Manster 2003 Horror Movie Review

To appreciate this little-mentioned but memorable little horror gem from the late 50’s you have to repeat to yourself that our current cybertech special effects crews were nonexistent back then. Directed by a Frenchman, filmed in Japan, only 72 minutes long and low-budgeted it, nonetheless, is one of my most remembered grade B horror films of the 50’s. Actually, it was superior to a lot of the awful flicks of this genre being churned out here in the States and merits a grade B+ status among cultists. This one is a somber, creepy and atmospheric flick about an American reporter [Larry Stanford played by British actor Peter Dyneley] who sets out to interview a reclusive Japanese scientist. The doc, cordial but nuts, is experimenting with some sort of serum that’s supposed to enhance the human condition. He uses the reporter as an unwitting guinea pig using dame and drink to inject the mojo into him. Minor problem: the Doc’s last recipient of his invention, his wife, is a hideously deformed mutant. Larry should have interviewed her first. Anyway, after getting vaccinated, Lar turns into a tyrant—-wife and pal unable to control him—-then violent and then into a murderous nocturnal man-beast. Where’s Claude Raines with that wolf’s-head cane when you need him. There are two unforgettable scenes in this one: 1- an eye begins to appear on Lar’s injection site [luckily he got stuck on his shoulder and not his butt] and as the movie goes along it becomes evident that a new mutant is beginning to grow from this site, head first! ; 2- at the finale, with the cops at his tail, an INCREDIBLE separation of the hideous mutation from the original human. For 1959 this was ASTOUNDING. Stark black and white filming with lots of shadows and fog + bleak acting by all gave this one an eerie feeling throughout. This one was superior to a lot of the stuff coming out from Corman, Arkoff, Nicholson and American International Pictures [AIP] at the time. A definite overachiever. Recommended for fans of this specific genre or anybody who likes a good man-into-monster flick.