The Ape Man ** (1943, Bela Lugosi, Louise Currie, Wallace Ford, Henry Hall) – Classic Movie Review 3750

Director William Beaudine’s 1943 horror movie stars Bela Lugosi, who once again plays a mad doctor or crazed scientist, who this time injects his spine with a serum that makes him go ape, when he accidentally turns himself into a half-ape, half-human creature. Naturally, Lugosi’s character Dr James Brewster is now desperate to find a cure!

Based on Karl Brown’s story They Creep in the Dark, the poverty row creature feature The Ape Man is more endearingly daft low-budget, Z-grade monkey business from Monogram studios.

The support cast, who include Wallace Ford, Louise Curri, Minerva Urecal, Henry Hall, Ralph Littlefield, Wheeler Oakman, J Farrell MacDonald and George Kirby, take their cue from Lugosi to give juicy and outrageous performances that, along with his, certainly at least keep the movie lively and amusing.

Emil Van Horn plays The Ape Man.

The failure of the copyright holder to renew the film’s copyright resulted in it coming into public domain.

Lugosi returns for Return of the Ape Man (1944) but as a different character.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3750

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