The Monster Maker (1944)

Synopsis: When Dr. Igor Markoff spots the daughter of pianist Anthony Lawrence at a concert he becomes obsessed with her because she bears an uncanny resemblance to his dead wife. The harder he tries to woo her the more he manages to alienate her. Finally her father goes to see him to ask him to stop contacting his daughter. But the good doctor isn’t what he appears to be. He purposely infects the father with the dreaded acromegaly virus that will turn him into a hideous monster (think the elephant man)! Of course only the good doctor has the cure, which he will administer if she will marry him.

The Good: This is a great old movie. You have a pretty good cast including Glenn Strange out of makeup and playing a romantic lead. Sure the story is a bit cheesy and predictable, but it is done very well and can carry a movie that is only an hour long. The makeup effects that are used to turn actor Ralph Morgan into the “monster” are pretty damn effective for the 40s. Plus how can you go wrong with a movie that has Ace the Wonder Dog in it!

The Bad: For some reason Hollywood was in love with men in gorilla suits for a good twenty years. I can’t help but think about the Three Stooges whenever I see one.

The Score: 2.5 out of 4

This isn’t a classic film by any stretch of the imagination. But if you want to kill an hour on a Saturday afternoon you can’t go wrong with this.

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