I thought this was basically an OK movie, although lacking in originality for the most part. In a Jekyll & Hyde genre, Bela Lugosi plays Dr. James Brewster, a scientist who injects himself with the spinal fluid of an ape and who then find himself becoming an ape. The only antidote is human spinal fluid, and, well, Brewster goes out to get it.
Lugosi's performance was not bad, really, although I couldn't help wondering why someone with the decidedly English name of James Brewster spoke with such a pronounced Hungarian accent, especially when his sister Agatha (played by Minerva Urecal) spoke perfect English. I know - nitpicky! (Perhaps becoming an ape affected his voice!) The movie never really offered an explanation of what great medical marvel the spinal fluid of an ape was supposed to achieve, although at the start of the movie Brewster's friend Dr. Randall (Henry Hall) assures Agatha that it was a marvel. The ape make-up for the supposedly real ape (Emil Van Horn) was bad, so you can imagine how hokey Lugosi's makeup was. I will say that Agatha, a dedicated ghost hunter, injected a bit of humour (perhaps unintentionally, although it's hard to tell) from time to time as she tries to throw reporters (played by Louise Currie and Wallace Ford) off the trail.
Overall I enjoyed this short (64 minutes) movie and because it had a few twists here and there I give it a 6/10, which might have been higher had it not been overall so predictable as a retelling of the Jekyll and Hyde story.
Lugosi's performance was not bad, really, although I couldn't help wondering why someone with the decidedly English name of James Brewster spoke with such a pronounced Hungarian accent, especially when his sister Agatha (played by Minerva Urecal) spoke perfect English. I know - nitpicky! (Perhaps becoming an ape affected his voice!) The movie never really offered an explanation of what great medical marvel the spinal fluid of an ape was supposed to achieve, although at the start of the movie Brewster's friend Dr. Randall (Henry Hall) assures Agatha that it was a marvel. The ape make-up for the supposedly real ape (Emil Van Horn) was bad, so you can imagine how hokey Lugosi's makeup was. I will say that Agatha, a dedicated ghost hunter, injected a bit of humour (perhaps unintentionally, although it's hard to tell) from time to time as she tries to throw reporters (played by Louise Currie and Wallace Ford) off the trail.
Overall I enjoyed this short (64 minutes) movie and because it had a few twists here and there I give it a 6/10, which might have been higher had it not been overall so predictable as a retelling of the Jekyll and Hyde story.