Indestructible Man

Lon Chaney, Jr. stars in this most low budget science fiction/noir thriller about a man who comes back from the dead with no voice and more of a one track mind that Moose Malloy in Murder My Sweet. His lawyer Ross Elliott masterminded an armored car robbery in which the guards were killed and Chaney and two accomplices got away with over $600,000.00 dollars of which only Chaney knows where it's hid. The two accomplices turn state's evidence and pin the whole thing on Chaney at Elliott's direction. Some way, some how, Chaney's going to get these rats.

When scientists Robert Shayne and Joe Flynn make an under the table deal for the body, they shoot it with electricity, Frankenstein style, and Chaney comes to life, even though his vocal cords have burned to a cinder and has no voice. His skin and bones have become almost like Superman, he's truly an Indestructible Man.

The film is narrated by Max Showalter the detective on the original armored car heist. He can't believe it, but it's true, Chaney's back from the dead and leaving a murderous trail behind him. Bullets bounce off him just like Superman, even a flame thrower just burns him, and a bazooka only slows him down a bit.

There are two female roles of importance, Marian Carr as Chaney's girl friend as described by the papers and her best friend and fellow stripper Peggy Maley who always has a good wisecrack in any film she's ever in.

You can't rate the film all that high, the production values are almost non-existent. But Indestructible Man is not all that bad as a thriller. Chaney is mesmerizing and frightening in a performance that has no dialog except at the very beginning of the film. The final chase scene through the sewers is borrowed liberally from The Third Man.

If you're going to borrow, do it from the best and Indestructible Man while it will never win any awards, isn't anything the cast and crew have to be ashamed of.

Low budget; simple dialogue; filmed in shades of black and white; this is a great example of those early Sci-fi/horror flicks that entertained our imaginations. The body of a violent criminal, 'Butcher' Benton(Lon Chaney Jr), is accidentally brought back to life and the speechless bad man is determined to kill the three people responsible for his ride in the electric chair. Many close ups of Chaney's raised eyebrows and grimacing face. Marion Carr plays the killer's love interest. Three well traveled character actors(Max Showalter, Ross Elliott and Joe Flynn) provide support. This is really fun to watch.

First let me say that this is...without any hesitation....a bad film. It has choppy transitions, cheap sets(wait till you see the lab equipment), mediocre to horrible acting, and some of the most ridiculous plot developments to grace any film. Yet, this is one fun film to watch. Charles "Butcher" Benton is killed in the electric chair only to be sold to scientists who bring him back to life. No scientific explanation is really given for this feat, but Lon Chaney comes back to life and with a vengeance. See, he wants to kill the three guys that put him in prison, a sleazy lawyer and two small hoods. Chaney is definitely fun to watch, and except for a few lines early in the picture, is mute throughout. He is a mute killer who literally throws people all over and kills with no discrimination at all. Chaney has many close-ups of his face and the way his eyes move is hilarious! I laughed myself silly any time he got mad and started to throw people. The cast is pretty average to below average with a couple exceptions. Max Showalter does a good job as the cop hot on the trail of the Butcher and the lovely blonde playing Eva Martin is nice to look at and has some talent as well. Look for Joe Flynn...yes, Captain Binghamton himself in a small role as a scientist's assistant. Lots of fun!

I viewed this film recently for the first time in many years, then went to the IMDb to see what other viewers had to say about it. I was pleased to learn that many feel the same way as I do about this film; that it is entertaining and holds up well within the limits of it's time and 1950's B film genre. In case you are unfamiliar with the storyline: A small time hoodlum known as `The Butcher' (Lon Chaney, Jr.) is executed for a crime his underworld companions set him up for. A bizarre scientific experiment brings him back to life via a massive dose of electricity, which destroys his vocal cords but makes his skin impenetrable, thus becoming the `Indestructible Man.' The story revolves around the Butcher seeking revenge on those who double-crossed him and a zealous police lieutenant chasing he and a missing $600,000 down, with said policeman, (the versatile Casey Adams), falling in love with the Butcher's would-be love interest, (Marion Carr). The Indestructible Man reminds sci-fi fans of Them!, as much of the action takes place in Los Angeles' massive sewer system. This is not the best film to come out of it's era, but it was not meant to be. I would say it rates in the top half of it's class. The editing is a little weak, but there are some good 1950's era location shots of downtown LA which should be of interest to historians, plus it contained some interesting players. Casey Adams, AKA Max Showalter, is not generally known to the viewing public but appeared in hundreds of film and television programs throughout his lengthy career. Joe Flynn had an interesting bit part as the lab assistant, this coming several years before McHale's Navy fame. Female lead Marion Carr should have had a more successful career, as she was very attractive with a pleasing screen personality.

Of course, Lon Chaney, Jr. was the lead. In 1956, he still looked fit and menacing. It would not be long until his well documented personal troubles would diminish him physically and professionally. All in all, a solid effort by director Jack Pollexfen. View this one when you have a chance. It is interesting and will be time well spent.

I am not really sure why the film has an overall score of 3.2 at this time--it's really NOT a bad film. And, for the budget behind it, the people responsible for INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN should be proud of the final product.

Oddly enough, this is a film that doesn't easily fit in one genre. The best way to categorize it is a "sci-fi/horror film with strong Film Noir overtones". Why sci-fi/horror? Well, the plot involves a scientist accidentally reviving a man who was executed. Upon being revived, the man finds he is practically indestructible and goes on a killing spree--to kill those who framed him as well as any other person who just happens to get in his way. Now as to the Noir aspects, the film is shown in a semi-documentary style like many Film Noir movies and features the usual narration--this time by the detective working on the case. In this sense, it's reminiscent of Noir films such as HE WALKED BY NIGHT and T-MEN.

Despite the merging of these genres, I think the film worked because the acting was decent and the writing showed imagination and a slight Noir edge to it. Considering two of my favorite genres are Noir and 50s horror/sci-fi, it's not at all surprising I liked it. About the only negative was the stupid and needless inter-cutting of closeups of Lon Chaney's rheumy-looking eyes (i.e., watery and perhaps looking like he was drunk--a distinct possibility in Chaney's case). This just looked cheap and seeing the same pointless closeup shot again and again was sloppy.