The Ape Man

Starring: Bela Lugosi Director: William Beaudine

Bela Lugosi transforms himself into a half-human monster in this infamous Monogram thriller.

Bela Lugosi and William "One Shot" Beaudine together is this a winning combination or what?
Bela is Dr. James Brewster who has invented a serum to turn human beings into apes. Just why he wanted to do this is beyond me but heck, this is such a fun movie. He needs human spinal fluid injected into him to reverse the effect but his former collaborator (Henry Hall) refuses to do it becuase it means killing someone to get the precious fluid. Bela declares "It's my life against someone else's and I don't intend to spend the rest of my life this way!" and sets out prowling the streets at night with his trusty pet gorilla (Emil van Horn) in search of victims.
This movie did not take itself seriously. Wallace Ford and Louise Currie are a pair of wisecracking reporters on the trail of the mysterious killer. Ford has only 30 days to solve the case before he gets drafted (in real life Ford was 44 years old and way too old for the draft but who cares?). Watch for a strange character called Zippo (Ralph Littlefield) who keeps popping into the story giving advice to the characters. He even delivers the classic end line.
This movie was made during the war when everything was being rationed, especially gasoline. Notice how every car only moves a short distance and how they never make any noise. I suspect the studio was very low on gas and stage hands were actually pushing the cars on and off the sets.
A classic? Well yes, in a way. Lots of fun to watch also!

Enjoyable 'quickie' has Bela transformed into title character. Good fun and a few surprises to boot. Film is also helped considerably by the snappy banter of Louise Currie and Wallace Ford as photographer and newspaper reporter respectively. Recommended for Lugosi fans and non fans as well.