film with poor handling an uninspiring pair of leads (two wisecracking reporters with zero believable chemistry; she’s way too hot for him – such was life in war torn Hollywood with so many leading men away in the forces). Lugosi goes on a rampage but it’s not much of a rampage – however there is a satisfying camp moment where the gorilla (well, man in gorilla suit) strangles him. There’s a bit at the end from someone who claims to be the author of the story – he winks at the camera and it goes to the end. That might be funnier in a better movie.
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