The Ape Man: 1943

   And so it begins.  My gorilla-based movie marathon is now in effect, all until I get to my twentieth review.  So sit back and enjoy!

   Conducting weird scientific experiments, crazed Dr. James Brewster, aided by his colleague Dr. Randall, has managed to transform himself into a hairy, stooped-over ape-man. Desperately seeking a cure, Brewster believes only an injection of recently-drawn human spinal fluid will prove effective. With Randall refusing to help him, it falls to Brewster and his captive gorilla to find appropriate donors.

   

   "The Ape Man", is an interesting little piece of work that famous actor Bela Lugosi just happened to be a part of.  His acting is...well, let’s just say that it’s the same as any other film he's been in.  He does what he can with what he has, and what he can do is act.  His character as The Ape Man looks a bit like The Wolf Man with a hunched back, but he still has a human side to him.  But that's kind of what I'm trying to get at; none of the characters have character added onto them during the movie.  Your first impression of every actor will stay the same throughout the sixty three minuet duration.  I do like how the majority of the film focuses on the character that is the most interesting, and that's The Ape Man.  However there is less emphases on who he was before he was turned into a human/ape hybrid.  But I suppose that doesn't really matter because aside from his appearance and posture Bela Lugosi doesn't act any differently from a human being.

    The sound quality ranges throughout the duration of the film. In the exposition it is very poor, but nearing the end you begin to understand the dialog better.  Being this not a huge problem at first glance, it does have an effect on the movie in its entirety.  Since the sound is not that great during the beginning, there leaves allot to be desired to understanding the exposition of the film.  To be fair though, you do infer what you missed by the context of the movie later on.  Speaking of, the movie’s plot has a very distinct resemblance to, "The Invisible Man".  You have a scientist who says, "Stand back!  I'm going to try science!", and in effect has something go horribly wrong.  The scientist then spends the remainder of his days trying to concoct an antidote in order to reverse the effect.  They will never learn.

   "The Ape Man", was an interesting movie.  I managed to have a neutral feeling from start to finish.  Just from the name I could tell that this wasn't going to be that great of a flick.  Though to be fair it’s not something I wouldn't mind viewing again.  However, I do respect Bela Lugosi and I don't think that this movie respected him as an actor.   After all of the sophisticated roles that he's been in, it’s really insulting that he be re-casted as a human-monkey hybrid!  It’s the last thing I would expect from a horror icon such as him.  But, alas, any good business is better at marketing than at what they actually do, and I believe this is the case for this film.  They must have known that if you take a big star and put him/her in a not so big production, it’ll pay off.  I will admit that this was not Bela Lugosi's best role, but if you're interested in a bit of this legends history, I would recommend this to you.  Besides, at sixty three minutes, what have you got to lose?

 Verdict

I give this film 4 spinal fluid injections out of 10

 Note:  It has come to my attention that I have looked over one major problem.  This movie is a virtual remake of, "The Ape", from 1940.  I should have reviewed that movie before this one but all I really want to do now is post this. So join me next time as I delve into the first installment of this film starring Boris Carloff!

 

Next Review:  The Ape 1940