The Monster Walks
63 minutes / B & W / 1932
Upon the death of her father, Ruth must return to the old homestead for the
reading of the will. She brings her fiancée, a doctor, to meet her uncle, who
is confined to a wheelchair. We soon understand why she fears returning home.
Her father died of no apparent causes. Although the housekeeper is nice if
morose as she sneaks around the house, her son gives off an unstable vibe.
Worst of all, kept in the basement is an ape (in fact, it’s a chimp – it’s a
low budget movie) that detests Ruth out of jealousy. The ape, it seems, was the subject in medical research experiments conducted by the late father.
They are driven to the creepy manse by the comic relief Exodus, whose real name
per the credits is Sleep N Eat (sic) who was black comedian Willie Best. In one
scene, Exodus reports a resemblance between his relative and the movie’s
chimpanzee. How sensibilities change!
The prejudice mars what’s otherwise a tolerable movie for such a shoestring
budget. Mischa Auer plays the son in a myriad of creepy ways. Thousand yard
stare. Odd teeth. Lumbering gait. Furious, vengeance-filled vibes. Big hands.
Playing on the violin out of tune lullabyes. He's much better than the rest of
the movie. The other actors deliver the dialogue in a stiff, mock portentous way
that brings to mind the stage – the high school play stage. At only an hour
long, it was just as entertaining as a couple of installments of One Step Beyond.
No comments:
Post a Comment