Review of Man-Made Monster (1941) by Orlok W — 17 Oct 2011

Short and sweet. This Universal creeper from the early forties is surprisingly powerful, particularly because of a tremendous little performance by Lon Chaney, Jr. In it, he does what he would eventually be most famous for doing in 'The Wolfman' that same year: he portrayed a man fallen to monstrous circumstances rather than just playing the straight creature.

In fact, though the film's premise comes from his eventual turning into an electrical monster, most of Chaney's screen time revolves around simple human scenes. The finale is made all the more bitter because of the tender way he looks at the woman he is clearly in love with, June Lawrence (played by Anne Nagel).

The story resists giving him that love in favor of a much more tragic plot, one that avoids giving the love triangle too much attention and instead hints at it with subtle asides and gestures. This script is actually quite good for a B movie, and there are some terrific dialogue sequences.

I was also taken aback by the film's special effects, which are effective and chilling.