SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

LeonLouisRicci Aside from one Glaring Flaw, this is an Underrated Horror Film that came Early in the 1950's Cycle. Robert Shayne gives a Thoughtful, Intense, and Realistic Performance.There are some Unsettling Visuals like the Deaf and Dumb Maid's Photographs, the Creepy and very Well Done Makeup for the Titular Monster, and the Murder Mutilations are done with Verve.Along with Shayne as the Mad Scientist, Beverly Garland Proves why She is a Scream Queen of Note. The Central "Skeptical Scientist" is by Richard Crane, and makes for a rather Stiff, but Acceptable Turn.There is an Atmosphere of Dread as the Tale Unfolds, mostly because of Shayne's Descent into Madness and the Brutal Murders of the Townies.The Aforementioned "Glaring Flaw" is Obvious. The Sabre Tooth Tiger. Much is made of this "Can't be Real" Beast, but when Shown Prowling for Prey the Fangs are Missing, but otherwise Close-Ups Reveal Huge Foot Long Teeth.It is a Distraction that is Intolerable and Unfitting this Underrated B-Movie that Otherwise makes its Low-Budget Scientific and Philosophical Points with Stylish Flourishes and Entertains for its 78 Minutes.

mark.waltz A rip off of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", this takes a lot of patience to tolerate Household cats become giant beasts and a moody scientist turns into a prehistoric man, growing more facial hair than the wolf-man. His friends and family suspect that something is up but let him be. When people start being attacked he feigns sympathy. Of course, where there is caveman, there must be cave-woman and that is where the film dissolve s into absolute silliness. Shots of big jungle cats passing as prehistoric cats fools nobody. As the truth of what is going on is revealed, the film moves into melodramatic drivel that seemed more appropriate for the decade before when Lon Chaney Jr. was making films like this by the dozen.

Michael_Elliott Neanderthal Man, The (1953) * 1/2 (out of 4) Poor horror film about a mad scientist (Robert Shayne) trying to bring man back to the stone age. He turns his pet kitten into a saber-toothed tiger, he then injects himself with his magical serum and turns into the title character. This film only runs 78-minutes but it felt like three hours considering not too much ever happens. The neanderthal man looks silly but the makeup is certainly memorable. The only problem is that he's not on screen enough. Some of the close ups of the tiger gets a few laughs since you can tell it's just a toy. It's also interesting that most horror films from this period try to play the scientist in a sympathetic view point but that's not the case here. The scientist here has got to be the biggest jerk ever to grace a horror film.

JoeKarlosi An ultra-cheesy '50s monster flick in which we get to see Robert Shayne (Inspector Henderson from TV's ''Adventures of Superman'') shamelessly recite hilarious dialogue and feverishly overact, as a dedicated mad scientist who's found a way to reverse the evolutionary process! It's the treat of the film to watch him rant and rave about his idiotic theories without applying the brakes. First he turns a common house cat into a fierce saber-toothed tiger, accomplished by the effects team utilizing close-ups of a fake model; later, he jabs himself with a serum that transforms him into the title character. You've got to get a load of this ape-man's face; it's one of the most ridiculous-looking of all film monsters, obviously an over-the-head mask you'd buy in any Halloween shop, and completely expressionless with a rubber muzzle and painted set eyes that don't move. For his creature, the filmmaker should have chosen to stay with the crude third or fourth stage appliances during the chintzy transformation sequence. A real hoot, and a good deal of fun if you go for these types of silly yet entertaining creature features. We also get to see a young Beverly Garland in the cast, although a double for her is blatantly used in a sequence where she dons a bathing suit and models for a photographer. **1/2 out of ****