The Beginning


"Man Made Monster" is considered by many to be Lon Chaney, Jr.'s first major horror film. It did mark the first horror film with Universal Studios Chaney had in his career. While it is FAR from a masterpiece it is entertaining in a way. Lionel Atwill stars in this film as a mad scientist who turns Chaney's character, "Dynamo" Dan McCormack, into a monster addicted to having electricity running through his system. Atwill was continuously typecast in Universal's films as either a European policeman or a mad scientist. Strangely, Chaney kills Atwill in here with a jolt of electricity and in "Ghost of Frankenstein" (where Chaney is the Frankenstein Monster) he throws Atwill's mad scientist character into a machine that electrocutes him there as well. Kinda funny I think!

Chaney plays the same kind of tormented soul here as when he was Lawrence Talbot. He is turned into a killing machine against his will here through Atwill's mad scientist experiments. This is similar in theme with "The Wolfman" where Lawrence Talbot, a likeable everyday man, is forced to kill people when he turns into a werewolf.

The ending of "Man Made Monster" is really kind of sad, even for a silly B picture. I think it is touching when the little dog goes up to Chaney's dead body and starts acting all said. Call me corny but that stuff chokes me up!

reply

It's okay to be a little choked up, brandomarlon2003. "Man Made Monster" IS an effective little programmer taken on it's own terms. You're right, Chaney's role here is very similar to Larry Talbot, and he plays it well. Given that producer/director George Waggner was the creative force behind both this film and "The Wolfman", I think this film served as Chaney's "audition" for the latter picture. Universal had just signed up Chaney on the strength of two recent performances, in "Of Mice and Men" and "One Million B.C.", hoping to groom him, I think, into a new character star for a new line of horror films, and that's pretty much how it worked out.

If Chaney's career was about to crest, then Lionel Atwill was about to experience a good deal of personal and professional trouble. Around the time of "Man Made Monster", the 55 year old actor was indicted by a grand jury for showing pornographic films at his home (there are stories that he staged concurrent orgies but I'm not sure I believe that). Ultimately, Atwill was convicted of perjury for lying under oath about the entire sleazy affair; that's why his once distinquished career ended with him doing cameos in the Universal Horror Series as a gendarme, and doing various potboilers and serials.

Ah well, such is Hollywood. I certainly enjoy the work they left behind.

reply

interesting info



When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

reply

[deleted]

I think that this is one of Chaney's best performances...He starts the film off being a little goofy maybe even a bit naïve and then takes a complete one-eighty...You know that it won't end well and so you can't help but sympathize with Dan even though he ends up being a murderer (which of course wasn't his fault)

The ending is heartwrenching

God, you can have Megan Fox...Give us back Vivien Leigh

reply

I also thought the ending had a bit of tragic poetry to it.
Poor Dan!

reply

With his arms outstretched, it has an almost Christ-like appearance. It wouldn't surprise me if that was intentional.

reply

It is interesting to see Lon Caney Jr. at the beginning of his Universal horror films in this one. We don't get to see his tortured soul so much in this as we do in 'The Wolf Man.' His electric man character is just a helpless victim who doesn't even get to realize what is happening to him. It is a good grieving dog scene at the end.

reply