Full disclosure, I love these old movies with a gorilla played by a guy in a suit and the suit used in this movie is among my favorite "monster ape" designs. Add to that Boris Karloff and I was bound to enjoy this flick. At just under an hour it's a perfect pace, although it may still be a bit slow for today's viewers.
Karloff plays Dr. Adrian, one of those conflicted characters that he plays so well. The Doctor is determined to help a young woman, Frances, walk again. The only trouble, his experimental cure requires the spinal fluid of other human beings. Fortunately for the Doctor an Ape has escaped from the circus and is attacking people, sending mortally wounded patients to Doctor Adrian's office. They don't leave alive, but do suddenly develop a puncture on their spinal column.
This is one of those movies where the "mad" scientist has good intentions and is presented with the ethical dilemma of sacrificing one life to improve or save another. When serendipity provides the perfect guinea pig, what is a crazy doctor to do?
Sheriff Halliday is the law in the small town and it doesn't take him long to notice that the ape is spending a lot of time at the Doc's place. It doesn't make him any less suspicious that the entire town thinks the Doctor is a butcher who "experiments too much". Just what the Doctor's hold on the ape is remains a mystery to the Sheriff, but he means to figure it out.
There's the usual cute small town moments in this movie and a few annoying side stories and characters that are mainly there to set up victims who won't be missed much when the ape gets his furry hands on them, but overall it's a fun old time foray into suspense and horror. Not so scary that you can't watch it with younger family members and get them started on the path to enjoy a rainy evening of being a little frightened.
See it for free courtesy of HFP's Free Cinema right below.
Karloff plays Dr. Adrian, one of those conflicted characters that he plays so well. The Doctor is determined to help a young woman, Frances, walk again. The only trouble, his experimental cure requires the spinal fluid of other human beings. Fortunately for the Doctor an Ape has escaped from the circus and is attacking people, sending mortally wounded patients to Doctor Adrian's office. They don't leave alive, but do suddenly develop a puncture on their spinal column.
This is one of those movies where the "mad" scientist has good intentions and is presented with the ethical dilemma of sacrificing one life to improve or save another. When serendipity provides the perfect guinea pig, what is a crazy doctor to do?
Sheriff Halliday is the law in the small town and it doesn't take him long to notice that the ape is spending a lot of time at the Doc's place. It doesn't make him any less suspicious that the entire town thinks the Doctor is a butcher who "experiments too much". Just what the Doctor's hold on the ape is remains a mystery to the Sheriff, but he means to figure it out.
There's the usual cute small town moments in this movie and a few annoying side stories and characters that are mainly there to set up victims who won't be missed much when the ape gets his furry hands on them, but overall it's a fun old time foray into suspense and horror. Not so scary that you can't watch it with younger family members and get them started on the path to enjoy a rainy evening of being a little frightened.
See it for free courtesy of HFP's Free Cinema right below.
