The Ape

In this very short and extremely cheap horror film, horror legend Boris Karloff once again stars as a devoted doctor/scientist on the verge of a big medical breakthrough. He played quite a few similar roles in his rich career and this time he's helping out a young woman who's suffering from an almost terminal case of polio. Dr. Adrian (Karloff's character) has great visions but his experiments are what they call 'unethical' and all the villagers avoid him. When a mad-raving ape escapes from a nearby circus, it brings Dr. Adrian to an idea… 'The Ape' is quite an imaginative and well-intended horror film with a slick plot but unfortunately too little action. It never features a horrific atmosphere and the ape costume isn't exactly convincing. Still, I'd certainly categorize it as a worthwhile horror film if it were only for the performance by Boris (who looks quite thin and unhealthy here, though). In case you're looking for a really excellent film starring Karloff going insane while reaching new medical heights, I strongly recommend purchasing 'Corridors of Blood'. This film would make a neat appetizer before watching that one.

It could be argued that the 1940's were something of a golden age for the B movie in America -at least in quantity terms - and several studios arose to make a great many cheap pictures for double bills and the sleazier end of the market . Monogram pictures were one such company and they strove with Universal for the horror end of the spectrum although with fewer resources . Like other such pictures The Ape gives a leading role to a horror icon , Boris Karloff ,while featuring unknowns, and untalented ones into the bargain, for the supporting parts . He plays Doctor Adrian who is regarded with suspicion by the small town locals but is revered by a young woman ,the wheelchair bound Frances Clifford whose paralysis he is striving to cure .His favoured method is by injection of spinal fluid but he is running out of the stuff till fate takes a hand .A giant ape escapes from the visiting circus ;unknown to the townsfolk he is shot .Adrian skins the dead beast and goes out at night dressed in the skin ,killing to obtain victims so he can continue the treatment . Karloff is his usual excellent self ,this time playing the scientist rather than a creation of a scientist ,and the script is quite sharp in its depiction of small town narrow mindedness .The ape suit is better than usual in this type of picture with this type of budget and this is a decent little horror number

I'm not sure what I'd name this film. It was probably named "The Ape" to bring in crowds - thoughts of an ape gone rogue and Boris Karloff creeping about would do so in 1940. Dr. Bernard Adrian (Karoloff) is introduced immediately. He is visiting a girl, Frances, who is paralyzed on what would have been Adrian's daughter's 18th birthday. Both his daughter and wife were lost in an epidemic of what is called "paralysis". It is probably polio, but the disease is never named. The girl is like a second daughter to Adrian, and she has a beau, the rather simple but kindly Danny.

A local circus goes up in flames and an ape belonging to the circus is on the loose. The ape badly injures his cruel trainer/keeper in the process of escaping and the trainer is brought to Dr. Adrian. Adrian figures the man is going to die anyways, and uses his spinal fluid in a serum he is concocting to help Frances and other paralytics walk again.

There are several mysteries going on here. The ape only seems to kill people who are evil - you are given a scene in which each of his victims does something awful. How does the ape know? Plus the ape is hanging around the doctor's house. Why?? Also, in one scene the ape is said to be killed but is shown walking about later, still on a mad spree. How?

Is this all just bad editing? Why are chronically ill young people always shown as so patient and kind in these B films? Will the doctor push the boundaries of medicine too far and have Frances remove the blanket on her legs to reveal hairy ape legs? If so will Danny make a run for it? Watch and find out the ridiculous ending.

This film is five out of ten just because of Karloff. He creeps up the atmosphere and adds depth to just about any character he plays. Everybody else in the cast is just a cardboard cutout next to him. It makes me wonder why he even did this film. Probably for Karloff completists only.

If it weren't for the presence of Boris Karloff, this would be pretty bad. Apparently there has been a bout with polio in the community (paralysis) and there is a pretty young victim who the doctor fancies as looking like his late daughter. He makes it his life work to cure her. Unfortunately, he needs the bodily fluids of others to bring about that cure. Of course, he chooses the base, the outcast, for his work because the young pretty girl has more worth in the society than these others. He chooses his victims by judging this worth. He kills them by dressing in the skin of an ape that he killed and skinned. If this sounds silly, it's hard to defend. There's also a subplot of the jealousy of a young man who loves the young woman but may feel if she recovers she will reject him. Karloff's doctor is the constant victim of the community. They don't know what he's doing in that house and so he is victimized by the local kids (your garden variety brats), and looked on with suspicion. He is such a kindly man, it seems odd that there is such venom when it comes to him. Anyway, it's a small town and people do need their preoccupations. It just seems that a doctor with this much imagination could be a little more creative in his methods than the one he chooses. Imagine how lacking in dexterity if you were about 60 years old, running around in an ape pelt. It's rather forgettable and predictable, but it's fun to see Karloff's character.

A local doctor and scientist (Boris Karloff) is working on a treatment for paralysis. He finds the cure requires human spinal fluid. But to get such a thing, he must kill. And then a local circus starts on fire and a murderous ape escapes...

First, let me give a shout out to director William Nigh of Berlin, Wisconsin. I always have to support my local directors, even if they're dead. And while there was nothing really out of the ordinary as far as directing style, it was good just the same. And Nigh has a history of working with Karloff, which I'm sure helps quite a bit (look at Tim Burton and Johnny Depp).

This film has a strong point, a weak point and a mediocre pint. The strong point is the plot. My summary will sound strange to those who haven't seen the movie. There is a circus, an ape, a scientist and people are getting killed. It really fits together very nicely, and I found this to be impressive. Many older films fill time with extra fluff, but this one was only the necessities and even that was pretty thorough.

The weak point is the film quality. I don't think I can blame the movie for its quality, but the sound is not great, the picture is not great, and many frames are missing entirely. Either lost, or filmed with bad equipment. Once I adjusted, this wasn't such a big deal. But other films from this time period have fared better, so I wish this had been one of them. A restored, touched up version of this film would have been vastly superior.

The mediocre point is the costume designer. The ape was obviously a man in a costume. However, despite this being obvious it was still a very good costume and worked for the sake of the picture. Can I reasonably expect a better ape without a real ape being used (which would be much harder to control, of course)? Perhaps not. So I give them credit for the effort. (And I assume the costume here is much nicer than the one used in the earlier theatrical production.) This film was alright. As far as older, lower quality movies go, I think this is better than much of the stuff we now call "classic". Karloff delivers, as usual... and we get a good story that has a nice dark comedy element to it, or at least an element of sympathy for evil acts. And that's always nice.