"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.
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.