The Ape Man (1943) User Reviews

The worst Lugosi film that wasn't trying to be a comedy?

[AlsExGal · 4/10 · 30 October 2020]

This may not be the worst Lugosi film I've ever seen -- I've seen *The Gorilla* and *Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla* and *Mother Riley Meets the Vampire** -- but it may be the worst one that wasn't trying to be a comedy.

We begin with screaming newspaper headlines: SCIENTIST MISSING! Must have been a slow news day. Some reporters are waiting for the arrival of the missing man's sister from Europe by ship. (They ignore the fact that World War Two is going on, a fact which is confirmed later by the hero stating that the reason he isn't in the military is because he's 4-F.) A sort of goofy-looking guy is hanging around, edging the reporters on to talk to her. Keep your eye on this character, who keeps popping up for no reason, because he's the key to this movie's insane ending.

The sister (who is some sort of psychic or medium, a fact which has nothing at all to do with the story) meets the missing man's assistant, who soon gives us our absurd backstory. It seems the scientist gave himself injections of gorilla spinal fluid. (We are never told why.) As they arrive at the hiding place of the scientist (Lugosi), we see that he has been transformed into an APE MAN!

Well, he actually looks more like an Amish farmer with back pain. Lugosi's make-up consists of shaggy hair and beard. He conveys his simian nature by walking slightly bent over. We first see him locked up in the same cage as a gorilla (or a guy in a bad gorilla suit.) This is later explained when Lugosi says that sometimes he loses his human rationality and the animal side takes control. There is not the slightest evidence later in the film to confirm this. Lugosi continues to act like nothing more than the world's hairiest mad scientist.

It seems the cure for being an ape man is human spinal fluid. The only source, of course, is freshly killed humans, so Lugosi and the gorilla go on a killing spree. When he gets a shot of the spinal fluid, the only change is that he can walk upright. Don't expect any kind of transformation scene in this movie.

The heroes are a spunky reporter (the 4-F guy) and a photographer named Billie. Attempted comedy ensues when the reporter finds out that Billie is a woman. While all of this nonsense is going on, the goofy-looking guy is shown peeking into the window of Lugosi's hiding place. In the very last scene of the movie, the heroes confront the goofy-looking guy and find out his confounding identity.

This is probably one of the worst films with Lugosi in it where he is just unable to raise the overall rating.

An Ape Not On Another Planet.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 5/10 · 15 October 2011]

Being left muddled by Attack Of The Giant Leeches,I began to hope that the second film on the disc would be an,at least,slight improvement.And although the film is very low budget,this comedy horror still has some great entertaining moments.

The plot:

Returning back from an expedition,a group of scientist make the tragic announcement that one of them sadly died during the expedition.Whilst everyone else goes for the explanation hook,line and sinker,two journalist suspect that foul play may have been involved in the scientist death.Searching around his house,the reporters begin to gather evidence that Dr James Brewster has been performing weird operations on apes.

As the reporters start digging,Breswster (who has turned into a human-ape hybrid,due to performing an operation which went a little bit wrong!) comes out of hiding,and with needing spinal fluid to fully transform back into a human,Brewster discovers that he has found the perfect two people to get spinal fluid from.

View on the film:

With most of the acting being on the incredible "chewy" side,Bela Lugosi shines like a beacon for the film,who along with composer Edward J. Kay give the film a haunting side,with Lugosi's conviction in his performance,being something which no other actor would have given to the film.

Checking the credits to the film online,I discovered that I had accidental viewed one of (In) famous director William "one-shot" Beaudine films,and although the film does stay on the side of the road,and is also not helped by a soundtrack which has more crackling then a piece of meat!,Beaudine still includes a few good moments in the film,with scenes of the reports doing phone calls at the office having a nice pace,and a scene of Breswster and an ape breaking plates being a well executed gag.

Final view on the film:

An easy going horror-comedy,with a performance by Lugosi that helps to keep the film together.

Good, Campy Fun With Bela and the Director Who Brought Us "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter".

[JohnWelles · 5/10 · 8 June 2010]

"The Ape Man" (1943), directed by legendary hack William Beaudine (the man who gave us "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" [1966] and "Billy the Kid versus Dracula" [1966]), this b-movie gives us a deliciously hammy, over-the-top performance from Bela Lugosi, who had gone down a long way since his myth-making role in Tod Browning's "Dracula" (1931). The plot is the usual hokum: a crazed scientist, Dr. James Brewster (Bela Lugosi), with help from his more sane counterpart, Dr. George Randall (Henry hall), injects himself with spinal fluid that turns him into an ape man. But at sixty-nine minutes, the film moves so fast that plot logic is never anything you spare a great deal of thought on. Wallace Ford (who apart from having minor roles in a few Hitchcock movies and featuring in lots of TV shows, is most famous for starring in the brilliant "Freaks" [1932]), Ralph Littlefield and Louise Currie are decent and the whole movie on the technical side, is quite competent. A fun film for people who enjoy the works of Edward D. Wood Jr.

Fine Lugosi Picture

[unclerussie · 24 March 2003]

I really don't know what some of the more snobbish reviewers expect when they sit down to watch movies such as this; "Gone With The Wind"? Maybe "Citizen Kane"? How about something that was produced last year for tens of millions of dollars? These were films produced in the thirties and forties with a low budget, by studios who did not have access to special effects and high cost productions as the majors did. Still, the films are highly enjoyable with good plots and usually fine acting. They are gems and classics in their own way despite the financial shortcomings they had to endure. "The Ape Man" is such a movie. The great Bela Lugosi and a talented cast give us a good story and a fine movie. Bela's character has, unfortunately, made himself part ape. Alas, another scientific experiment gone awry. He needs a special "spinal serum" or return to 100% human ways and has to kill to get it. He does and, well, you'll have to see the film to find out what happens. This is not a movie to be ridiculed or laughed at, but to be enjoyed. "The Ape Man" is a classic to those who enjoy these type of films.

Bela is pretty funny

[Prichards12345 · 2/10 · 15 November 2016]

Poor Lugosi. He gets saddled here with a ridiculous make-up job and lopes around like Groucho Marx! Dressed in a frock-coat his penguin-like antics had me giggling. And I'm a Lugosi fan! He did himself no favours by appearing in crap like this and the scene where he injects himself is rather sad considering his later problems with morphine.

The Ape Man concerns Lugosi as Dr. James Brewster - an extremely unlikely name for a Hungarian - desperately searching out human spinal fluid to cure himself of his apish affliction. He'd have been better off just getting a shave. The newspaper byline over his photo lists him as "strangely missing"!

Lugosi and his pet ape kill a butler for his first victim - a guy who looks like Alfred Hitchcock's half-brother. Extraction done, spinal fluid injected, all Lugsoi does is straighten up a bit.

Wallace Ford and Louise Currie also appear. Ford had appeared in several horrors up to this point - notably Freaks and The Mummy's Hand. Currie starred in several of these Monogram potboilers. They have my sympathy.

As the story develops a character named Zippo pops up now and then to direct things or warn people off when Lugosi's on the prowl...and he turns out at the end to be the author of the story! "Screwy idea, wasn't it?" Screwy is not the word I would use...

The Ape Man is definitely one of the lesser Bela Lugosi vehicles

[tavm · 2/10 · 3 July 2015]

The main reason I decided to watch this is because it has an appearance by former Our Ganger-and current East Side Kidder at the time-Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison as some associate of someone at a newspaper building. Oh, and I was also pleased to see someone from my favorite movie-It's a Wonderful Life-in this one: he's J. Farrell MacDonald who I know played the guy who castigated George Bailey for hitting his father's tree with his car before he then thinks Bailey-in the Pottersville sequence-is crazy for thinking he doesn't know what the name of his town is! Anyway, he's a police captain here. So this is one of Bela Lugosi's poverty row movies of the '40s, huh? Well, as pretty entertaining as he may be here as a man with an ape face, I found myself mostly bored watching this thing but then I'm up really late with a sleepy demeanor right now so that may be why. Anyway, The Ape Man may be worth a look for any Lugosi completists out there but nobody else.

Evolutionary Regression

[bkoganbing · 2/10 · 5 March 2012]

The Ape Man produced by Monogram Pictures stars Bela Lugosi as a scientist who has been experimenting on himself with ape spinal fluids. Why anyone would do that God only knows, but the result is Lugosi as regressed back to a Cro-Magnon state and is kept in a cage with a gorilla who apparently he relates to.

As he's a well known scientist he's keeping undercover, but his disappearance has aroused all kinds of curiosity including that of law enforcement with J. Farrell MacDonald and the press in the persons of Wallace Ford and Louise Currie. The press are police are kept somewhat at bay, by Bela's sister Minerva Urecal.

But when Bela and his gorilla start killing people for their human spinal fluid so Lugosi can get back to being human again, that of course arouses the populace. I think you can figure out where this is going.

It's from Monogram so naturally one's expectations is low and you're not disappointed. In a recent biography of Bela Lugosi, the author Arthur Lennig uses The Ape Man as a prototype Monogram product and contrasts it with the Universal Pictures Gothic horror films. He and I and you'll agree when you see The Ape Man, Universal has it over Monogram by an early round knockout.

There's no cleaning up after this Gorilla....

[amosduncan_2000 · 2/10 · 9 February 2013]

While Bela may have appeared in worse movies, he was never more embarrassed than in his work here. While a bit of the hijinks is good for unintentional laughs, this has less the fun tone of "The Devil Bat", and more the bone crushing boredom of "The Corpse Vanishes."

While it mostly served the purpose of cheap laughs, can we just note now that George Barrow's much employed suit did not look much like a real Gorilla?

Your heart also has to go to the excellent Wallace Ford, whose crack comic timing was often put to use in movies

such as this. The writers even seem to be halfway spoofing the tired, tired, "screwball" button of a dame trying to make it in a man's world. In fact, I sort of like the self referential gag of the films writer, a stammering dimwit, occasionally appearing to move the plot along. Obviously, however, the joke at the closing credits is whoever sat through this thing.

Thankless part for a declining star.

[sibisi73 · 3/10 · 31 January 2005]

Yet another in the long list of Lugosi's B-movies as his career was in decline, this is of interest only to those who wish to follow that downward trajectory. Here he plays a stricken scientist, whose experiments have rendered him with ape-like instincts and a mass of facial hair. It's a thankless part that leaves Lugosi stumbling around for the most part in a simian stoop, leaving the best parts of the story to his supporting cast. But there's neither suspense nor horror enough to cover up the limits of the cast and the budget of the production. Ford and Currie, as the journo duo offering light relief, seem to have escaped from a different movie, and Urecal's wide-eyed posturing is ham of the highest order. Pity the unfortunate Van Horn, who spends his time in an unconvincing gorilla suit throughout. Oddly, there's an obscure, self-referential ending, which serves little or no purpose as far as I can see, and which points up the apparent irregularity of the comedy/horror subject matter.

A short waste of time, but a waste of time nonetheless.

The Ape Man (1943) **1/2

[JoeKarlosi · 6/10 · 28 August 2004]

One of Bela Lugosi's low budgeted Monogram films, THE APE MAN is entertaining in a so-bad-it's-good way. It's a riot to see poor Bela, so down on his luck by this point that he needed to act in anything just in order to eat, swaying and crouching about in a bad wig and beard, acting like he's "part ape" due to an experiment gone awry. And trying desperately to find some human spinal fluid to inject into himself so he may be able to straighten up again and lose his simian tendencies. If not for the stamina of Lugosi, the film would be intolerable. But he puts more energy into this crazy role than it deserves and keeps us entertained by being both effective at some times and unintentionally humorous at others. This one's not particularly well paced, and we've got the typical "hardnosed reporter/photographer" deal getting in the way of things every so often. There's also a decidedly screwy explanation offered at the end of the day for all these strange goings-ons which is not appreciated by this viewer. But there are far worse ways to spend a Saturday Night at the Monster Movies. **1/2 out of ****

A sad decline

[django-8 · 1/10 · 18 January 2005]

The Ed Wood films are universally acclaimed as the nadir of Bela Lugosi's film career, but this sad entry in his filmography is worse on many levels than any of those later pictures.

With the golden days of horror pictures long gone, Lugosi is captured here in what can only be described as a laughable attempt to recreate that bygone era in what is little more than a dreadful reworking of the Wolf Man.

With a weak script, total lack of suspense, and of course the expected bad ape costume, it is to Lugosi's credit that he actually does appear to be trying his best in this film.

Unfortunately it isn't enough to save the day; I watched this hoping for that odd satisfaction only to be found in poor B pictures of this era, but even such sadistic viewing pleasures were denied simply because this film is so bad.

At only 67 minutes, it isn't long but boy does that time drag. Lugosi is a giant of the horror silver screen, but this shows his career in terminal decline. A shame as he deserves to be remembered so much better.

Hampered by an uncomfortable Lugosi and monotonous background music

[MarcoAntonio1 · 8/10 · 10 August 2005]

"The Ape Man" could have been a better film than it is. A doctor (Bela Lugosi) is accidentally turned into an ape man after an experiment goes awry, causing him to resort to a series of murders so that injections of his victims spinal fluid can possibly return him to normality. A reporter and a camerawoman (Wallace Ford and Louise Currie) arrive at the doctors home to investigate and the mystery begins to unravel. "The Ape Man" could have been a more enjoyable film, but Lugosi's walking around like an ape (which is unintentionally embarrassing) and awful, monotonous canned background music (which was used in Monogram's "Ghosts on the Loose" the same year) take somewhat from the overall enjoyment of the film. Wallace Ford and Louise Currie work well with each other and having them toss wisecracks back and forth is a welcome addition to the script. "The Ape Man" is not a terrible film, but not a great one. You could do a lot worse for an hours worth of viewing.

This movie is cool.

[KennethEagleSpirit · 7/10 · 5 January 2007]

Bela Lugosi acting apish, and doing a good job. Minerva Urecal acting spooky, and doing a VERY good job. The other players do an equally good job given their respective roles. Of course there is that one guy. Some things need to be played for laughs, and I suppose that was especially true during a time when it looked as if Nazi hoards would over run the world. The makeup is fun. Some of the sets and props are recognizable from other movies, one in particular from Bela Lugosi's "Bowery at Midnight". That aspect makes for a fun kind of trivia or scavenger hunt while watching this flick. A real downside with this movie is the quality of the sound track. Very poor. But, the plot is fun, and must've worked well enough at the time because they actually did a not-so-sequel, using the title in part but not the plot line or characters, the next year in "Return of the Ape Man". As far as I know they stopped there. No "Revenge of the Ape Man" or "Son of Ape Man". I suppose they decided to play it safe. Otherwise they'ed have ended up with a whole planet of the apes.

Lugosi Grows a Beard

[bensonmum2 · 5/10 · 4 February 2005]

The basic story of the Ape Man is straight forward. Lugosi plays a scientist messing around with nature (these guys never learn). Through some experimentation he has turned himself into a half-ape (he had a heavy beard and walked stooped over). He, along with his gorilla assistant, must kill to get the spinal fluid he needs to reverse his previous experiment.

The Ape Man can be fairly entertaining if you don't take it too seriously. Lugosi is fine as the scientist - sometimes funny (as when trying to subdue his gorilla) and sometimes menacing (as when threatening the doctor who has been helping him). Henry Hall as the doctor and Minerva Urecal as Lugosi's sister are also worth mentioning. Typical of comedy/horror films from this period, some of the jokes work while some fall flat. Most of the jokes are delivered by Wallace Ford (Ford was also the comic relief in The Mummy's Hand and The Mummy's Tomb). The movie was made by Monogram and is a typical Monogram cheap-B-quickie.

Lugosi with LOTS of hair

[BaronBl00d · 13 August 1999]

The Ape Man is a story about a mad doctor who has been experimenting with apes and has slowly turned himself into a kind of ape man through an injection of sorts. The details of the experiment as well as with the plot are often never stated or incredibly vague. To be certain, poor Bela wants spinal fluid for regressing the advancing stages of apeness, and he and his gorilla friend kill with this goal in mind. Bela lurches and swings his arms as the ape man. The movie was made by Monogram and is evidently cheaply made, but the film is entertaining as a Lugosi film. He is the important character and even though his dialogue and actions are highly doubtful given the circumstances, Bela comes off as a menacing mad man. I wish I could say something good about the rest of the cast. The gorilla is fake as can be, the male and female reporters whose lives are in peril at the film's climax have no acting savvy whatsoever. Bela's sister is rather good as is their doctor friend, but remember this film is a cheapie and looks it. Nonetheless I would recommend the die-hard classic horror fan to see it.

Not really a buried Bela Lugosi treasure, but a fun movie to see.

[bbickley13-921-58664 · 5/10 · 28 January 2015]

Though it's predictable, I'm actually very impressed with how cleaver the film was, especially for the time period the movie was made in.

A crappy movie for the great Bela Lugosi of Dracula fame, who probably did this movie for the paycheck, or because of Dracula, got type cast to be nothing else but the monster.

Lugosi plays a doctor who does an unethical experiment on himself that transforms him into an Ape-Man, and now he's willing to go on a murderous spree to fix what he messed up.

The movie is set up for an ensemble cast, unfortunately I only know Lugosi. Maybe the other cast of characters were played by famous or well known actors but only Lugosi stood the test of time.

But it would explain the different sub plots of the movie: A reporter looking for a scoop and his camera woman looking for a break. The police men the movie spends a lot of time allowing to solve the case, and the strange man who just happens to be lurking around the house for no real reason.

Lugosi's make up reminds me of the movie Teen wolf and because I saw that movie first, I kept getting a wolf-man vibe as Lugosi tries to walk like an ape.

The movie is very humorless to watch. I definitely recommend giving it a shot.

Bela, Man!

[daniewhite-1 · 3/10 · 18 November 2020]

'The Ape Man' is another Monogram minor B-movie collaboration with Bela Lugosi from the early 40's and far from the best of the bunch.

Lugosi is hidden by fury costume and makeup, and his character spends the entire time in his apeman configuration so it is very difficult for the audience to get it's necessary quota of a Bela Lugosi performance, which at over 75 years removed from this films release, would be the only reason to tune in.

The rest of the principle cast do sufficient work with their characters however so 'The Ape Man' is just about watchable for it's one hour runtime.

The plot and premise however are risible and fail to attach themselves to the viewers imagination in any way except 'this is another guy in a gorilla suit movie and a tormented mad scientist situation.' I think that this is the loosest and least formed of all Lugosi's Monogram horrors.

On top of this the technical credits are worse than normal even for this series of infamous films and the scenes are more static and boxy than any other director's work on the series that I've seen.

I rate a 3/10 but I can't give a recommendation because I think that few movie fans will appreciate this film as anything but an historical curiosity unless they are a very dedicated viewer of thus kind of material, in which case they won't need telling by me; otherwise for a slightly more average viewer find a different Lugosi vehicle to watch.

"I warn you... it's frightening." Very poor horror even for the 40's, why didn't Lugosi just have a hair cut & a damn good shave?

[poolandrews · 2/10 · 7 August 2005]

The Ape Man starts as famed ghost hunter Agatha Brewster (Minerva Urecal) returns from Europe to be greeted by Dr. George Randall (Henry Hall) & newspaper headlines that scream 'Dr. Brewster disappears', the same Dr. James Brewster (Bela Lugosi) who just happens to be her Brother. Dr. Randall reveals that he made the story up to cover up the fact that Dr. Brewster & himself made an 'astounding discovery' that Brewster tested upon himself & inadvertently turned himself into a half-human half-ape creature. At this point a nosey reporter named Jeff Carter (Wallace Ford) from the 'Globe Tribune' ask's for an interview which Agatha says yes to but at another time. Jeff decides to pursue the story & together with his somewhat good looking photographer Billie Mason (Louise Currie) heads out to the Brewster house where Dr. Brewster is locked up in his secret laboratory working on trying to get what he needs to cure himself. While there Billie takes some photo's of Agatha & accidentally captures one of Brewster as an ape but is only spotted after the photo's have been developed. Jeff knows something fishy is going on & investigates further as James reveals that to completely cure himself he needs human spinal fluid to counteract the ape fluid, the only problem is he need fresh fluid from still living donors...

Directed by William Beaudine there is very little to recommend The Ape Man as a film, in fact nothing at all really. The script by Barney A. Sarecky based on the novel They Creep in the Dark by Karl Brown is boring, dull & virtually nothing happens during it's short 67 minute duration which seems like a lot longer while your watching it. The whole film makes no sense & the central idea is just so stupid & flawed, why on earth did Brewster & Randall want to cross a human & ape in the first place? Aren't humans above apes in the evolutionary scale? Wouldn't a hybrid send the human race back & not forward? I don't know maybe it's just me but The Ape Man has no logic at all & has no credibility. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take itself too seriously but it does. The characters are stiff & bland which also adds to The Ape Man's problems. On a positive note the witty interplay between the mismatched Carter & Mason is quite amusing at times & stops The Ape Man from getting 1 star instead of 2. There's no real horror in The Ape Man & Lugosi in his make-up & stooped over hunchback pose looks awful. I sat there & kept thinking why doesn't Lugosi just have a good shave because his Ape Man make-up consists of a long beard & hairy hands, that's it. Director Beaudine also throws in a terrible looking Gorilla which Lugosi uses to kill a few people, again it's hard to take these scenes seriously because wouldn't someone notice a weird looking guy with a ridiculously fake looking beard & a lumbering Gorilla following him around & not contact the relevant authorities? Obviously not as the police proclaim that they don't have a single clue to go on... The acting is rotten & Lugosi is poor, the black and white cinematography is point & shoot, the editing ruins any sort of tension that could have been built up & as a whole the film is a chore to sit through. The only other thing I will say is that director Beaudine, who made an incredible 293 films before he died in 1970 aged 78, rightly earned the nickname 'One-Shot' due to the amount of time he would take to shoot each scene... The Ape Man is poverty row rubbish all the way & yes I know it was made in 1943 but that doesn't excuse the fact that it's painful to sit through. Cinema has moved on, audiences tastes & expectations have moved on while films like The Ape Man unfortunately haven't any sort of lasting appeal, merits or virtue to move on with them & stand the test of time.

Bela Lugosi Goes Ape

[wes-connors · 1/10 · 8 February 2009]

"Dr. Brewster (Bela Lugosi) is working on a serum derived from gorilla spinal fluid and tests his experimental formula upon himself. Unfortunately, the serum transforms Dr. Brewster into a simian-like creature and he desperately attempts to find a cure. Only human spinal fluid will return him to normal but, Dr. Brewster uses some nefarious methods to extract his needed supply," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

The author of the story supposedly makes an appearance at its closing - it's a good thing he rolls up the car window, to miss whatever you feel like throwing up at the screen. William Beaudine's "The Ape Man" is an embarrassment, even for a low-budget programmer. If the movie were a little better, you might be able to take some delight in Minerva Urecal's stone-faced sister, "Agatha Brewster". But, the best actor has to be Emil Van Horn as "The Ape", since he gets to save face.

* The Ape Man (1943) William Beaudine ~ Bela Lugosi, Louise Currie, Wallace Ford

"Prepare yourself for a great shock Agatha."

[classicsoncall · 4/10 · 21 February 2006]

When Dr. James Brewster (Bela Lugosi) becomes a guinea pig for his own experiments, he turns himself into a medical marvel, at least that's the contention of his partner Dr. George Randall (Henry Hall). The only thing the viewer will witness is an already bearded Lugosi affecting a stooped over walking pattern and unsure whether he should be swinging his arms or not. Lugosi's introduction on screen is somewhat puzzling in that he shares a cage in his laboratory with a man in a gorilla suit, but that's the only time we'll ever see him there. If there was a point to be made, it didn't work.

Jeff Carter (Wallace Ford) and Billie Mason (Louise Currie) are a newspaper reporter and photographer respectively, hot on the trail of the Brewster mystery. Pay attention when they get into Carter's car for the first time to go to Brewster's residence, Billie calls him Mr. Brisbane. Screen pairings like this usually signal a romantic angle during the course of the story, but there's no chemistry here, which is just as well because they didn't look like the type for each other.

Minerva Urecal is introduced into the story as Brewster's sister Agatha, with a reputation as a ghost hunter. Since that's referenced a number of times, one would think it had some bearing on the story, but once again we have a disconnect. Her mere presence though adds a spooky menace to the film and is one of it's redeeming factors. Hey, can you picture her as the ape man, er.., ape woman?

With no fanfare and without warning, Brewster reveals the stunning basis for his cure rests in obtaining human spinal fluid and injecting it into his own spine. With his gorilla companion, Brewster heads out into broad daylight to line up his victims, but with the police department as inept as it is, he gets as much as he wants at will. Brewster's return to the human condition consists largely of standing up straight and repeatedly checking the mirror to see if his beard has gone away. Where's a Schick disposable when you need one?

If I sound like I'm being too harsh on the film, let me switch gears and say that it's a blast watching these Poverty Row efforts and wondering what movie patrons of the era thought of these films. For Lugosi, his was not a one gorilla film career. Other brushes with apedom included "The Gorilla" (1939), and "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla" (1952). To pick a favorite from this trio is impossible.

Lest I forget, not all the credit for this groaner belongs to the players. Director William Beaudine should at least get a share of the accolades for "The Ape Man"; perhaps that's who Lugosi's character had in mind when early in the picture he states - "What a mess I've made of things".

A Retelling Of Jekyll And Hyde

[sddavis63 · 6/10 · 31 December 2004]

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.

Bela Tries and Fails to Tame His Monkey

[jayraskin1 · 3/10 · 11 July 2010]

I suppose that one could see this film as a brilliant metaphor for drug addiction. Being a drug addict was called in slang "having a monkey on your back" in the 1940's. Here Bela Lugosi has a real monkey on his back, face, neck, and ass. We can see his fights with the monkey as metaphorical fights with his addiction. This way of looking at the film doesn't make it any better, but it does pass the time.

According to the trivia section, the director, one-shot William Beaudine, took 19 days to shoot this. One must imagine that he took a two week vacation during the shoot or Bela Lugosi needed two days rest for each scene in which he tries to imitate a gorilla. It is painful to watch poor Bela at age 60 and in bad health, trying to play a gorilla. Very possibly, he had to take drugs to accomplish it.

Is there really any redeeming feature for this movie? I think the mysterious character who appears to be watching from outside Lugosi's window and helps to prevent one woman from being murdered adds something to the film. It seems to be a failed attempt at adding humor, but it does add a touch of creepiness which relieves the dreary mad scientist tedium.

Bela

[kairingler · 8/10 · 8 July 2013]

Wow some of these low budget "b" movies are so wonderful, this one is at or near the top of the spectrum, Bela Lugosi is just charming in this one, he has to get some kind of serum from people that he needs to turn back into full human. But he can't do the killing himself he has his Ape do it for him,, I just love all the back and forth banter that he has with the Ape. the part I loved the best was when the Ape looks at his empty bowl on the floor, looks up at master shakes his head and then looks at the bowl again in utter disgust. the Ape is cheerful to follow his master whenever the chance arrises every once in awhile he's a little disagreeable as far as listening to master, but the two are a pleasure to watch together, I love the plot. the characters, and the Ape,, what's not to love from this 40's classic horror movie.

Going Ape in Hollywood Circa 1943 Bela Lugosi style

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 24 February 2004]

"Some Spoilers" One of the many films that Bela Lugosi made for Monogram Pictures as well as among the other bargain-basement Hollywood studios that he worked for during his "Lost in the Wilderness", as well as heroin addiction, phase of his career during the 1940's and early 50's until he kicked his drug habit. It was also around that time that Bela met the great cult and bad movie director Edward Wood and made the movies, that we all know and love him for, that made Bela Lugosi the legend that he is today some 50 years after his death.

"The Ape Man" is pretty standard stuff in the movies that studios like Monogram put out back in those days. A prominent scientist Dr.James Brewster, Bela Lugosi, makes a major discovery about the link between man and primate but not being able to test the serum that he discovered on human beings, for it's against the law, tests it on himself where he becomes a half man half ape "missing link". Brewster finds out together with his associate in the discovery Dr. George Randall, Henry Hall, that the only thing that can bring him back to normal is human spinal fluid that if extracted from a person will instantly kill him. Dr. Brewster with the help of an ape, that he has in his laboratory, goes out at night and kills a number of people in order to get the valuable spinal fluid. All goes well until Dr. Randall refuses to participate any more in Dr. Brewster's mad scheme where Dr. Brewster in an insane rage kills him.

Later in the movie Dr. Brewster with the help of his partner, the ape, kidnaps beautiful newspaper photographer Louise Currie, Billie Mason, but when Dr. Brewster is about to extract Billie's spinal fluid the love sick ape, who took a liking to Billie, attacks and kills Dr. Brewster during a long and bitter struggle. The ape chases Billie all around the laboratory until Billie finds the secret passage, with the help of her fellow reporter and boyfriend Jeff Carter (Wallace Ford), and escapes into his arms as the police, who Jeff called for help, who blasts the ape with a hail of bullets that kills him. As the movie is ending we see both Jeff and Billie go off into the sunset, it was really moon-light, and I guess lived happily ever after.

There's nothing really that great about the movie "The Ape Man" unless, like me, you're a Bela Lugosi fan and Bela does lift the movie up a couple of notches making it if it's not scary both cheesy and campy. Louise Currie is very nice to look at and the rest of the cast did a very good job with the material that they were handed. The guy who played the ape, Emil Van Horn, made a monkey out of himself wearing a gorilla suit with him flinging his arms and grunting during the entire movie. Van Horn's or the ape's fight in the end with Dr. Brewster, as Billie was trying to get away from the carnage that resulted from it, was both exacting and suspenseful.

What really annoyed me about the movie was that skinny and goofy looking reporter, Jack Mluhall, who popped up in almost every scene in the film as well as acting like a jerk and spoiling any tension and surprises that there were in the movie. Mluhall also got somewhat of an ego trip as the overbearing and annoying reporter in telling those of us watching, at the end of the film, that it was he who wrote the story that we just saw on the screen. At least someone like Alfred Hitchcock, a far better movie maker then Jack Mluhall, who was in almost all of the movies that he directed had nothing more then a cameo appearance in them. This guy wanted to be the star of the movie!

The Doctor has a strange secret.

[michaelRokeefe · 2/10 · 19 February 2002]

Bela Lugosi is a mad scientist that comes up with a secret serum that turns him into a very agitated ape. In order to walk more erect and regain his human side...he needs to 'collect' human spinal fluid. This is so lame it is a hoot. Lugosi fans must even shake their heads in wonderment. It is a fun time watch though; catch it when you can.

Also in the cast are:Wallace Ford, Louise Currie, Emil Van Horn and Henry Hall. Not to be confused with first class horror.