Monster

Oh gosh, where to start. "Monster" is a mess. A Mexican horror film from 1955, it (rather poorly) tells the story of a horribly deformed but brilliant scientist who tries romancing a beautiful reporter who has gone to his spooky, isolated mansion to interview him. After intitially gaining his trust, the reporter immediately drops into a dead faint once the scientist whips off his mask and reveals his ugly mug. She quickly wakes up and after some clumsy (and very tiresome) give and take, she starts feeling guilty and attempts to lay a kiss on the monstrosity, finally managing to plant a chaste one on his forehead while struggling to keep down her lunch. The scientist is overjoyed and instantly smitten, certain that our heroine shares his feelings. In a rapture, he flies up the stairs to share the good news with his trusty (and murderous) Igor-ish assistant. Meanwhile, the reporter hastens back to town to meet her boss in a little cafe, where she wastes no time in expressing her revulsion over the scientist's appearance; little does she know, he's hiding behind a screen near the table and listening to her every word. He slips out the door before catching the rant's finale in which our girl reveals she's not the stark, raving bitch he (and we) think she is. Too late though, the scientist shall have his revenge, however misguided, and therein lies the tale. There's a fog-shrouded cemetery, a man-beast in the scientist's basement that sort of looks like a joint creation of Dr. Seuss and Dr. Moreau, a dead guy who gets reanimated with a different brain, and several murders, all culminating in a predictable, unthrilling climax. The performances in the movie are about what you'd expect. Miroslava looks like "Psycho" actress Vera Miles right down to the awful hair-style (though minus the acting chops) and Linares Riva, overwrought and melodramatic as the scientist, spends the entire movie hiding behind a mask--luckily for him. I'm not going to complain about the cheap sets and the shoddy, glaringly obvious back-projection effects; the budget was obviously limited and the crew apparently did the best they could. The main problem I have with this movie, aside from the heavily-pilfered, mostly dumb plot, is the sheer tedium of the endeavor. There is no wit, no trace of humor that might have made the film fun, even in a campy way. To me, the movie was talky and boring to an unimaginable degree: the minutes flew by like hours with each scene seeming to drag on for an eternity. Director Chano Urueta could have cut 15-20 minutes out of the film and neither the film nor the viewer would have suffered for it.As for the DVD itself, I grew up watching Mexican horror films on an old black and white television set with an antenna outside. The movies were often snowy and the picture tended to jump at regular intervals, so this transfer of "Monster" is superior in comparison. Having said that, I've probably been spoiled by the high quality of the CasaNegra releases but the One 7 release of "Monster" is not remotely of the same caliber. It's so-so, at best, but I can't imagine a company dumping a lot of money into a first-rate restoration project for a movie as bad as "Monster" is. I've read other reviews of this movie and I realize that it has its fair share of fans. I have movies that I love that cause many of my friends to shake their heads. Just proving the old adage that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Strange little early 50's Spanish-language, Mexican-made (English sub-titles) horror film. A deformed scientist creates a good-looking sort-of zombie to avenge himself when a female reporter rejects him. Plays kind of like Phantom of the Opera without the music. The quality of the DVD is good, probably as good as it will ever get. Recommended for fans of this genre.

a sleeper hit! Old Mexican horror is starting to become better known among us gringos and man it is worth a look if you like classic horror at all.I will say that I wish more of their films would be subtitled and released. Man I miss Castronegro.

This is "The Monstrous Dr. Crimen" with a new title. Like most Mexican horror, it does a lot with a small budget. The print is lovely.

Santiago Luciano Urueta Rodríguez aka Chano –son of a Mexican revolutionary leader- was probably the most prolific director of horror films in México, although he is not as well-known or praised as Fernado Méndez or Carlos Enrique Taboada. On one hand he made his horror films when the genre was disregarded by film industries and critics, on the other most horror cinéphiles have not seen his output. This was his first full horror movie (with a dose of science-fiction), a typical Mexican low-budget production made in sound stages. It takes place in an "exotic locale" (the Balkans) with foreign names, but looking as genuinely Mexican as a taco stand. Beautitul Czech actress Miroslava plays a journalist that meets a mysterious man who turns out to be a deformed mad scientist, and she ends up involved with the undead. 1953 was a good year for Urueta, who also directed “La bestia magnífica (Lucha libre)”, the film that started the rage of "wrestling movies", which were highly popular for decades. If you enjoy this film, look for Urueta’s “El espejo de la bruja”, “El barón del terror” and “La Bruja”, all available in fine editions.

This is a very good movie and one of the first Mexican monster movies to come out in the early 50's. In Italian as well I believe. A miserable man with a hideous face posts an ad for someone to be a mate or friend. An editor talks a female reporter to answer the add for a story. She meets him and of course he has a mask and glasses on to hide his face. He then takes her to his place on the hill. Only problem, you have to go through the cemetery to get to the mansion. She sees that his house is full of women figures and a goofy servant. He takes off his mask and she faints. He then shows her his lab. She goes back to meet with the editor at the cafe. She does not know that the bad boy is hearing the discussion between the two of them of how ugly he is. That did it! He then tries to kill her later on but kills another women in the dark instead. Then he takes an ugly sub human beast of a guy and switches brains into a dead man. He then has the new resurrected guy, who is of course under his power, tell the reporter gal that he is from another country and is trying to coax the reporter gal to help him write a story to take back to his country. She goes with him and he then whacks her one and back to the mansion they go to see the boss again so he can get revenge on her. Won't give away the ending. Great movie.Herb Salisbury