I’m joined by author David Annandale for a deep dive into
the Poverty Row Horror film THE MONSTER MAKER (1944). Even among fans of these
low budget efforts this one has a disreputable reputation as an example of the
lines that these movies sometimes crossed. It is often singled out as one of
the darker and more sadistic horrors of the 1940’s it does its best to creep
out the viewer with the first onscreen appearance of a victim of acromegaly,
the real disease that afflicted The Elephant Man, John Merrick. The film’s
jumbled script throws in elements borrowed from MAD LOVE (1935), THE RAVEN
(1935) and a few other classic horror movies as well. And since this is a mad
scientist story, we must have a man in a gorilla suit or the authorities might
have stopped production entirely!
Mr. Annandale and I discuss the film’s cast at length with my guest’s appreciation of Wanda McKay being most interesting. We make a defense of J. Carrol Naish’s slightly underplayed central performance as the villain of the piece although why we would need to defend an actor with two Oscars to his credit is beyond me. We praise the excellent makeup effects used to transform Ralph Morgan into a misshapen, monstrous looking victim. And we dig into the section of this very short film that seems unnecessary and possibly was included to pad out the running time. Not that either of us dislike seeing a man in a gorilla suit but to have Ace, the Wonder Dog’s heroic action sequence absent from the movie seems a shame! Mr. Annandale was a good sport to be part of the show and I’m very happy to showcase his love of this film.
The email address for the show is thebloodypit@gmail.com so send any comments or ideas to us there. If you have any favorite Poverty Row Horror that you’d like to hear discussed let us know as we are keen to return to the subject. Thank you for listening!
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