The Manster is the kind of name that you would expect to find in a Silver Age issue of Doom Patrol. Much to my delight, the film manages to be just as crazy and just as awesome as old school Silver Age comics. The story is simple: Dr. Robert Suzuki is a scientist who performs experiments on human beings in an attempt to unlock the secrets of evolution. One of his "volunteers" is American foreign news correspondent Larry Stanford who unwittingly ingests an enzyme created by Dr. Suzuki. The enzyme causes a horrific growth on his shoulder to sprout which quickly mutates into a second head. The transformation also results in Stanford going into murderous rages. My favorite part was when the evil head broke away from the rest of Stanford, formed its own body, and did battle with the "good" Stanford. This American/Japanese co-production is not shy about showing off its exotic locales. There are several prolonged scenes of Stanford flirting with geisha, taking a bath at a hot spring, and even visiting a temple. True, he only visits the temple so he can kill a priest...but I'm still counting it. Overall, there isn't much substance in The Manster. But don't let that stop you from watching it. It's still a very enjoyable 1950s monster flick.
6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment