The Mad Monster ** (1942, Johnny Downs, George Zucco, Glenn Strange, Anne Nagel) – Classic Movie Review 5,583

George Zucco camps it up entertainingly as Dr Cameron, the mad scientist plotting to kill his colleagues with a formula that transforms his gardener into a murderous wolfman, in the 1942 B-movie horror film The Mad Monster, banned in the UK until 1952.

‘The blood of a wolf he placed in the veins of a man… and created a monster such as the world has never known!’

George Zucco camps it up entertainingly as Dr Lorenzo Cameron, the psychotic scientist changing the physiognomy of innocent victims, in director Sam Newfield [Samuel Neufeld]’s flaccid frightener 1942 B-movie horror movie The Mad Monster. Flaccid is may be, but the film was banned in the UK until 1952, and even then the censor demanded that it was accompanied by a disclaimer about blood transfusions.

It also stars Johnny Downs as newspaper reporter hero Tom Gregory, the 6′ 5″ Glenn Strange as Dr Cameron’s gardener Petro, and Anne Nagel as his daughter Lenora.

Dr Cameron’s bold experiments have led to a serum that can turn a man into a wolf-like monster, which he turns on those who upset him! The discredited mad scientist plots to kill his colleagues one by one using the secret formula that transforms his strong, simple-minded gardener Petro into a murderous wolfman. With the death toll rising, Lenora gets suspicious and confides in Gregory, who is investigating the death of a little girl killed by the wolfman.

Despite Zucco’s sterling, scene-stealing work as the quintessential mad doctor/ mad scientist, the script’s risible dialogue, the preposterous scenes, the ponderous pace and the cheap production all combine to sink it.

So it is not a monster success, maybe, but nevertheless it is funny to scoff at, and is still sneakily enjoyable, especially for Zucco’s performance.

Also in the cast are Sarah Padden as Grandmother, Gordon De Main, Henry Hall, Mae Busch, Reginald Barlow, Edward [Ed] Cassidy, Eddie Holden, John Elliott, Charles [Slim] Whitaker, Gil Patric and Robert Strange.

The Mad Monster is directed by Sam Newfield, runs 77 minutes, is made and released by Producers Releasing Corporation [PRC Pictures], is written by Fred Myton in an original screenplay, is shot in black and white by Jack Greenhalgh, is produced by Sigmund Neufeld (head of PRC Pictures), and is scored by David Chudnow.

It started filming on 19 March 1942 at Chadwich Studios with a shooting schedule of two weeks (though it has been alleged that it was shot in five days), and was released on 15 May 1942. It was re-released by PRC in 1945 in a double bill with The Devil Bat.

Glenn Strange took over from Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein Creature, with House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).

The Monster Maker (1944) followed in similar vein from PRC.

The cast are George Zucco as Dr Lorenzo Cameron, Johnny Downs as Tom Gregory,  Anne Nagel as Lenora Cameron, Glenn Strange as Petro, Sarah Padden as Grandmother, Gordon De Main as Professor Fitzgerald, Mae Busch as Susan, Reginald Barlow as Professor Warwick, Robert Strange as Professor Blaine. Henry Hall as Country Doctor, Edward [Ed] Cassidy as Father, Eddie Holden as Jed Harper, John Elliott as Professor Hatfield, Charles [Slim] Whitaker as Policeman, and Gil Patric as Lieutenant Detective.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5,583

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