Return of the Ape Man (1944)

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Standard low, low budget Monogram programmer stars the legends Bela Lugosi and John Carradine as a pair of scientists. Professor Dexter (Lugosi) is determined that they find a perfectly preserved prehistoric man so they can continue with their cold storage experiments. Naturally, they do find an ape man (prizefighter Frank Moran), who comes back to life and wreaks predictable havoc. Dexter thinks that the solution to controlling the ape man will be donating a portion of a rational mans' brain to the confused cave dude.Although this is routine stuff, clocking in at barely over an hour, Bela and Carradine are once again great value. Carradine, who played his own fair share of mad scientists over the course of his career, here gets to play the moral centre / voice of reason - and also gets to play that oh so familiar composition "Moonlight Sonata" on the piano. Bela, meanwhile, clearly has fun as the irrational, totally self serving cretin who doesn't care what he has to do to realize his ambitions. The supporting cast is sufficient: gorgeous Teala Loring as Carradines' niece, Michael Ames (a.k.a. Tod Andrews) as her fiancée, Mary Currier as Carradines' wife, Eddy Chandler as a police sergeant, and Ernie Adams as a hobo. George Zucco was originally cast as the title character, and had done the required hair and makeup tests, but fell ill, and had to leave the picture. As a result, he's barely in it, spending a few seconds on the slab until the ape man wakes up and is then played by Moran. Still, Zucco clearly had a good agent; his contract allowed him to get third billing no matter what.Overall, this is a mildly enjoyable lark, with nothing special or memorable about it, but it's got a decent forward pace and enough chuckles to make it palatable. The director is Phil Rosen, an extremely prolific B filmmaker whose credits include some of the Charlie Chan features.Five out of 10.

No matter how noble his scientist characters may seem, poor Lugosi always ends up on the wrong side of the Bunsen burner. He's studying the similarity between man and their Neanderthal ancestors, and along with partner John Carradine, ends up in the North Pole where they actually find one. This is the supposed "ape man" of the title, and back home, once the ancient being defrosts, he becomes the proud owner of a new brain thanks to Mr. Lugosi. Carradine is a noble family man who tries to stop Lugosi, only to receive his revenge in return. The absolutely dreadful Teala Loring plays Carradine's niece, whose fiancée (Tod Andrews) becomes the desired brain donor by Lugosi for his thousand year old man who looks absolutely hysterically funny playing the piano. While the Neanderthal does commit a few murders, one of them makes no sense considering the brain it ends up in. This is not a very scary movie, or very scientific with the laboratory even dumber looking than the one Lugosi had in "Bride of the Monster". Inappropriate marching music decorates the dramatic sequences. As a result, it is very boring and features some of the dumbest police officers on film. Even worse is the fact that George Zucco, billed as the ape man, doesn't appear at all, that honor going to Frank Moran. Cheap sets and horrid direction by Phil Rosen (best known for the Monogram Charlie Chan films) make one long for the skills of Monogram's busiest director, William Beaudine.

While on an Arctic expedition, two scientists find the frozen body of a prehistoric caveman. They bring him home to their laboratory, but decide that in order to fully utilize (and control) him, they must transplant a more developed brain into the caveman.I love Bela Lugosi. Not sure if I can say that enough. I have watched five or six films with him in it over the past ten days, and I would gladly watch five or six more. Oh, and I cannot complain about John Carradine either...What I can complain about is the inclusion of "Moonlight Sonata", but that is just a personal bias. That song has always given me the creeps. There used to be a game called "Alone in the Dark" (a predecessor of Resident Evil) and that song was featured. It has given me the willies ever since.I should probably write something about the ape man or the actual merits of this film. Let us just say it is pretty much standard. Without Lugosi and Carradine, it would be completely forgettable. But with them, you will enjoy seeing a hairy guy bust out of his cell and have a little prehistoric fun!

Two scientists, Prof. Dexter and Prof. Gilmore (played by horror legends Bela Lugosi and John Carradine), have developed a method of reanimating a frozen body with no adverse affects. They decide to test their discovery on a primitive man frozen in ice for thousands of years. Again, they find success. Still not satisfied, Prof. Dexter wants to place half of a modern brain into his primitive guinea pig. But where to find a brain? Prof Dexter's not above murder if it will advance his theories.I'm usually willing to cut these Poverty Row films a break, but Return of the Ape Man features the worst of what these movies had to offer. First off, there's the incredibly misleading credit sequence that promises George Zucco. I'm a huge fan of Zucco. I was actually more interested in watching him than either Bela Lugosi or John Carradine. And even though his name appears twice in the opening credits, he's nowhere to be found. What's up with that! Next, the overall acting is absolutely terrible. Carradine has so little to do that he's hardly in the movie – and acts it. You can usually count on Lugosi for a fun performance, but even he appears to be going through the motions. The rest of the unknown cast is abysmal, except for Teala Loring. She provides the one lone spark Return of the Ape Man has to offer. Thirdly, the titular Ape Man is hardly an Ape Man at all. He looks more like a guy with long hair and a beard. It's a hoot to listen to character after character describe the hippy looking dude as more ape-like than man. My guess is that Monogram came up with a title and had a script before they checked their budget for the special effects necessary to create an Ape Man. Finally, even by Monogram standards, Return of the Ape Man is cheap looking. Often, the sets look like they might have fallen over had someone breathed too heavily in the wrong direction. And the Arctic expedition scenes are laugh out loud funny in how cheap they are. A few seconds of stock footage followed by Carradine and Lugosi standing around talking while wearing the most ridiculous fur coats and hats does not make for a very authentic looking scene. Return of the Ape Man might be the bottom of the proverbial barrel as far as Poverty Row thrillers goes. I'm being generous with my 3/10.