The Manster (1959)

Half-Man, Half-Monster!

mansterRipping his shirt, American foreign news correspondent in Japan, Larry Stanford screams in pain as he looks down at his shoulder, only to see an eye staring back at him. This classic moment from the film, The Manster, happens more than half way through the film. What is going on with Howard? We need to go back to the beginning of the film.

Dr. Robert Suzuk is a crazy mad Japanese scientist with a mutant wife swimming outside the lab, an emotionally cold but beautiful assistant and a brother who looks like an ape man. Wait, am I giving too much away? No. Like most Cheesy Cinema, the plot of this gem is really unimportant to the viewer’s enjoyment. Anyway, after killing his own brother because he is out of control, he needs a new subject and that just might be Larry.

Here are a few of the films highlights. CAUTION: The end of the film is included. Get the Flash Player to see this player.

This film was a coproduction between the US and Japan and is one of the better b-horror films from it’s day. It’s just a fun movie to watch. The dialog is cheesy but very entertaining but what really impressed me were the effects. By keeping the horror of Larry’s transformation in darkness and shadows, any flaws in the effects are kept from ruining the film. I don’t really mean to say this is a scary film. Not at all.

There is nudity without showing nudity, Violence with showing violence, and plenty of drunkenness and infidelity. Soon after the doctor injects Larry with his new and improved serum, Larry goes and a drinking and sex binge, ignoring his work and his wife back in the states. You can believe she’ll be in Japan sooner or later to find out what’s going on. What about the beautiful, cold lab assistant? It just might be she isn’t so cold after all.

This is one of those films that you have to wonder why it is not more well known than it is. Maybe it is just one of those films that are bad enough to be “Ed Wood” famous, and not good enough to a classic.

Cheese factor, 4 out of 5 Cheeses.
cheese_four

.


Digg!

.

One Response to “The Manster (1959)”

  1. kopper Says:
    March 25th, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    Thanks for the review of this one! I’ve not seen it yet and I love old, weird B-movies. Why isn’t it more well known? Well, the acting is pretty awful. That right there can keep a movie buried in obscurity.

    While it’s not a monster movie (in the traditional sense, anyway), have you ever seen The World’s Greatest Sinner? Recommended!

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 11:34 am and is filed under Cheesy Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.