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!