The Monster Walks (1932)

just watch it!

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This is a popular title among the "old dark house" thrillers (often given a comic slant) which flooded the market from the 1920s through to the mid-1940s or thereabouts, but I was sorely disappointed by it. For one thing, characterization is inadequate (even when considering the thing is just 60 minutes long) so that what plot development there is feels largely mechanical – and, regrettably, even the treatment proves too stolid to render this an entertaining film (with little genuine atmosphere to help matters). For the record, the same director's follow-up – THE VAMPIRE BAT (1933) – has an intriguing cast and uses leftover sets from James Whale's sublime spoof THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932) but is not otherwise that more of a success in putting across the various genre conventions! Anyway, the would-be thrills here involve a couple of attempts on the heroine's life (typically, the sole heir of a vast fortune) made, we are led to believe, by a caged ape kept – for no very good reason – in the basement (except that the assailant's hairy arms are visibly longer than those of the rather squat mammal concerned!). As for the comedy, despite the presence of Mischa Auer (who actually plays it straight, Leonard Maltin's comments notwithstanding) and Willie Best (unflatteringly billed as "Sleep 'N' Eat"), it is quite sparse – and so mild as to barely raise a smile! Also involved is Sheldon Lewis (as the heroine's invalid and indignant uncle) who had played the dual role in the 1920 version of "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" that fell far short of the rival production designed as a vehicle/showcase for the great John Barrymore.

The owner dies and leaves his fortune to his daughter (Vera Reynolds), but the brother (Sheldon Lewis) wants it for himself and the son (Oscar nominee Mischa Auer) he is hiding. He plans to have the son eliminate everyone so he can grab the riches.The plan goes awry when the son kills his mother (Martha Mattox) by mistake. He turns on his father and tries to kill the daughter.It was a weird little film, just out of the silent era, and there was more talking than anything.Of course, they have the stereotypical black chauffeur (Willie Best, who was listed in the credits as Sleep 'n' Eat). I kid you not! I last remember Best from High Sierra. He has a long career with numerous roles, probably many of them doing that stereotypical frightened black man.Not very scary for a haunted house.

This would be a decent creaky old dark house movie if it wasn't for the acting and over acting. Basically a prodigal daughter returns to her home when her father dies for the reading of the will. The servants are weird, the uncle is in a wheel chair, an abused chimp is in a cage in the basement and there are secret passages through the house. This is low budget film from the early days of sound and it seem like it. There is little background noise and no music which more times than not slows things down. Worse is the acting which seems to have been done in some odd experimental style. Misha Auer, seen in later films with a pronounced accent seems almost not to have one. His performance is very odd, especially when compared to later films. Interesting here you get to see just how big and imposing man he was. The movie is painfully slow and probably would have put me to sleep had I been just sitting and watching the film. This is not a film to recommend unless you have insomnia. Its an interesting film as a curio but isn't remarkable and the plotting is truly run of the mill. There are better ways to spend your time.

The set-up of this movie is very simple--a bunch of people in a house, trying to be scary. Add an ape to good effect. Here's the idea: a woman and her fiancé return to her childhood home after the death of her father, who was a scientist. Her uncle, his wife, and their son reside there as tenants and housekeepers, and they all want the money the young woman inherited. Thus, they do the usual thing a mismatched group of spurned relatives do in this situation: plan to kill her, framing the dead scientist's angry ape as the murderer. Of course, they're really bad at it, so it doesn't really work out very well.Even though this movie was very low budget and the plot was slim, it still could have been a lot better. The direction jumps from exposition to action with very little consideration for timing, which means both fall flat and ultimately the whole set-up is given away too early, ruining any chance of suspense or horror. It's also not worth it to expect good acting from these kind of productions from this era, but on the other hand, only the black man and the messed-up son seemed to have any character. Also, is it a little wrong to ask that the movie have something to do with the title? But worst (or perhaps best) of all, this movie does feature one very memorable scene: the worst attempt at murder EVER. Tell me, how does chaining a woman to a pole and whipping a monkey cage work to off the woman, especially when one is on a time limit? Wonderful b-movie absurdity leads to situations like that, which are very fascinating not only because they're poorly done, but you have to wonder who thought up the scene in the first place! --PolarisDiB