L'échappé de la chaise électrique

This has been one of the most elusive of the Universal Horrors for me – a fellow member here in particular knows that for a fact; having caught up with it finally via ulterior sources, I still had to go through a variety of hassles as my copy froze no less than three times during its brief 60-minute duration and pixellated twice besides! Anyway, while I cannot say that MAN MADE MONSTER scales the heights of the best the studio had to offer in its heyday, this is as good a B-movie as they turned out (especially coming from their second phase). Of course, it introduced Lon Chaney Jr. into the fold of Universal horror stars: "The Electric Man" (an alternate title for the film itself) – a sideshow performer who survived both a bus crash and electrocution – proves a nice antecedent (going from vigor to sheepishness and from wild-eyed disbelief to self-destruction) to his signature role of Lawrence "The Wolf Man" Talbot; actually, he supports Lionel Atwill – who is in top (that is to say, over-the-top) "Mad Doctor" form here, especially relishing those scenes in which he tries to persuade others to his radical credo (basically constituting megalomania). Interestingly, the film was originally intended as yet another pairing of Universal's two reigning genre icons – Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi – and, in point of fact, it does play quite a bit like THE RAVEN (1935)! The rest of the cast includes Samuel S. Hinds, who made his fair share of films in this vein, as Atwill's eminent superior and the first to take interest in Chaney's case (also, cluelessly – but hilariously – suggesting to Atwill that he drop the experiments and 'help himself to some cheese and beer' instead!) and the obligatory romantic couple i.e. pretty Anne Nagel (as Hinds' niece/secretary, who is sympathetic to Chaney) and Frank Albertson (as – conveniently – a reporter who, for love of the heroine, is in two minds about what to do with the scoop of his life). As expected, the film particularly scores in the make-up (Chaney's constant 'treatments' lend him an effectively sickly, even aged, countenance) and special effects (his imposing glowing automaton comes courtesy of a master, John P. Fulton) departments. And while MAN MADE MONSTER is kind of short on action during its first three-quarters, it more than makes up for this with a terrific climax which sees Chaney being tried, convicted and executed for Hinds' murder – but, since he is impervious to electricity, he breaks free to exact well-deserved retribution upon the man who ruined his life; arriving just in time to save Nagel from Atwill's clutches, typically for a Universal Studios monster, he then makes off with her into the countryside (chased by the authorities and Albertson) towards his doom. There are, however, a couple of unexpected touches as well – its stance against capital punishment (the heavy heart evident in the people assigned the grim task) and the pained reaction of Chaney's devoted mutt at his demise.

After surviving an accidental electrocution, Dan McCormick (Lon Chaney, Jr.) comes to the attention of a couple of scientists doing work with the effects of electricity on the human body. While Dr. Lawrence's intentions are very noble and above reproach, Dr. Rigas (Lionel Atwill) has other, more "sinister" applications in mind for their experiments. His idea is create, through repeated exposure to extreme levels of electricity, an army of supermen to do his bidding. And Dan McCormick represents the ideal test subject.

Man Made Monster might be considered a "lesser" Universal horror film, but it's a good one. I haven't seen it in literally decades and I'm happy to report that it held up rather well. It's not as good as some of Universal's better known films, but it's a solid, entertaining effort. Director George Waggner (who would go on to direct Chaney in The Wolf Man) does a marvelous job of keeping things moving at a nice pace. None of the relatively short 59 minutes is wasted. Chaney, always good at playing the sympathetic figure, does so here as well as ever. Atwill has always been underrated in my eyes and he gives one of his most demented performances as Dr. Rigas in Man Made Monster. The special effects are "cool" for the lack of a better word. The glowing Chaney works. Overall, this is one that deserves a much wider audience, especially among horror fans. Even though it's a limited release, hopefully the new R1 DVD release will put Man Made Monster into the hands of more fans.

Big Dan McCormick survives a bus accident that is hit with electricity only to end up being the guinea pig for two scientists...one a good man who wants to investigate McCormick's immunity to electrical currents for the benefice of mankind and the other who wants to make McCormick the prototype of his super human electrical men army that only he is able to control. Lon Chaney, in his first horror film for Universal(Well, after all everybody else mentioned it so why not me?), does a good job doing another variation of Lenny from Of Mice and Men being the simple man who is tricked and coerced by the evil scientist. The evil guy is played with relish and finesse than none other than Lionel Atwill. Atwill plays the man with a degree of enlightened insanity. Lionel Atwill played evil scientists better than anyone else for my money. He enunciates his words with delicacy while all the time looking through those snake-like eyes. The special effects and direction in this one are pretty good and the film is very enjoyable.

This is the story of Dynamo Dan, a sideshow worker who does a faked electrical act. Perhaps because of this he's the only survivor when a bus he's on slams into a high tension tower and all the passengers are killed by the electricity. Dan ends up working with Lionel Atwill a mad scientist trying to make electrified super humans.

Yes, its as corny as it sounds but then so are the Frankenstein films. Corny or no the film is a great way to spend an hour of your time on a rainy night.When most people think of the Universal horror films in the 1930's and 40's they tend to think of the Frankenstein/Dracula/Wolfman movies forgetting or unaware that Universal turned out a a number of very good second tier horror films at the same time. This is one of them.

Warning: do not confuse this with The Indestructible Man which has a similar plot line but which is not particularly well made.

8 out of 10 on a rainy night with the lights off and your best honey by your side.

A prime example of how to make a good movie on a low budget. Excellent photography, solid script, great cast (including Chaney in his first Universal horror flick), and that now very familiar but still exciting Salter-Skinner-Henderson music score. Fondly remembered little movie.