| The Monster And The Girl |
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| Every so often a film comes out of nowhere and after viewing it I simply
must sit down and babble about it. The intent is to lure, cajole or even
beg people to view the film. Odds are you may not like it but so far a few
people I've badgered about it have enjoyed it.
This film is a delightful cross between film noir and sci fi horror. Scott Webster is on trial after he is framed for murder. The DA is in the pocket of the men who framed him. Scott's sister Susan makes a surprise appearance at the trial and testifies. It seems that Susan was a church regular who played the organ and longed for an exciting life which her brother didn't need. Susan meets the hip Loyd Reed and goes off to the big city. Impulsively she marries him and we are let in on the fact that the preacher packs a gun. Now how this ever slipped by the Production Code is my question. Susan wakes up in bed the next morning and it is obvious that two people have been sleeping in the same bed (a no no in the 40's). Anyway Susan has discovered another organ to play and she...wants...more by the look on her face. But her husband is long gone and a scumbag man basically tells her that her marriage was phoney and she has to sell herself now. White slavery was used rather than the no no word prostitution. Anyway Scott finds out and is hot on the trail to find the man who defiled his sister. But big city pimps are too smart for the country kid and he is framed for a murder. Scott is found guilty and sentenced to die. He swears revenge on all who set him and his sister up. Dr Perry (George Zucco) shows up and wants to take Scott's brain off of his hands since he won't be using it after the electrocution. Scott agrees and then the film makes a left turn into horror. Scott's brain gets transplanted into an ape. After a few weeks Scott seemingly takes over and busts out of Perry's lab. The killer ape stalks the city at night to bring down the prostitution syndicate by breaking the spines of the bad guys. On paper it just doesn't sound like this hybrid movie makes any sense. The marrying of the crime drama and the horror angle works better than expected.The cast is outstanding with pros such as Robert Paige, Marc Lawrence, Rod Cameron and Ellen Drew.There are some strange shots of the ape prowling the concrete jungle at night that are effective.This is briskly paced at 62 minutes and the action is fast and furious.It doesn't seem likely that this will be released on dvd anytime soon so vhs is the only way to go for now. |