LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

lugonian MAN-MADE MONSTER (Universal, 1941), directed by George Waggner, could have been the subtitle to the earlier Universal horror success of FRANKENSTEIN (1931) about the title character and his monster creation. Based on the original story "The Electric Man," which should have been its title instead, the film in general in often overlooked among the horror/science fiction genre made famous by Universal. For its new decade of the 1940s, the studio produced further sequels to its earlier successes for DRACULA (1931), FRANKENSTEIN (1931), THE MUMMY (1932), and THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933), often starring different actors. MAN-MADE MONSTER not only has the distinction of being an original premise with no further sequels to follow, but an introduction to the horror cycle for Lon Chaney Jr. before achieving further establishment later that year as THE WOLF MAN (1941). With The Wolf Man being Chaney's most famous horror character, replayed again in further sequels, his MAN-MADE MONSTER ranks one of his better of the second feature productions, even though star billing goes to Lionel Atwill in a secondary role.The story opens with a bus traveling down the road, only to minutes later meet with an accident crashing into an electrical tower, killing all its passengers except for one, Dan McCormick (Lon Chaney Jr.). Recuperating in a hospital, this good-natured young man's survival has stumped many, including reporters and doctors. It so happens that Dan's profession happens to be as an electric man in side shows and carnivals, and that he possibly has this special immunity towards electricity. Doctor John Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds), an electric-biologist, invites Dan to his home to study him while conducting experiments along with his associate, Doctor Paul Rigas (Lionel Atwill). Also at the Moors estate is Lawrence's niece, June (Anne Nagel), who becomes interested in Dan. As Dan makes himself at home, even to a point of bonding favorably with the family dog, Corky, Dan subjects himself to experiments during Lawrence's absence at a medical convention under Rigas. Rigas then takes it upon himself to strap Don on a laboratory table to do more than instructed by Lawrence. Placing more electricity than his body can handle, Dan's cheerful personality changes to depression, even to the point of aging. Becoming an electric man with super human strength, Dan unwittingly kills Lawrence under Rigas' orders. It is Rigas who labels Dan insane to the authorities, leading to his trial and sentence to die in an electric chair. Further shocking developments follow. Also in the cast are Frank Albertson (Mark Adams, reporter for the Glove Dispatch); William B. Davidson (Ralph D. Stanley, district attorney); and Russell Hicks (Warden Warren Harris). Although veteran character actor, Byron Foulger, is listed in the cast, his scenes are not visible in the final print.As much as MAN-MADE MONSTER belongs to young Chaney, Lionel Atwill, who specialized playing mad doctors in the past, does so once more in this production, with certain scenes opposite Anne Nagel reminiscent to those he did opposite Fay Wray in both MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933) and THE VAMPIRE BAT (1933). The electrical special effects used for Chaney are first-rate, along with mood underscoring most familiar in many Universal-horror productions. The film in general offers some light touches, especially Chaney's early scenes involving Corky, and some brief romantic interest between its co-stars of Frank Albertson and Anne Nagel that doesn't get in the way of the story. While some sources label MAN-MADE MONSTER at 64 minutes, circulating prints, ranging from broadcast (like Shock Theater - how appropriate!) to cable television (Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s), to video cassette to DVD process, clock at 59 minutes. It moves swiftly at fast-pace rate, especially towards the finish, thanks to Chaney's high voltage performance as the electric man. (**1/2 volts)

MartinHafer "Man-Made Monster" is the first horror movie that Lon Chaney Jr. made for Universal Studios. Considering that he made for a likable and sympathetic monster in this one, it's not too surprising that the studio soon cast him as another very sympathetic victim...Larry Talbot who was bitten and became the Wolfman! When the story begins, a bus crashes and all the folks aboard are electrocuted...except, oddly, Dan McCormick (Chaney). It turns out that his sideshow act using electricity somehow made him immune to the electricity. The evil Dr. Rigas (Lionel Atwill) wants to exploit this and use his crazy theory to transform Dan into a man without a will. How? By subjecting Dan to electrical treatments that will transform him into an electrical man--a man who doesn't need to eat but lives off energy! There's only one unforeseen problem...Dan soon becomes a murder machine!!This is pretty good stuff and a bit better than the usual Universal B-monster film...which is shocking considering it was the cheapest film made by the studio in 1941! Still enjoyable after all these years.

IPreferEvidence I wasn't expecting much when started watching this and it didn't really surprise me at all. Its a cheezy and clichèd 40s monster movie with Lon Chaney Jr. playing a guy who becomes immune to electricity and eventually a mindless thug controlled by a mad scientist. It offers some of the goodness that people are looking for in this type of films. Fog mist thunder and shots of forests and moors in the moonlight and awesome looking pseudo scientific gadgets. The fact that it uses the original wolfman score is also a neat bonus.When it comes to plot is pretty basic, and it also tries a little bit to go for that tragic ending like wolfman did but it doesn't go all the way even though its essentially the same thing. Its overall a very mediocre and unmemorable monster movie with things that have been done over and over again before it and since but it still succeeds in what its trying to do.You wanna watch a 40s monster movie? Hell yeah I do. Let's roll the picture.

zardoz-13 Lon Chaney, Jr., delivers one of his better career performances as a former sideshow attraction who acquires immunity to electricity in writer & director George Waggner's compelling but tragic horror movie "Man-Made Monster." Ill-fated protagonist 'Dynamo' Dan McCormick survives multiple attempts by the state to fry him in the electric chair for the murder of one of America's foremost scientists. Subsequently, McCormick escapes from the death chamber and sets out to find the devious dastard who turned him into a homicidal maniac. This atmospheric Universal Pictures' release qualifies as an above-average chiller with Lionel Atwill surpassing himself as the mad scientist who conducts unethical experiments on our unsuspecting hero. He is prepared to sacrifice the life of one man for the sake of medical science. Waggner himself acquired a reputation as a maestro of horror movies. Indeed, later that year in 1941, Waggner collaborated later with Chaney on their most memorable project "The Wolf Man," another saga about a considerate man whose life is destroyed by tragedy. What sets "Man-Made Monster" apart from the typical, run-of-the-mill, B-horror chiller is that Waggner conjures up a sympathetic hero, and Chaney, Jr., makes the guy into a charismatic figure. No, the hero isn't very swift, but he is a cheerful sort who intends nobody harm. Waggner gets a lot of mileage out of the relationship between Chaney, Jr., and a pet dog. "Man-Made Monster" marked the first time that Chaney, Jr., appeared in a horror movie as the monster. On the other hand, the mad scientist that Lionel Atwill plays is so incredibly despicable that you enjoy it when he suffers his comeuppance at Chaney, Jr.'s hands. At this point, the hero is so charged up that his arms and head glow with electricity. Eventually, he learns to don a rubber suit to conserve his electricity. Samuel S. Hinds is terrific, too, as the well-meaning doctor who persuades Chaney, Jr.'s character to serve as a guinea pig for their experiences. Of course, the benevolent Dr. Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds) doesn't want to take advantage of our likable hero, but mad scientist Dr. Rigas (Lionel Atwill) displays no such qualms. Waggner paces this economical, 59-minute saga so that the suspense gradually builds after Dr. Rigas takes over the experiments with Chaney, Jr.'s' character. A peripheral romance smolders in the background between a newspaper reporter and Dr. Lawrence's secretary. Not only did Waggner helm this entertaining horror film, but he also penned the screenplay under a nom de plume. Waggner derived the film from a story H.J. Essex, Sid Schwartz, and Len Golas. Later, Waggner went on to helm the better-than-average "Horror Island" with Dick Foran.