Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

utgard14 "Dynamo Dan, the Electric Man" (Lon Chaney, Jr.) survives being electrocuted and attracts the interest of two scientists. The first is genial Dr. John Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds), who wants to study Dan to see if there's anything about his physiology that would allow him to survive what others couldn't. The second is nefarious Dr. Paul Rigas (Lionel Atwill), who wants to turn Dan into a sort of electro-zombie. Given this is a horror movie, guess which one wins out? Lon Chaney Jr.'s first horror film. He plays a sympathetic character, as he would so often. Samuel S. Hinds and Anne Nagel offer fine support. Jack Albertson is a little irritating but it's a poor part only included in the movie to fulfill the prerequisite for a romantic subplot most of these films had. The true star of the picture is the great Lionel Atwill as the mad scientist. Atwill is a horror legend and hams it up with glee, particularly in his confrontation with Nagel towards the end. This is a good little B sci-fi/horror movie from Universal. Fans of Chaney, Atwill, or Universal horror films in general will undoubtedly like it more than most.

Scarecrow-88 Before they made THE WOLF MAN together, director George Waggner and star Lon Chaney Jr made this Universal "monster movie". Chaney's Dynamo Dan, the Electrical Man was a sideshow charlatan whose specialty for the crowds was acts involving electricity. It seems, however, that he had an actual immunity to electrical shock when Dan is lone survivor of a bus crash into a power line which kills every other passenger but him. Lionel Atwill has yet another plum part as a mad scientist obsessed with his theory that through electricity those members of the human race considered inferior, "doomed to mediocrity", could be used to form an army of "super-men" willing to obey those of superior intellect in exchange for the needed boost said electrical currents provide to exist day to day. The prize human guinea pig for Atwill's Dr. Rigas is Dan , unemployed after the carnival left town while he was "recuperating" in the hospital, accepting an offer from renowned scientist, Dr. John Lawrence(Samuel S Hinds)to work with them in their experiments in understanding "bio-electricity". Rigas takes advantage of Dan while Lawrence is away at a conference, performing electrical experiments which begin to weaken the poor lab rat until he's so dependent on the juice that he can no longer function normally without the appropriate current.When Lawrence returns from the conference, he soon discovers Rigas' diabolical dream come to fruition, and before being able to contact the police, is strangled by Dan(who is no longer in control of his own body and mind, Rigas having used so much electrical current almost all of Dan's humanity has been destroyed), John's neck broken. Dan, obeying Rigas' command, admits to killing Lawrence, and is sentenced to die in the electric chair. The voltage in the hot seat only provide Dan with the electrical power needed to break out of prison, killing anyone he touches, his entire body emanating a bright glow. A walking light bulb, Dan inadvertently terrorizes the countryside while making his way to Rigas' laboratory to get revenge.Anne Nagel is Dr. Lawrence's niece, June, who suspects Rigas when Dan begins to act strangely, zapped of the energy which endeared him to them since his hiring. Frank Albertson is newspaper reporter, Mark Adams, an eager young man with designs for June. Like June, Mark can see that something is wrong with Dan and wants only to help.Like he would do a little later for Waggner in THE WOLF MAN, Chaney elicits sympathy as a tragic victim, a monster not of his own making. Atwill could portray the mad scientist role in his sleep by this point, and is the true villain of the picture..it's because of him that Dan's condition harms others, the rudimentary cause of the heightened electrical powers created in his subject's changed physiology. Chaney's friendship with the Lawrence family dog and subsequent loss of exuberance as Rigas slowly removes Dan of his ability to interact with others are methods included in the screenplay(and through Chaney's performance)to root for him to get his eventual revenge. MAN MADE MONSTER has one of the quickest murder trials you are likely to see(Universal had became good at including trials in mad scientist movies, as was the case with Boris Karloff on several occasions). As a die hard fan of THE WOLF MAN, I owe a debt a gratitude to MAD MADE MONSTER for launching Chaney's career, one of the reasons he landed the role of Lawrence Talbot. When we first see him, Chaney is so happy-go-lucky and jovial, what happens to his Dan mirrors the Talbot tragedy not long after in THE WOLF MAN.

zardoz-13 Lon Chaney, Jr., delivers one of his better career performances as a former sideshow attraction who acquires immunity to electricity in writer & director George Waggner's compelling but tragic horror movie "Man-Made Monster." Ill-fated protagonist 'Dynamo' Dan McCormick survives multiple attempts by the state to fry him in the electric chair for the murder of one of America's foremost scientists. Subsequently, McCormick escapes from the death chamber and sets out to find the devious dastard who turned him into a homicidal maniac. This atmospheric Universal Pictures' release qualifies as an above-average chiller with Lionel Atwill surpassing himself as the mad scientist who conducts unethical experiments on our unsuspecting hero. He is prepared to sacrifice the life of one man for the sake of medical science. Waggner himself acquired a reputation as a maestro of horror movies. Indeed, later that year in 1941, Waggner collaborated later with Chaney on their most memorable project "The Wolf Man," another saga about a considerate man whose life is destroyed by tragedy. What sets "Man-Made Monster" apart from the typical, run-of-the-mill, B-horror chiller is that Waggner conjures up a sympathetic hero, and Chaney, Jr., makes the guy into a charismatic figure. No, the hero isn't very swift, but he is a cheerful sort who intends nobody harm. Waggner gets a lot of mileage out of the relationship between Chaney, Jr., and a pet dog. "Man-Made Monster" marked the first time that Chaney, Jr., appeared in a horror movie as the monster. On the other hand, the mad scientist that Lionel Atwill plays is so incredibly despicable that you enjoy it when he suffers his comeuppance at Chaney, Jr.'s hands. At this point, the hero is so charged up that his arms and head glow with electricity. Eventually, he learns to don a rubber suit to conserve his electricity. Samuel S. Hinds is terrific, too, as the well-meaning doctor who persuades Chaney, Jr.'s character to serve as a guinea pig for their experiences. Of course, the benevolent Dr. Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds) doesn't want to take advantage of our likable hero, but mad scientist Dr. Rigas (Lionel Atwill) displays no such qualms. Waggner paces this economical, 59-minute saga so that the suspense gradually builds after Dr. Rigas takes over the experiments with Chaney, Jr.'s' character. A peripheral romance smolders in the background between a newspaper reporter and Dr. Lawrence's secretary. Not only did Waggner helm this entertaining horror film, but he also penned the screenplay under a nom de plume. Waggner derived the film from a story H.J. Essex, Sid Schwartz, and Len Golas. Later, Waggner went on to helm the better-than-average "Horror Island" with Dick Foran.

preppy-3 Silly horror film with a mad scientist (played by Lionel Atwill) charging a nice guy (Lon Chaney Jr.) with volts of electricity over a long period of time. Eventually Chaney becomes addicted to it and begins to go mad.The characters are clichés, the plot is ridiculous but this moves quickly and (for a low budget picture) is pretty well made. The special effects that make Chaney glow at the end are obvious but kind of fun in a strange way. Atwill chews the scenery (and is clearly enjoying himself) and Chaney is very good in his role. In the last half he (for some reason) can't talk so he has to show all his emotions through body language and facial expressions and he pulls it off. This isn't really a good movie but I remember enjoying it on late night TV when I was kid and I have fond childhood memories of it. I give it a 6.