User reviews

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

William Nigh directs this low-budget Monogram picture about a circus ape escaping simultaneously with an eccentric doctor trying to cure a young girl's paralysis. Somehow the two plot strands meet and end in a very far-fetched denouement. Fantastical plot notwithstanding, The Ape is a quality picture at least as far as Monogram pictures go. Sure it has some real cheap sets and a threadbare, ridiculous story. The direction is adequate but nothing more. But what it does have is a fine performance from Boris Karloff as the doctor working endlessly to free a girl from the confines of her wheelchair all the while blurring the line of good and bad. For me there are three types of mad doctors. The first and probably most familiar is the crazed, maniacal, egocentric mad doctor looking for revenge or glory or the affections of a girl. These guys are the ones full of themselves and usually are dedicated in some form or fashion to evil. Bela Lugosi excelled at these. The second type is the same maniacal, crazed doctor but one that is more worldly. He wants money or power and position. He knows oftentimes that what he is doing is wrong(differentiates him from first type). I think Lionel Atwill played this type very well. The third type - and a very broad one - is the mad doctor who crosses the line of acceptable behaviour but his action are all done with good at the core. Karloff really perfected this type. The Ape has just such a "mad doctor" in it. Karloff gives such a good performance despite everything working against him. He creates genuine pathos in his role. The rest of the cast in this film is nothing too special. I enjoyed Henry Hall as the lawman, and Gertrude Hoffman as Karloff's quiet maid was chilling in her demeanor and silence. The Ape should not be overlooked simply because of its less than stellar roots with Monogram. Karloff rises above the material and this film rises above the standard fare usually created. The ape itself, well, quite ridiculous. In this one George Barrows gets a break and Ray "Crash" Corrigan(the alien in It! The Terror from Beyond Space)dons the unrealistic simian outfit.

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 doesn't sound like much of a compliment, but this cheapie was better than I expected, thanks not only to Karloff's sympathetic performance but to a script by Curt Siodmak, who did much better things. Once you accept that the main idea is stupid, you can appreciate that each individual scene is well-written in terms of character development. Everyone is slightly more ambiguous than their stock character usually would be. The "mad" doctor is sincerely concerned with the insipid heroine who reminds him of his daughter, and his madness is a kind of beautiful tragedy. The "good" boyfriend says he doesn't want her hurt, but he also seems jealous of the doctor and resentful that the heroine won't be so dependent on him. There's real tension in their triangle. The hick sheriff is almost sharp enough to figure things out. The town blowhard gets several scenes showing what a well-chiseled wretch he is, especially the scene with his pathetic wife. The small-towners are all various little unflattering types--lazy, suspicious, gossipy, narrow-minded--not exactly an ad for rural life. Karloff's maid seems mute except when she suddenly whispers one word. There's a city doctor who comes on as an antagonist, then gets converted into an ally by Karloff's evidence, and disappears from the movie! There's the wise caretaker, introduced in a surprising pan shot that begins with a black circus worker playing a trumpet for a dancing elephant and ending with the ape being provoked by the rotten trainer. The very ending, too, has a certain power if you meet the movie halfway. The trouble is, just as you're pulled into the simplicity and effectiveness of all these human scenes, along comes another scene with that apesuit to pull the rug out from under the movie's credibility. The ape is the worst thing about THE APE!

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.

Watched this 1940 movie last night and had fun watching Karloff. His scenes as the caring Doctor trying to find a cure for the paralyzed girl (played by Maris Wrixon) were touching and well done. His mad obsession to cure her seemed very believable to me. Though it looks like Wrixon played mostly bit parts during her career, she did a good job in this larger role and she is beautiful. Gene O'Donnell as her protective and jealous boyfriend seemed unrealistic as he took an immediate and illogical dislike to Karloff, the man trying to help his girlfriend walk again. Maybe he thought he resembled some kind of mad scientist, remembering Dr.Janos Rukh in 'The Invisible Ray' or Dr.Ernest Sovac in 'Black Friday.' Of course, this Monogram film is lacking in production values and the supporting cast is for the most part forgettable. And, Karloff has certainly been more fun to watch in some of his other films. The killer ape was a little goofy, as were the never-ending posses hunting him. However, with all that being said, it was still fun to see an old Karloff film, if only for old time's sake.

first off I enjoyed The Ape, not one of Karloff's great movies but it didn't stink either,, the premise of the movie is that he is trying to find a spinal cure for a woman, and the only way he can do this is to go around killing people,, he decides to use an Ape suit this way I guess he can scare the living daylights out of his victims.. he is great to watch his every move ,, what he is gonna do next, and how he will go about doing it,, he's really creepy in the Ape suit, I would not wanna be in his way when he is gonna get to his next victim,, granted there's not a lot of suspense here because you already know what he is doing, so there is really no great mystery about what's going on, just sit back and enjoy Boris Karloff that's what I did.

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.

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.

In between episodes of the Mr. Wong detective series, Monogram Pictures found some time to cast Boris Karloff in his traditional role as a scientist experimenting in things unknown. The Ape has him in a more traditional Karloff type role.

Boris is a doctor who has settled in a small community and is not well liked by the inhabitants of this place. Rumors abound of his experiments on animals. What he's doing in fact is exploring a cure for infantile paralysis.

It's hard to understand these days, but that was a dreaded thing back in the day, the President of the United States had that disease, but Karloff isn't worried about curing FDR, it's pretty Maris Wrixon, that's got his attention who's confined to a wheelchair like the president.

At the same time a circus ape that's been abused by his trainer gets loose and sets fire to the big top. What The Ape getting loose has to do with Karloff and his experiments is for you to see.

Let's just say that Jonas Salk was not pursuing the same line of research as Boris Karloff was.

This is one of those lesser known Boris Karloff films that is an underrated horror classic! Worth watching if you enjoy the films concerning "a mad scientist", older horror classics and/or Boris Karloff.

Yes Karloff is finding a cure for polio in this underrated classic - but is he really a "mad scientist" or a man desperate to help humanity?

What does a circus, an ape, a mad scientist, a woman with polio and murder have to do with each other? If you are curious then I would recommend you watching the Karloff film "The Ape".

The copy of this film I have is clear and I can hear the movie quite well but it does jump around a little bit. I would guess the film was not preserved all that well but that has NOTHING to do with the original film before the wear and tear of time.

If you want a fairly decent copy of this film like I have then I would recommend getting the horror film pack called "Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection" (with Phantom of the Opera on the cover). It's a fairly clean/decent copy although their might be a better copy of this film floating around out there that I am unaware of.

"The Ape" is a good old fashioned horror film that I do recommend to others.

8.5/10

The Ape (1940)

I love B movie horror, but man this is terrible. Saved only by Karloff's dignity as the doctor who decides to dress up as an ape(!) 4/10.

Although officially suggested by the play by Adam Hull Shirk, writer Kurt Siodmak was already employing an element that had been a staple of horror films since the silent era; the use of apes to commit skullduggery already dating back nearly a hundred years to 'The Murders on the Rue Morgue'.

In a long career William Nigh has the rare distinction of having directed both Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff. By the time he made 'The Ape' he had come down in the world considerably and working for Monogram when his path crossed that of Karloff playing Mr Wong the detective since Chaney had also played a Chinaman in the film Nigh made with him.

Karloff looks very distinguished in a long droopy moustache, while Maris Wrixon is genuinely touching as the young lady in a wheelchair on whose behalf Karloff dedicates himself to harvesting spinal fluid.

Basically, Boris Karloff is the only good thing about this movie, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the makers of this film were aware of that. He truly does give a good performance, and adds a good amount of depth to an otherwise rather stereotypical character. But imagine if it had been played by anyone else: a doctor is trying to cure polio, when he is attacked by an escaped circus ape. He kills the circus ape, skins it and makes a perfect costume out of it, and then makes a remarkably unsuccessful attempt to go on a killing spree looking for spinal fluid. It's not a great concept, and no one but Karloff could have added any plausibility to it. And even with him, there are still problems. Lines like "Man... the greatest of animals" are pretty hokey and some of the throwaway scenes that don't relate to the plot (like that random guy and woman whom you never see again looking at the circus) are pretty annoying. I will also note that although there is no such thing as a convincing gorilla suit, that one is scraping the bottom of the barrel.

This film is very much like an earlier Monogram Pictures effort, THE MAN WITH NINE LIVES. That's because both starred Boris Karloff as a well-intentioned doctor who is trying to help mankind but ultimately becomes a "mad" scientist. Here Karloff is trying to find a cure for spinal paralysis and he uses the spinal fluid of a man injured by an escaped ape to help cure a lady who is bound to a wheelchair. The problem is, although there is improvement, Karloff needs more and more fluid in order to effect a cure. The rest, though predictable, is pretty entertaining for a low-budget horror flick. The conclusion is particularly good--giving a nice twist that's not expected.

And speaking of "low-budget", this film is very, very cheaply made--with occasionally bad acting and an annoyingly repetitive musical score. Despite the film's many short-cuts and all, it's STILL very watchable and worth a look--particularly for fans of Karloff.

Boris Karloff stars as a doctor attempting to cure paralysis. To continue his research, he needs to collect spinal fluid, but there just aren't enough corpses from which to harvest it. Thankfully, he has just killed an escaped circus gorilla, so he hollows out its corpse, puts on its skin and goes out at night to murder townspeople for their precious, precious spine juice. This movie is pretty retarded. Why exactly does Karloff need an ape costume to kill his victims? I mean, he knows that the sheriff has organized hunting parties that go out every night looking for the ape. It seems that an ape costume is probably the least safe thing to be wearing. And it's not like wearing a gorilla costume is going to give him super-strength or anything. It's more likely to make it much more difficult to murder your victims, as it's got to be hot as Hell in there and your maneuverability and vision have to be severely diminished. The film is also painfully slow, and the characters are as dumb as the plot. Not Karloff's finest hour, but at least it provided some good laughs.

Monogram pictures produced rather low budget films and cut costs in every way imaginable. Karloff made this entire film possible with his great acting as Dr. Adrian, dedicating his career to finding a cure for the dread disease Polio. He ties to help the only person in town who believes he can cure her from paralyzis. Karloff soon learns that he needs spinal fluid from a human being, he tries to blame the Ape for his horrors. This "APE Film" finished Karloff's contract with Monogram and he returned after eighteen(18)years when Monogram became Allied Artists in 1953 where he made "Frankenstein 1970".

This short film from 1940 features Boris Karloff as Bernard Adrian a doctor who is determined to find a cure to help a young woman, who has been paralysed by polio, to walk again. His animal experiments have only had him so far; now he needs human spinal fluid. When a gorilla kills its brutal trainer before escaping from the circus he sees an opportunity. The trainer is taken to Dr Adrian's lab, where he dies. Dr Adrian extracts the needed spinal fluid and injects it into his patient; early indications shows that it is working but after an accident he needs to find a new source of spinal fluid. Meanwhile the people of the town are hunting for the ape which has killed again and shows no sign of leaving the area.

This film was quite a bit better than I expected; Dr Adrian may be using methods that can't be considered ethical by any stretch of the imagination but he isn't an unsympathetic character; he clearly really wants to help his patient rather than wanting the glory of finding a cure. The townspeople are less sympathetic than one might expect with children throwing rocks at the doctor's house and one man having an affair and treating his wife more poorly than one would expect of a film of the era. The ape is obviously a man in an ape-suit but it is better than one might expect to see in a B movie. There are some good twists before the end; the final one nicely explains certain things that seem a little off earlier. Boris Karloff does a solid job as Dr Adrian and the rest of the cast, who were unknown to me, were okay. Overall this might not be a classic but it is a fun way to pass an hour if you are a fan of older films.

Very minor and frankly dull Boris Karloff vehicle, one of the "mad scientist" roles he specialized in during this phase of his career. The plot takes pains to render the idea of how despised his character is, presumably because of his unorthodox experiments, but I cannot fathom why – surely what he was engaged in would prove exceedingly beneficial to mankind if successful (as readily acknowledged by an authority brought in from out of town to investigate him)! A measure of the film's ambivalence in this respect is that both views will be accounted for at the very end – as Karloff's miracle cure does work, but he has had to resort to the despicable act of murder in order to procure specimens!; incidentally, this latter business and the fact that one of the protagonists is wheelchair-bound would both resurface – to infinitely infinitely greater effect – in a later Karloff picture, the Val Lewton classic THE BODY SNATCHER (1945). The titular creature, then, is seen prowling about a number of times – even after having watched Karloff stab it: where we supposed to know that he was behind subsequent killings?; my brother actually arrived at this conclusion about three-quarters of the way in…but I just could not believe Karloff would go to such extremes for Science (after all, he failed to save the immediate members of his family and had kept up the fight for a good 10 years afterwards – why should he bother so much with the rest of the world, especially since they hated him for it?!) and, in any case, being a doctor does not automatically give one a propensity for taxidermy, does it?! All things considered, this is watchable but inessential – and not nearly as much fun (in a guilty pleasure kind of way) as when Bela Lugosi did something similar i.e. in THE APE MAN (1943).