Now that summer's winding down, we're back to our Universal Monsters list. These two were next in line (I've already seen The Wolf Man), and since they're around an hour, we decided to watch them both in one night. Little did I know it would end up being a Lionel Atwill double feature!
In Man-Made Monster, we started off great. A miniature bus wrecks and gets zapped. Everyone died except one man: Dan. He apparently had a carnival act where he messed around with electricity, so he had an immunity. An evil scientist decides he wants to make an army of "electric men." It's a bit confusing, but he keeps zapping Dan until he turns into a blinking head. Dan also has a canine friend, Corky. He plays with the dog until he accidentally zaps him one day. After that, the dog still loves him, but he is wary of being near him.
In The Ghost of Frankenstein, we're back! This time, the monster has escaped death by being preserved in sulfur. The mayor of the village is dealing with rowdy villagers, and he doesn't want to lose the election. So, he tells the superstitious people they can blow up the castle of Frankenstein. This frees the monster, and Igor is there to help his "friend." They get cleaned up and take a road trip to the town where the current Frankenstein has a clinic. The doctor believes he can cure the monster by replacing his brain with one of a good man (RIP Kettering). The monster has other ideas and kidnaps a little girl. He'd like her brain instead. Little does Frankenstein suspect his partner has plans to betray him and swaps patients so the monster gets the brain of Igor. Apparently the vocal cords as well.
These movies were wild. The first one made no sense, and I never understood why his head blinked. Also, why did he kidnap the girl? He didn't act like he was falling in love with her or anything, so that was confusing. The dog at the end was heartbreaking. Poor Corky. And Lionel got zapped to death.
The second movie also made no sense. I was struggling with the whole concept of the monster surviving in the sulfur pit, but when it dried (?), it preserved him. Once he was out, I just had to put it aside. We have the brother of the last movie's scientist and the son of the OG scientist performing brain surgeries where they remove them from the skull, repair them and stick them back in. I'm still not sure why the partner (Lionel) agreed to put Igor's brain into the monster. Also, what the heck was up with keeping the little girl!? We had a whole mob coming to the house because they were upset about the little girl, but she was safe upstairs at the house the whole time. Why hadn't Frankenstein's daughter taken her back home?! Oh - and Lionel got zapped to death.
These movies are infuriating and fun at the same time. I was so amused at the similarities between these two, especially when it came to the fainting women and the boyfriends. I peeked at the list, and this isn't the last I've seen of Frankenstein, but since it's Igor's brain, and he's super irritating, I don't mind when they try to kill him now. The electric man thing was just weird, and the dog was the best part. These were entertaining to me, but I wouldn't sit down and watch them again with people I care about.
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