Sunday, September 26, 2010

Movie review – “Man Made Monster” (1941) **1/2

Never quite as much fun as you think it’s going to be, this is nonetheless entertaining Universal horror stuff, particularly if you’re a Lon Chaney Jnr fan. This was his first horror film for Universal, and its an interesting precursor to The Wolfman - like that, Chaney is nice guy who tragically becomes a killer due to circumstances beyond his control (although the inspiration would have been Frankenstein). Chaney did great tragedy, with his big sad eyes and depressed air; Lionel Atwill is terrific fun as a mad scientist who turns Chaney into an electricity killing machine. There is weak support from the juveniles, and Chaney's rampage isn't quite satisfying: the first half of this is stronger than the second.

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