Overrated and overhyped

Fantastic!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Director: SAM NEWFIELD. Screenplay: Martin Mooney, Pierre Gendron. Story: Lawrence Williams. Photography: Robert Cline. Film editor: Holbrook N. Todd. Art director: Paul Palmentola. Set decorator: Harry Reif. Make-up: Maurice Seiderman. Music: Albert Glasser. Music supervisor: David Chudnow. Production manager: Bert Sternbach. Assistant director: Mel DeLay. Sound recording: Ferrol Redd. Producer: Sigmund Neufeld. Copyright 15 April 1944 by PRC Pictures, Inc. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 15 April 1944. Never theatrically released in Australia. 7 reels. 62 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Evil scientist discovers a cure for a rare disease but wants victim's daughter in exchange.COMMENT: The unbilled actor in the gorilla suit is one of the better players in this cheapjack picture which has little else to recommend it other than Misses Tala Birell and Wanda McKay. Mr Naish is a boring actor at the best of times. In the lead part, he is super-boring. Only Ralph Morgan can match him for dullness, but his part here is smaller so he has to be content with second place. And in third place, we have Terry Frost. What a trio! Mr Newfield is one of those directors who can shoot a complete movie in two days or less-which is not too bad a drawback when dealing with a reasonably entertaining or exciting script. Unfortunately the screenplay which Messrs Mooney and Gendron have fashioned is one of those talk-talk-talk fiestas in which the characters do plenty of empty posturing but very little-aside from a brief spurt from the gorilla (and even that is disappointingly cut short)-actually happens.

If you want to enjoy a film which fills out all criteria for the MST3k treatment, but which still doesn't deserve such a heinous fate, there is nothing better for a rainy night's entertainment than the 1944 Poverty Row anti-classic 'The Monster Maker'.It's cheap, silly, dreadfully Un-PC and I may have seen a picture of it the last time I looked up the word 'derivative'. But it's a joy to watch and has never worn out it's welcome. The film boasts a set-up right out of Freund's 'Mad Love'(1935): A mad surgeon who frequently attends a stage-performance falls madly in love with a woman, begins stalking her and sending her gifts constantly, but she soon is forced into his clutches by a medical ailment befalling a loved one and the Doctor turns him into a monster of sorts. However, whereas in most Poverty Row films they simply dumbed down events they would derive from other, better films, here they make things even more twisted and unpleasant than the original! While the film has nothing as fantastic as 'Mad Love's transplanted hand and impersonation of a resuscitated dead man, it has a truly seedy and unpleasant feel. Here, the Doctor, who calls himself 'Markoff'(played by J. Carrol Naish, giving a performance obviously patterned after Peter Lorre as Dr. Gogol in 'Mad Love' but just as enjoyably perverse)is a genuinely twisted individual with no redeeming qualities, he lusts after the daughter of a pianist named Lawrence because she resembles his dead wife(See 'The Mummy' 1932), but this is not a touching or sentimental tragic romance that was not meant to be, no, it turns out his 'wife' was his employer's wife, who he murdered to win her over, she refused, so he disfigured her with Acromegaly so no man would ever want her, so she killed herself and he then impersonated his employer(see 'Maniac' 1934) thereon, making him not a true mad scientist, just a madman who knows how to spread diseases, so you can't even admire him for his scientific genius like you can other evil scientist villains. He is covered up for by his female aide who secretly loves him who is also a mad scientist(see 'The Devil Doll'1936) but whose love he does not return. This is one sick individual.And it gets worse, after 'Markoff' goes too far in his advances, the girl's father(the always reliable Ralph Morgan)goes to see him, and is knocked out and injected with Acromegaly. This causes him to become disfigured(He looks very much like deformed character actor Rondo Hatton, who probably modeled for this) gradually. He spends his days hidden in his room with a locked door, having his dinner brought to him secretly(see 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde', yes, the book and not any of the film adaptations), he still takes joy in playing the piano, though, until he is intruded upon and his hideous face is glimpsed while playing(see 'The Phantom of the Opera') and eventually, Lawrence is forced to bargain with 'Markoff' in return for curing his disfigurement(see 'The Raven' 1935; for both the disfiguring blackmail plot and daughter angle). 'Markoff' also tries to kill his assistant with a gorilla he sets loose(see 'Murders in the Rue Morgue').I could go on, but I think I've made it clear how much of a cornucopia of stolen ideas this film is. But what's also amazing, is how much the film may itself have inspired others. The scenes of Lawrence hiding his face and having his meals brought to him secretly were imitated in 1958's 'The Fly' and the EC comic's story 'RX Death', the 'secretly being injected with Acromegaly' scenes obviously inspired a similar sequence in 'Tarantula', and the 1987 film 'Phantom of Death' also features a pianist who acquires a slowly disfiguring disease. So for a film as derivative as it is, 'Monster Maker' also gives as much as it receives.What's also disturbing is that, ignoring the silly trappings like the Gorilla, the accelerated effectiveness of the Acromegaly and the complex back story for 'Markoff', this is all disturbingly plausible. A man deliberately infecting people with debilitating diseases could easily happen, and in fact, since Lawrence poses no threat to anyone at all, one sees him not as a 'Monster', but as what he would be in the real world; A dying man going through hell at the hands of a malicious madman posing as a doctor who mocks him with hope for a cure. And keep in mind that this was advertised as a horror film with promotional art implying Lawrence was the villain and on a rampage, even though he's a good guy with a disease that infects hundreds of people in the real world. That's sick, and worse if you imagine them actually casting Rondo Hatton in the role. Pretty heady stuff for a Poverty Row film that barely lasts an hour, and more disturbing than most of what Universal was producing at the time. Good acting also helps. Naish is brilliant as the slimy surgeon, probably one of the most irredeemably evil characters in 40's horror films. Morgan elicits pity for Lawrence very easily, as he loses everything he has that makes him happy one by one. The rest of the cast is good too, no standouts, but everyone seems natural and talk like real people(well, mostly).No classic, not even up there with other Poverty Row horror films like the disturbing 'Bluebeard'(1944) or the dreamlike 'Strangler of the Swamp'(1946) but definite proof that Poverty Row could make seedy and tasteless horror films as well as anyone else at the time.~

Ruthless and suavely sinister mad scientist Dr. Igor Markoff (splendidly played to the deliciously slimy hilt by J. Carroll Naish) develops an unhealthy fixation on the lovely Patricia Lawrence (a charming portrayal by the fetching Wanda McKay), who rebuffs Markoff's advances. After Patricia's accomplished famous pianist father Anthony (an excellent performance by Ralph Morgan) tells Markoff to get lost or else he will inform the authorities, Markoff injects Anthony with foul germs which cause him to come down with a rare dreadful disfiguring disease called acromegaly, which of course Markoff is one of the key reigning medical experts on. Director Sam Newfield, working from a harsh and wickedly inspired script by Pierre Gendron and Martin Mooney, relates the compellingly warped story at a steady pace and milks the sharp sense of cruelty and sadism found in the narrative to maximum skin-crawling effect (the scene which reveals poor Anthony in all his grotesquely misshapen splendor is genuinely startling). Moreover, there's a surprisingly mean-spirited sensibility at work in the truly sick and disturbing premise which gives this film an extra upsetting edge. The supremely hideous make-up on Anthony is quite convincing. As an added plus, Glenn Strange has a neat minor role as hulking orderly Steve and veteran simian thespian Ray Corrigan pops up in one of his patented wild and dangerous gorilla parts. Naish and Morgan both excel in their juicy lead roles; they receive sturdy support from Terry Frost as Patricia's gentlemanly suitor Bob Blake and Tala Birell as Markoff's reluctant nurse assistant Maxine. Robert E. Kline's crisp black and white cinematography makes nifty use of fades and dissolves. Albert Glasser supplies a suitably energetic melodramatic score. A worthwhile, if decidedly unpleasant little shocker.

Acromegaly (a syndrome where the pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone resulting in giantism and then disfigurement), was all the rage in horror movies between 1944 and 1946, thanks primarily to actor Rondo Hatton, a real-life sufferer. Hatton's large size and dis-proportioned features led to a memorable, though short-lived, stint as a horror star at Universal beginning with his role as "The Creeper" in 1944's THE PEARL OF DEATH. The reporter-turned-actor would go on to take half-a-dozen more roles before his death in early 1946. PRC, who were considered the lowest of the low as far as low-rent movie companies of its day went, were also ready to cash in on the sudden interest in the disease. Though this one doesn't actually star Hatton, it's likely that it was made because of his success at Universal. Ironically, after Hatton died, Universal felt so embarrassed about "exploiting" their ill-fated new horror star that they sold the rights to Hatton's final film THE BRUTE MAN to another company. Guess who? Why PRC, of course!Back to THE MONSTER MAKER. It's really not a bad low-budget B effort at all. The science is erroneous at times and there aren't too many creative flourishes, but it's an entertaining way to spend an hour. The always-great J. Carrol Naish, complete with Eastern European accent, headlines as Dr. Igor Markoff. What a perfect mad scientist name that is, huh? While attending a concert with his enamored female assistant Maxine (Tala Birell), Markoff spots the lovely Patricia (Wanda McKay) in the audience and can't help staring. After all, she's a dead ringer for his long-dead wife. Quickly becoming obsessed, Dr. Markoff starts sending flowers to Patricia three times a day, nevermind the face she's already keeping company with Bob Blake (Terry Frost). Annoyed, Patricia sends her father, pianist Anthony Lawrence (Ralph Morgan), to Dr. Markoff's clinic to tell him she's not interested and to leave her alone. Markoff quickly bonks Anthony over the head with a candlestick and shoots him up with an extremely potent shot of the acromegaly. Pretty soon, poor Anthony becomes restless, has sudden bursts of energy, a stronger-than-usual appetite and finally transforms into a deformed, unrecognizable shadow of his former self. Since Dr. Markoff is the only one with an antidote, he demands Patricia's hand in marriage or else he'll let the condition worsen until her father passes away. The plot also makes room for a large caged gorilla and even features an appearance from "Ace the Wonder Dog." How can you not love this stuff?I liked the majority of the cast in this one. Naish and Morgan both get to have a lot of fun and even though I don't see many people mentioning Birell in their reviews, I thought she was excellent as the assistant who's been in love with the mad doctor for a very love time but is now at her breaking point. The two "romantic leads" were alright but, as usual, they take back seat to the three aforementioned performers, who have the showier roles. Glenn Strange (who would go on to replace Boris Karloff as The Frankenstein Monster the very next year) has a small supporting role as Markoff's brutish butler Steve. The film itself is well done inside its budget; efficiently put together and very well paced, too. The acromegaly make-up is surprisingly good as well and actually reminded me of the same design later used in Lynch's THE ELEPHANT MAN!