Bride of the Monster

Bride of the Monster (1955)

Okay so the scoop here is that a mad scientist (is there any other kind?) named Dr. Eric Vornoff has setup shop near a mysterious swamp. Using the power of the atom he has already created a “monster” that victimizes anyone who ventures too near his hideout. But that isn’t enough for the good doctor, who aspires to create a race of super humans with which he can rule the world. But he needs human test subjects to experiment on. Here his large mute sidekick named Lobo, played by Wood regular Tor Johnson, aids him. When the pair kidnaps a female reporter who wanders into the swamp to investigate the monster they get way more than they bargained for. Her fiancé is a police detective, who is also in the swamp checking out the missing persons reports. If that weren’t enough an agent from the “old” country has found Vornoff to return him home to work for the government! Chaos ensues as the police close in on the mad doctor and his assistant.

All right I’ll state the obvious first. This is a really silly movie that falls into the category of “The Atom will be the downfall of mankind” that is very common to the movies of the 50s. But if you accept that there is going to be a certain amount of cheese this is a very enjoyable and surprisingly well-made low budget movie. The story is predictable and follows all of the conventions of a “mad scientist” movie, including the villain being undone by his own invention. The dialogue is pretty well written and on par with most of the other 50s sci-fi flicks that I’ve seen. Personally I think that Bela Lugosi, who was well into his 70s when making this movie, shows that he can rise above the material and give a decent performance. There is a monologue in this film that shows that he still had some talent. The rest of the cast is made up of friends of the director and relatives of the investor. I’m not sure if it was by luck or design, but this cast isn’t too bad. Not great, but they don’t sink the movie by flubbing their lines.

Now this movie was made on the cheap and it shows. The sets are flimsy and in some cases the walls are made of paper. The “monster” is nothing more than a rubber octopus that was, as the story goes, stolen from another studio. Unfortunately they forgot to steal the motor, so you get to see the “victims” struggling to wrap the creature’s arms around themselves! Is this silly looking? Sure but as a devotee of 50s sci-fi and horror this is neither unexpected nor detrimental to my enjoyment of the movie.

You might be shocked to hear me say this but I think that Ed Wood isn’t nearly as bad as everyone makes him out to be. And this comes from someone who thinks that Plan Nine from Outer Space is one of the worst movies ever made, and not in a good way. If you haven’t seen Bride of the Monster check it out. I think you might be surprised by how decent it is.

There is a really cool DVD of this movie available from Legend Films. Check them out at http://www.legendfilms.net/ for more information.

2 ½ out of 4

John “El Juan” Shatzer