It's obvious that there was a fixation in this era with the whole concept of the mad scientist who conducts evil experiments. At its best, this was a genre that produced classics like "Frankenstein" or "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." "The Monster Maker" is not the genre at its best - although admittedly it's also not the genre at its worst.
My impression has always been that this was an era of transition in movie-making. Some movies from the era have a very "old" feel, as if they come from a bygone era. Others feel very fresh and modern and stand up well today. This is an example of the former. It would have fit into the early 30's well enough. The performances were passable, as was the story, which revolved around Dr. Markoff (J. Carrol Naish) who injects his hapless victim Anthony Lawrence (Ralph Morgan) with a dreadful disfiguring disease for which only he has the cure, the price for which is that Lawrence has to convince his beautiful daughter (Wanda McKay) to marry Markoff. It's not a very frightening movie; it's not even all that suspenseful. The title overstates Markoff's work. Lawrence is certainly disfigured, with swollen hands and a mis-shaped head, but he's hardly a "monster," so those looking for a monster movie will find this disappointing.
It's nothing noteworthy, but it's also not awful. (4/10)
My impression has always been that this was an era of transition in movie-making. Some movies from the era have a very "old" feel, as if they come from a bygone era. Others feel very fresh and modern and stand up well today. This is an example of the former. It would have fit into the early 30's well enough. The performances were passable, as was the story, which revolved around Dr. Markoff (J. Carrol Naish) who injects his hapless victim Anthony Lawrence (Ralph Morgan) with a dreadful disfiguring disease for which only he has the cure, the price for which is that Lawrence has to convince his beautiful daughter (Wanda McKay) to marry Markoff. It's not a very frightening movie; it's not even all that suspenseful. The title overstates Markoff's work. Lawrence is certainly disfigured, with swollen hands and a mis-shaped head, but he's hardly a "monster," so those looking for a monster movie will find this disappointing.
It's nothing noteworthy, but it's also not awful. (4/10)