THE
APE MAN (1943)Director: William ("One Shot") Beaudine
Alpha Video
THE
APE MAN (1943)Of the films that Bela Lugosi made at Monogram Studios during the 1940s, the three titles that characterize the depths of which screenwriters came up with and posed truly outrageous situations for the actor to contend with are: VOODOO MAN (1944), THE APE MAN (1943) and RETURN OF THE APE MAN (1944).
For years these titles were available only in third generation dupes and film chains taken from public domain prints of deteriorating quality. With the advent of DVD one hoped these titles would finally receive decent, if not amazing, transfers for the first time ever.
Well, Alpha Video almost rises to the occasion here. The current release of THE APE MAN, while a vast improvement over the videotape that VCI Entertainment released some time ago, is still somewhat dark in places but is culled from a middling source. Sound quality is the truly poor variable here, making the film watchable but that's about all.
THE APE MAN has always had a following
amongst Lugosi fanatics. This reviewer has always preferred VOODOO MAN to the
ape films. At least in VOODOO MAN Lugosi has some dignity and 
exceeds
in a role that could be considered a distant cousin of WHITE ZOMBIE (1932).
In addition to this VOODOO MAN has enormous camp value ("Hail Ramboona!")
and the formidable talents of George Zucco and John Carradine in supporting
roles. But THE APE MAN is in fact a wretched, demeaning low point in Bela's
Monogram period. He spends the film in a makeup that can only be described as
Shemp Howard on steroids. He looks and acts embarrassed as well he should be.
Dr.
Jonathan Brewster (Lugosi) becomes a simian creature as the result of an experiment
gone awry. In order to return to human form he requires human spinal fluid.
He appeals to an associate, Dr. George Randall (Henry Hall), who refuses to
aid him in certain murder, so Bela gets a real primate to do the dirty work
for him. Two reporters hit the trail and untangle the mysterious killings just
in time.
The high point of THE APE MAN is the intentional humor that crops up at different points in its short running time and ends with the character Zeppo (Ralph Littlefield) admitting to being the author of the script and expounds, "Screwy idea, wasn't it?" as a rolled up window reveals the end credit. Producers Sam Katzman and Jack Dietz (of Banner Productions) were responsible for this lurid mess and direction was in the hands of William Beaudine. Duration of the film is 64 minutes. This misfire was written by Executive Producer Barney Sarecky and changes were made daily.
Alpha Video creates such enticing box art that it is difficult to resist shelling out seven bucks for a copy. This writer has already spent the dough and until something better comes along, this will have to do. Perhaps Bela Lugosi, Jr. will use his status as a corporate attorney to secure the rights for the three aforementioned titles and put them out on a Lugosi label. (Christopher Dietrich)