The Monster Maker (1944)

Wonderful character development!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This is a fairly good entertaining film concerning a conceited mad scientist named Dr. Igor Markoff.Dr. Igor falls for a woman named Patricia who resembles his dead wife. Patricia rejects the doctor's advances and enlists her father (Anthony) to help stop the doctor from coming on so strong to her. Dr. Igor insists that Patricia marries him and will stop at nothing for her to become his new bride. Surprisingly, the doctor is actually well respected in the medical community and hides his wicked ways well from others. Dr. Igor hides the fact he will inject his enemies with Acromegaly to get what he wants.The movie is fun, a bit corny and has some fairly good horror moments in it. This is a good afternoon film - it's not the really good creepy horror film that is good for a late night viewing but it's fun to watch.5/10

I have amassed a number of vintage if low-grade horror efforts and, while I originally had not intended including them during the current "Halloween Challenge", I felt that, since this is the era within the genre that I am most fond of, I would be depriving myself of some inherently entertaining stuff. Following my good impression of both MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET (1942) and THE DRUMS OF JEOPARDY (1931), I opted to check this one out which, clocking at a mere 62 minutes, I could afford to leave for a late hour.The result, again, proved very enjoyable but, thematically, it was highly derivative of Universal's THE RAVEN (1935), so close, in fact, that I am surprised that studio did not sue the Powerty Row company, PRC, who made THE MONSTER MAKER! Here, we also get an eminent doctor (J. Carroll Naish) who falls for a woman – because she is a dead ringer for his dead spouse – who does not correspond his love but, in spite of his respectable position, is not one to take no for an answer. Having made a study of the deforming disease acromegaly (which has often found its way into the genre), he goes so far as to 'infect' the heroine's musician father with it – when he turns up with an ultimatum to stop bothering his daughter – so that, in exchange for a cure (which, as it happens, he has just arrived at), the latter will have no choice but to ask the girl to set aside her romantic illusions (with the young promoter for his successful concert engagements) and accept Naish's advances (and, by extension, marriage proposal)! In this respect, and like THE RAVEN itself, this is quite a nasty little item: actually, the make-up effects (showing Ralph Morgan's degenerating condition and which obviously jeopardize his career) are rather convincing, transcending the limited resources at the film-makers' disposal; this and Naish's committed performance are easily THE MONSTER MAKER's main assets. However, adding to the fun, are the presence of Naish's loving but long-suffering female aide (since he harbors no affections for her and has no qualms about telling her), a sinister male nurse (played by genre stalwart Glenn Strange) and even that old guinea-pig standard, a caged gorilla (which, for some reason, hates the assistant's guts and, consequently, Naish conveniently dispatches it in order to eliminate her when she threatens to expose the mad doctor's nefarious activities…but the woman is saved in the nick-of-time by her courageous and devoted German Shepherd dog).The finale obviously has Naish getting his just desserts at the hands of Morgan himself, followed by the desperation expressed by the latter's offspring at the fact that the old man will have to carry the effects of the 'illness' with him…but now it is Naish's assistant who comes to the rescue as she is obviously adept enough to be able to reverse the acromegaly process(!?) all by herself – complete with a coda wherein Morgan has reprised his tour, with the assistant joining his daughter and fiancé in their balcony (she had earlier shared the adjacent one with Naish himself but, of course, he had eyes only for the heroine).

It's obvious that there was a fixation in this era with the whole concept of the mad scientist who conducts evil experiments. At its best, this was a genre that produced classics like "Frankenstein" or "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." "The Monster Maker" is not the genre at its best - although admittedly it's also not the genre at its worst.My impression has always been that this was an era of transition in movie-making. Some movies from the era have a very "old" feel, as if they come from a bygone era. Others feel very fresh and modern and stand up well today. This is an example of the former. It would have fit into the early 30's well enough. The performances were passable, as was the story, which revolved around Dr. Markoff (J. Carrol Naish) who injects his hapless victim Anthony Lawrence (Ralph Morgan) with a dreadful disfiguring disease for which only he has the cure, the price for which is that Lawrence has to convince his beautiful daughter (Wanda McKay) to marry Markoff. It's not a very frightening movie; it's not even all that suspenseful. The title overstates Markoff's work. Lawrence is certainly disfigured, with swollen hands and a mis-shaped head, but he's hardly a "monster," so those looking for a monster movie will find this disappointing.It's nothing noteworthy, but it's also not awful. (4/10)

If you want to enjoy a film which fills out all criteria for the MST3k treatment, but which still doesn't deserve such a heinous fate, there is nothing better for a rainy night's entertainment than the 1944 Poverty Row anti-classic 'The Monster Maker'.It's cheap, silly, dreadfully Un-PC and I may have seen a picture of it the last time I looked up the word 'derivative'. But it's a joy to watch and has never worn out it's welcome. The film boasts a set-up right out of Freund's 'Mad Love'(1935): A mad surgeon who frequently attends a stage-performance falls madly in love with a woman, begins stalking her and sending her gifts constantly, but she soon is forced into his clutches by a medical ailment befalling a loved one and the Doctor turns him into a monster of sorts. However, whereas in most Poverty Row films they simply dumbed down events they would derive from other, better films, here they make things even more twisted and unpleasant than the original! While the film has nothing as fantastic as 'Mad Love's transplanted hand and impersonation of a resuscitated dead man, it has a truly seedy and unpleasant feel. Here, the Doctor, who calls himself 'Markoff'(played by J. Carrol Naish, giving a performance obviously patterned after Peter Lorre as Dr. Gogol in 'Mad Love' but just as enjoyably perverse)is a genuinely twisted individual with no redeeming qualities, he lusts after the daughter of a pianist named Lawrence because she resembles his dead wife(See 'The Mummy' 1932), but this is not a touching or sentimental tragic romance that was not meant to be, no, it turns out his 'wife' was his employer's wife, who he murdered to win her over, she refused, so he disfigured her with Acromegaly so no man would ever want her, so she killed herself and he then impersonated his employer(see 'Maniac' 1934) thereon, making him not a true mad scientist, just a madman who knows how to spread diseases, so you can't even admire him for his scientific genius like you can other evil scientist villains. He is covered up for by his female aide who secretly loves him who is also a mad scientist(see 'The Devil Doll'1936) but whose love he does not return. This is one sick individual.And it gets worse, after 'Markoff' goes too far in his advances, the girl's father(the always reliable Ralph Morgan)goes to see him, and is knocked out and injected with Acromegaly. This causes him to become disfigured(He looks very much like deformed character actor Rondo Hatton, who probably modeled for this) gradually. He spends his days hidden in his room with a locked door, having his dinner brought to him secretly(see 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde', yes, the book and not any of the film adaptations), he still takes joy in playing the piano, though, until he is intruded upon and his hideous face is glimpsed while playing(see 'The Phantom of the Opera') and eventually, Lawrence is forced to bargain with 'Markoff' in return for curing his disfigurement(see 'The Raven' 1935; for both the disfiguring blackmail plot and daughter angle). 'Markoff' also tries to kill his assistant with a gorilla he sets loose(see 'Murders in the Rue Morgue').I could go on, but I think I've made it clear how much of a cornucopia of stolen ideas this film is. But what's also amazing, is how much the film may itself have inspired others. The scenes of Lawrence hiding his face and having his meals brought to him secretly were imitated in 1958's 'The Fly' and the EC comic's story 'RX Death', the 'secretly being injected with Acromegaly' scenes obviously inspired a similar sequence in 'Tarantula', and the 1987 film 'Phantom of Death' also features a pianist who acquires a slowly disfiguring disease. So for a film as derivative as it is, 'Monster Maker' also gives as much as it receives.What's also disturbing is that, ignoring the silly trappings like the Gorilla, the accelerated effectiveness of the Acromegaly and the complex back story for 'Markoff', this is all disturbingly plausible. A man deliberately infecting people with debilitating diseases could easily happen, and in fact, since Lawrence poses no threat to anyone at all, one sees him not as a 'Monster', but as what he would be in the real world; A dying man going through hell at the hands of a malicious madman posing as a doctor who mocks him with hope for a cure. And keep in mind that this was advertised as a horror film with promotional art implying Lawrence was the villain and on a rampage, even though he's a good guy with a disease that infects hundreds of people in the real world. That's sick, and worse if you imagine them actually casting Rondo Hatton in the role. Pretty heady stuff for a Poverty Row film that barely lasts an hour, and more disturbing than most of what Universal was producing at the time. Good acting also helps. Naish is brilliant as the slimy surgeon, probably one of the most irredeemably evil characters in 40's horror films. Morgan elicits pity for Lawrence very easily, as he loses everything he has that makes him happy one by one. The rest of the cast is good too, no standouts, but everyone seems natural and talk like real people(well, mostly).No classic, not even up there with other Poverty Row horror films like the disturbing 'Bluebeard'(1944) or the dreamlike 'Strangler of the Swamp'(1946) but definite proof that Poverty Row could make seedy and tasteless horror films as well as anyone else at the time.~