The Monster Walks

Treating this horror film as anything but camp and you will agree it's one of the worst films ever made. The acting is wooden, the writing amateurish (with leading lady, Vera Reynolds, saying to her fiancé, Rex Lease, "Oh Ted, take me away" at least five times, whenever something disturbing happens), and the production values poor. As a horror film by today's standards it's totally laughable, but in 1932 it was intended to scare audiences. You see a wall picture move, revealing a hole (gasp! someone is watching). You see a furry arm come through the headboard and threaten an unsuspecting sleeper. And there's a caged ape in the basement that may or may not know how to get out of his cage. (He's called an ape but is obviously a chimpanzee.) Willie Best, annoying billed as "Sleep N' Eat," provides the intended comedy relief and is as good as usual, but don't expect too much from anyone else. See it with a group and you'll all have some fun.

Forgetful Filmmakers Dept.: Lawyer Sidney Bracy is billed onscreen as "Herbert Wilkes." But in the will he reads, he is referred to as "William Wilkes."

It was a dark and stormy night with constant cannon fire in the distance, with the wind scratching a wax record somewhere out of scene. OK the quality of the picture is not Oscar material but hey, this was 1932. At least now I know where H&B got all the gags for the Scooby Doo cartoons. As mentioned in most of the other comments this is a typical Haunted House movie, with only one or two real surprises. There is even the maniac monkey thrown in as with countless other "horror" movies of the era. Were chimps really that scary back then???? The acting is worthy of any community playhouse, I kept looking for the script cards Hanns was reading off of. And I was shocked to learn Hanns actually had musical talent - kinda... sorta... OK not really. But I did manage to make it through this movie in one setting without going comatose, but I did find myself quoting Vera at least once or twice during the movie, "Oh Ted, take me away!".

A wealthy man dies, causing his family and lawyer to reunite in his home and have his will be read. Who will get the money? While the natural answer would be his only child, daughter Ruth (Vera Reynolds), two factors make this a bit more complicated. First, a chimpanzee that has a violent streak and a dislike for Ruth. Second, the possibility that an illegitimate child may exist and be living in the house.

The actual plot of this film is not very exciting and you may have to work to keep your interest. Stories of an inheritance being fought over by family members is nothing unique, and for some reason stories with chimps and apes weren't particular rare in the first half of the 20th century. I'm not sure why -- there's nothing menacing about the ape in this picture. Nothing. There are a few plot devices I found clever (such as secret panels in the house), but overall this is child's play.

The acting is also, to put it politely, subpar. The lawyer, Herbert Wilkes (Sidney Bracey), was very hackneyed. Worst of all was Hanns, the maid's son. His mannerisms were exaggerated and he had a broken speech that didn't seem natural. Another reviewer commented that he may have been reading from cue cards, and I wouldn't be shocked. Sure, this was 1932 and America was going through a depression... but couldn't we afford better talent than this? (Believe it or not, just a few years after this film, the actor who played Hanns -- Mischa Auer -- was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. He didn't win.) The only thing about this film that makes it maybe worth watching -- and I stress maybe -- is Willie Best, the actor who plays Exodus the manservant. There is a strong undercurrent of racism in this film that I cannot tell if it was meant to be intentional or not. Best (credited as "Sleep N Eat") talks and acts like a white supremacist's vision of the stereotypical black man. He mumbles, waves a gun around (even pointing it at himself) and generally seems highly unintelligent. The most memorable part of the film is when Exodus asks about the ape and the resident doctor explains that Darwin's theory states the ape is related to Exodus (said in such a way as to imply blacks are more closely related than whites). Rather than defend himself, Exodus says something to the effect of, "I had a grandpa that looked like that... but he wasn't as active." Wow.

Anyone into the classic black and white films might give this one a chance. It's alright once you get into it. But unless you have a really strong attention span (and this film is only an hour) I'd suggest you try something a little more lively. It's safe to say that if this film wasn't being distributed in copyright-free box sets, it would have faded into obscurity decades ago.

"The Monster Walks" is a very old and very cheap haunted-house mystery thriller without much mystery. Yet, considering the budget and the experience cast & crew members disposed of, this probably isn't such a bad movie after all. I'm sure that fans of early horror films will definitely detect a lot of charm and goodwill in this typical story about a wealthy daughter that is targeted for murder upon returning to her parental house for the regulation of her dead father's inheritance. Ruth has always been petrified by her father's pet-ape and, although safely caged in the basement, some malicious persons uses the animal to scare her senseless. Rex Lease is her all-knowing doctor/boyfriend who investigates the strange nightly events and eventually reveals the true culprit. Maybe the plot-twists would have intrigued me more if the actual climax wasn't stupidly mentioned on the DVD-box, but I still can't say the script is very complex or effectively misleading. There are one or two decent suspense-moments but overall this is a dull and unexciting poverty row movie. All the lovely clichés of 30's horror cinema are there, though, like the exaggeratedly polite servants, the seemly endless thunderstorm outside the castle and the black chauffeur-guy who simultaneously serves as the comic relief. This is an okay film as long as you don't expect to see another "The Old Dark House".

THE MONSTER WALKS (1932)

An ape is killing people in an old spooky house! This movie is sooo bad, but also a wonderful example of the 1930's "haunted house" films. We love the scene where a dead body is kept in a room lit only by a single candle light...Lots of gimmicky scenes that were common in those days are practiced in this atmospheric movie. Don't miss it, it's a real treasure that will have you laughing, but also calling up some great memories of the era.