I watched this film for the first time just now, with my wife. My wife was very, VERY interested in this film, it was a good thing. I'm a Horror Host TV show fan and the MeTV host Svengoolie had it so I DVR'd it. You must not watch this stuff live, way too many commercials, lol. A comment on having any horror host on TV is I appreciate it but I wish there was a 24/7 Horror host channel, that would be cool. And as far as Svengoolie segments are concerned I thought they were really good and my wife actually laughed almost every segment which I was amazed with since she hates MST3K which is my favorite (and Mr. Lobo), she doesn't pay much attention, lol.
It's funny that I watched Lon Chaney's last film Dracula vs Frankenstein (highly recommended!) and watched his many low budget films before this but never watched his first horror film! Love you Lon! And also Lionel Atwill good too!
So, back to the film. Actually really, really good. I'm shocked that I'm in my 50's and never saw this before. Awesome horror film. Very stereotyped with the classes and a really silly ending as far as the girl in peril thing. Also, they do not show Lon, now the monster, killing all the people as he BREAKS OUT OF PRISON! It's sad but I'm still a fan of this film, a big fan now. 7 of 10, watch on a horror host show for more fun though.
My Update: I watched this again in 2024 kind of forgetting that I saw it before and wrote a review, lol. I would say that the film is OK, but the monster is awesome. My biggest regret with the film is the ending where Chaney kills Atwill through a doorknob (lame). A scene with Atwill pointing the radiation equipment at Chaney and shooting the radiation at his chest and him absorbing it and then strangling (or zapping) Atwill would have made this film a 10. Clearly, Universal didn't want to upset it's 1940 audience with more graphic violence .
It's funny that I watched Lon Chaney's last film Dracula vs Frankenstein (highly recommended!) and watched his many low budget films before this but never watched his first horror film! Love you Lon! And also Lionel Atwill good too!
So, back to the film. Actually really, really good. I'm shocked that I'm in my 50's and never saw this before. Awesome horror film. Very stereotyped with the classes and a really silly ending as far as the girl in peril thing. Also, they do not show Lon, now the monster, killing all the people as he BREAKS OUT OF PRISON! It's sad but I'm still a fan of this film, a big fan now. 7 of 10, watch on a horror host show for more fun though.
My Update: I watched this again in 2024 kind of forgetting that I saw it before and wrote a review, lol. I would say that the film is OK, but the monster is awesome. My biggest regret with the film is the ending where Chaney kills Atwill through a doorknob (lame). A scene with Atwill pointing the radiation equipment at Chaney and shooting the radiation at his chest and him absorbing it and then strangling (or zapping) Atwill would have made this film a 10. Clearly, Universal didn't want to upset it's 1940 audience with more graphic violence .