The Manster | movie | 1959 | Official Featurette - video Dailymotion

A reporter is sent to interview a scientist working in his mountain laboratory. | dG1fME1LaEloTmRPWUk

Transcript

00:00the shadow of a hairy ape-like thing, cut to a doctor climbing up the side of a hill,

00:06enters his cabin laboratory that's built into rock, goes into his weird basement with giant

00:10mushrooms. Seriously, just like Attack of the Mushroom People. Lots of steam and machinery

00:16and plaster of Paris mushroom. He has a one-sided conversation with a hideous creature that was

00:22once a woman. Then another conversation with the hairy murderer. Dr. Suzuki kills the monster

00:28then tosses it into an inferno that rages under the lab. Cut to another guy in jacket and tie

00:34as he hauls ass up the hill. Our lead, American journalist Larry Stanford, arrives at Dr.

00:40Suzuki's cabin for an interview. Larry just came from Tokyo but says he's leaving to bed. Suzuki

00:46asks some very personal questions, sizing Larry up. He asks if he's in good health and if he's

00:50been fucking around while away from the supposed wife of his. Dr. Suzuki gives him a scotch and

00:56roofie, then injects him with the new enzyme he's been working on. We suspect that Larry's

01:03going to get hairy soon. Larry goes back to Tokyo in Tibet, seemingly normal. Suzuki shows up in

01:11Tokyo, Tibet to get Larry hammered, but the theremin music tells us he's actually watching

01:16Larry for some kind of reaction to the new enzyme. Larry stops shaving and starts ignoring the wife's

01:22phone calls. He starts scratching himself a lot. He develops a gross scab on his shoulder that looks

01:27like plaster. Then his hand gets hairy. Soon he's getting powerful impulses to kill. The

01:33monster is a US-Japanese co-production that deserves to be included in the history of body

01:37horror films. It's like Larry's a giant teenager. He's getting surly, he's drinking, and he starts

01:44getting a pimple. But it's a lot worse than a pimple. The effects of Dr. Suzuki's monster juice

01:53cause Larry to hide out at Tara's place, where another fade-out tells us Tara doesn't mind doing

01:58a guy with hairy hands and a gross scab. Bob, let the good times roll, Suzuki is getting excited

02:04because Larry is mutating into what he calls a new species. I don't get the science behind this.

02:12That's it for plot description. The rest is for you to find. The monster is a good example of a

02:17movie that can stick with you, even if it's not high art. It runs on its own silly story logic.

02:22Dr. Suzuki works in a cabin fused with a cave in a volcanic region because it's going to pay off in

02:27the climax. The hokey science behind the enzymes explain a vague talk of distant stars and mutation

02:34that could lead to a new race of non-people. A chase takes place in a cemetery where Larry's

02:40weapon of choice is rocks. Why does the Tokyo PD seem stacked with mostly white Americans?

02:46These sorts of horror movies are suggestive. You remember bits and pieces more than you recall

02:50the particulars of story. The later scenes of Larry's mutation are silly on one hand,

02:56with a rubber appliance bouncing around as Larry runs. But on the other hand, his condition is

03:01genuinely nightmarish. The movie isn't a Cronenberg-like commentary about the human body,

03:07but it's got some real weird moments that'll stick with you, even if none of it makes much

03:11sense. Thanks for stopping by. Drop by again soon. Bye-bye.