El hombre y el monstruo

"The Man and the Monster" (El Hombre y el Monstruo) was an Abel Salazar production from the prolific pen of his younger brother Alfredo, an ambitious exercise in musical proficiency that began shooting for director Rafael Baledon on June 23, 1958 (not released in Mexico for over a year). The producer once again takes the heroic lead role, his Dick Sandro coming upon the corpse of a female motorist who made the fatal mistake of crashing in front of 'Enchanted Ranch,' the home of Maestro Samuel Manning (Enrique Rambal) during a ritualistic nighttime recital watched over by his mother Cornelia (Ofelia Guilmain). The police blow off any suggestion of foul play, Manning carefully grooming young Laura (Martha Roth) as his new protégé, claiming to be unable to play piano anymore despite her assurances that his talent remains intact. The reason for his understandable reluctance is explained by the halfway point: watching his rival Alexandra (also played by Roth) earning accolades for her performance of an unpublished concerto, the envious Manning rashly calls upon Lucifer himself to make a Faustian deal in exchange for his soul, becoming the world's most accomplished pianist at the cost of his humanity, for every time he tinkles the ivories he transforms into a Mr. Hyde-like werewolf with bushy eyebrows and prominent proboscis (makeup by Armando Meyer). Once Dick discovers Alexandra's long missing corpse in a locked closet by the Maestro's piano, he starts to piece the mystery together but must rely on a brave Laura to unmask the monster that her benefactor has become during the climactic concerto. The most unbelievable aspect of the story is Laura's willingness to go on after being attacked multiple times by the Maestro/Monster, unaware that the devil made him do it! Gustavo Cesar Carrion deserves much of the film's success for his excellent musical score, several pieces of Tchaikovsky most familiar to anyone who has seen Edgar G. Ulmer's "The Black Cat." Perhaps the most heinous crime committed is the temptation to play for an aspiring child prodigy (Ana Laura Baledon), whose murder fortunately takes place off screen, lap dissolves similar to Universal's Wolf Man to effect each transformation from various difficult angles. Enrique Rambal's Maestro is no match for Lon Chaney's Larry Talbot, (both have no knowledge of what their bestial selves were up to during the night), though it appears that the powers of darkness set up Manning at poor Alexandra's expense (more deserving of audience empathy is his long suffering mother, initially cold and imperious). This was a rare horror title for lovely Martha Roth, who had previously worked opposite Chaney himself in 1954's "The Black Pirates," shot on location in El Salvador, where he was cast against type as a sympathetic priest.

This is another south of the border horror flick. Actually it isn't too bad. A pianist sells his soul to the devil to become the greatest composer/conductor/musician in the world.The catch is (and there always is) that his greatest song is his downfall. Whenever he plays it he turns into a drooling snarling, hairy wild monster.(I'm not talking teenager here).

Of course maestro has a beautiful young protege that he is in love with. But he is compelled to play that funky music white boy and try to kill her.Will he kill her before she gives a world wide recital? Will the hero be in time?Will the monster break out into a rendition of "Hair"?

The dubbing on this one is much better than usual. The sets are used to a nice advantage and the musical score is well done. The acting is good(as far as you can tell from the dubbing).The monster looks like Scooby Doo in a tuxedo at times. Overall a bit above average.

Man and the Monster, The (1958)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Mexican film about a concert pianist who sells his soul to Satan in exchange for him to become a great musician. The only downside is that he also turns into a hairy, murderous monster. I was somewhat letdown by this film but overall it was a pretty good movie but it takes way too long for the story to get started and the monster isn't used nearly enough. The screenplay does allow time for the relationship between the man and his mother to grow and this here is actually the best thing about the movie. I'm not sure if this film was meant to be a version of Jekyll and Hyde because it does share some of the same ideas even though the monster appears to be more of a werewolf with a rat's face. The monster make up is cheap but effective. Original title: Hombre y el monstruo, El.

El Hombre y el Monstruo, known to English audiences as The Man and the Monster is a great little horror flick. Raphael Baledon was responsible for a few great horror films during this period and this is one of them although the makeup used on the monster is often criticized because of a lack luster job they did on it. All I can say is, if you can get passed the corny mask it's a very well made horror movie. See the monster for what he is and get into the whole faustian story of the film. I think it's very well directed, edited and photographed. THe Man and the Monster is very brooding, serious and morbid and contains all the great elements that Mexi-horror had to offer at this period. Enrique Rambal is a joy and gives a fantastic performance as the isolated, desperate and jaded man willing to sell his soul to the devil for a shot at greatness. If you like classic horror then El Hombre y el Monstruo is a perfect film for one of those evenings when your in the mood for something different.

I had greatly admired producer Abel Salazar and director Rafael Baledon's 1961 offering, "The Curse of the Crying Woman" (indeed, I believe it to be a horror masterpiece), and so eagerly looked forward to watching an earlier effort by that same team, "The Man and the Monster" (1958). And while this earlier film turns out to be not quite in the same exalted league as the later effort, it still has much to offer, indeed. Abel Salazar again makes for a sympathetic lead here, playing Ricardo Souto, a Mexican writer for a music journal who travels to an unnamed country to interview the great pianist Samuel Magno. What Souto doesn't realize, however, is that Magno has sold his soul to the Devil to become the greatest pianist in the world. Unfortunately, he is also often compelled to play a certain tune that transforms him into a hairy, fanged, bulbous-nosed monster, with a decidedly nasty temperament! Enrique Rambal does a fine job with this central role, and the actress Martha Roth, playing his disciple, Laura, is quite good, as well; she turns out to be as excellent a screamer as she is lousy at faking piano playing. Gorgeously filmed in B&W and employing superb use of light and shadow, this Mexican winner is a surprising visual treat. As in "Crying Woman," the mummified remains of a dead woman play a central role here, and the two films also have in common a startling flashback sequence that occurs roughly halfway through. Magno, in his Hyde-like monster state, is truly horrifying to behold, and his nighttime pursuit of Laura through a darkened hacienda is extremely suspenseful. So, too, the scene in which the "normal" Magno gives a lesson on Tchaikovsky to a young girl. Culminating at a classical music performance, "The Man and the Monster" is an instructive primer in what a classical monster movie should be, and is here presented on another wonderful DVD from Casa Negra.