Director: SAM NEWFIELD. Screenplay: Martin Mooney, Pierre Gendron. Story: Lawrence Williams. Photography: Robert Cline. Film editor: Holbrook N. Todd. Art director: Paul Palmentola. Set decorator: Harry Reif. Make-up: Maurice Seiderman. Music: Albert Glasser. Music supervisor: David Chudnow. Production manager: Bert Sternbach. Assistant director: Mel DeLay. Sound recording: Ferrol Redd. Producer: Sigmund Neufeld. Copyright 15 April 1944 by PRC Pictures, Inc. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 15 April 1944. Never theatrically released in Australia. 7 reels. 62 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Evil scientist discovers a cure for a rare disease but wants victim's daughter in exchange.COMMENT: The unbilled actor in the gorilla suit is one of the better players in this cheapjack picture which has little else to recommend it other than Misses Tala Birell and Wanda McKay. Mr Naish is a boring actor at the best of times. In the lead part, he is super-boring. Only Ralph Morgan can match him for dullness, but his part here is smaller so he has to be content with second place. And in third place, we have Terry Frost. What a trio! Mr Newfield is one of those directors who can shoot a complete movie in two days or less-which is not too bad a drawback when dealing with a reasonably entertaining or exciting script. Unfortunately the screenplay which Messrs Mooney and Gendron have fashioned is one of those talk-talk-talk fiestas in which the characters do plenty of empty posturing but very little-aside from a brief spurt from the gorilla (and even that is disappointingly cut short)-actually happens.

Taking a look at a box set that a very kind fellow IMDber has given me,I spotted a movie which sounded like a fun "creature feature",which led to me getting ready to seeing the monsters being made.The plot:Attending a performance by composer Anthony Lawrence, Dr. Igor Markoff notices a woman in the audience who looks just like his dead wife. Spotting Markoff's glances,the woman turns away from Markoff's view.Meeting Anthony backstage,Markoff discovers that the mysterious woman is Anthony's daughter Patricia.Since his wife's suicide,Markoff has been working on formula's which give and cure people of illnesses.Setting his sights on Patricia,Markoff decides to compose a special score for her dad.View on the film:Despite having a creature feature-style title,the film actually turns out to be a mad scientist flick,which includes the genres man in a gorilla suit trademark.Whilst the movie does not break away from the genre,the screenplay by Larry Williams/Pierre Gendron & Martin Mooney keep the 62 minutes speeding by,thanks to the writers allowing Markoff to take his time in getting a tight grip on the Lawrence's.Covered in stylish Film Noir lighting from director Sam Newfield, J. Carrol Naish gives a terrific performance as Markoff,with Naish keeping Markoff away from being a simple boo-hiss villain,by showing him to have (some ) determination in actually finding a cure,as Markoff starts to turn Anthony into a monster.

Lately I've been trying to watch some lesser known horror films. Something outside the usually Universal classics and such. Last night we watched 'The Monster Maker'. It was a bit slow moving at times, but over all good fun. The premise was different then the usual plots...pretty weird actually. It was nice to see J. Carrol Naish play the mad scientist for a change. I always think of him as Daniel in 'House of Frankenstein'. I also had never seen Glenn Strange outside his Frankenstein's monster makeup. In fact I don't think I've ever seen him without makeup before.The movie was good because not every scene was predictable. For instance when danger is sneaking into the dark room, the female victim can actually get away without tripping. Or when you think someone is doomed for sure, it doesn't necessarily happen. Telling the mad scientist you are going to the police is not always the best idea for a woman. Especially when you're alone in a room with him. It's basically saying "please kill me now".It has the more typical hard to believe 1940s happy ending. I guess that's part of the charm.Anyway, if you love the old 40s black and white horror films like I do, you might want to check this lesser known gem out.

Acromegaly (a syndrome where the pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone resulting in giantism and then disfigurement), was all the rage in horror movies between 1944 and 1946, thanks primarily to actor Rondo Hatton, a real-life sufferer. Hatton's large size and dis-proportioned features led to a memorable, though short-lived, stint as a horror star at Universal beginning with his role as "The Creeper" in 1944's THE PEARL OF DEATH. The reporter-turned-actor would go on to take half-a-dozen more roles before his death in early 1946. PRC, who were considered the lowest of the low as far as low-rent movie companies of its day went, were also ready to cash in on the sudden interest in the disease. Though this one doesn't actually star Hatton, it's likely that it was made because of his success at Universal. Ironically, after Hatton died, Universal felt so embarrassed about "exploiting" their ill-fated new horror star that they sold the rights to Hatton's final film THE BRUTE MAN to another company. Guess who? Why PRC, of course!Back to THE MONSTER MAKER. It's really not a bad low-budget B effort at all. The science is erroneous at times and there aren't too many creative flourishes, but it's an entertaining way to spend an hour. The always-great J. Carrol Naish, complete with Eastern European accent, headlines as Dr. Igor Markoff. What a perfect mad scientist name that is, huh? While attending a concert with his enamored female assistant Maxine (Tala Birell), Markoff spots the lovely Patricia (Wanda McKay) in the audience and can't help staring. After all, she's a dead ringer for his long-dead wife. Quickly becoming obsessed, Dr. Markoff starts sending flowers to Patricia three times a day, nevermind the face she's already keeping company with Bob Blake (Terry Frost). Annoyed, Patricia sends her father, pianist Anthony Lawrence (Ralph Morgan), to Dr. Markoff's clinic to tell him she's not interested and to leave her alone. Markoff quickly bonks Anthony over the head with a candlestick and shoots him up with an extremely potent shot of the acromegaly. Pretty soon, poor Anthony becomes restless, has sudden bursts of energy, a stronger-than-usual appetite and finally transforms into a deformed, unrecognizable shadow of his former self. Since Dr. Markoff is the only one with an antidote, he demands Patricia's hand in marriage or else he'll let the condition worsen until her father passes away. The plot also makes room for a large caged gorilla and even features an appearance from "Ace the Wonder Dog." How can you not love this stuff?I liked the majority of the cast in this one. Naish and Morgan both get to have a lot of fun and even though I don't see many people mentioning Birell in their reviews, I thought she was excellent as the assistant who's been in love with the mad doctor for a very love time but is now at her breaking point. The two "romantic leads" were alright but, as usual, they take back seat to the three aforementioned performers, who have the showier roles. Glenn Strange (who would go on to replace Boris Karloff as The Frankenstein Monster the very next year) has a small supporting role as Markoff's brutish butler Steve. The film itself is well done inside its budget; efficiently put together and very well paced, too. The acromegaly make-up is surprisingly good as well and actually reminded me of the same design later used in Lynch's THE ELEPHANT MAN!