The Manster

I saw this thing as a child, for chrissakes, and still vividly remember that darned eye! Since I didn't exactly knew what a movie was (I was a VERY SMALL little runt) and didn't understand a word of English, and though the movie was subtitled in Spanish I didn't yet know how to read, I was absolutely terrified! Were there really people around us who grew eyes on their shoulders, turn into really scary monkeys that split in half, and then each half tried to strangle each other? I don't understand. Is this for REAL!?

It really took me a while to get over that one, I'll tell ya, until I saw The H-Man Monster and the whole stinking nightmare started over again.

Is this for REAL!?

In the early seventies there were two late night horror movie shows where I lived: NIGHTMARE THEATER on channel 7 and SUSPENSE THEATER on channel 8. My dilemma was that both programs were on simultaneously(around midnight on Fridays),and I always had to decide which one I wanted to watch. On one particular Friday I chose the NIGHTMARE THEATER movie, opting to check out the other channel during the commercials. During one of those breaks I switched over just in time to see the infamous "eye-growing-on-the-shoulder" scene. A while later I looked again and saw that eye growing into an entire head! I left it on that channel until the show was over. I have no memory of what the other movie was.

Everyone has already commented on their (mostly happy) childhood memories of The Manster, but the film actually has aspirations beyond those of the typical monster fest. The film is surprisingly bold about sexuality, hinting frankly at both rape and adultery. The Manster could be posited as a film that anticipated the free love of the late 60s, the 'split' as psycho-sexual as it is physical. Larry is, after all, a happily married average joe until his libido is aroused by a serum introduced via Mickey Finn by a 'mad' doctor. It's a bit like George Harrison being introduced to LSD by his dentist. As his desire for rough and raw sex increases, his body begins to mutate, leading to the infamous shoulder eye and second head. A cautionary tale, well told and ultimately very conservative, but thoroughly enjoyable on more than one level.

"An American reporter traveling in Japan stops to meet and interview a reclusive Japanese scientist at his mountain laboratory. The scientist greets the curious newsman and, after getting to know him, concludes the reporter is the perfect test subject for his latest experiment. After injecting the reporter against his will, the scientist discovers his serum changes the man into a..." according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Don't join "The Manster" in progress, as its opening scenes are very striking. The erotic sight of two young Japanese women bathing is interrupted as mad scientist Tetsu Nakamura (as Robert Suzuki) must immediately deal with his violent brother ("An experiment that didn't work out"), while his wife (another "experiment that didn't work out") screams in her cage…

Mr. Nakamura takes charge of the situation by killing his brother; then, Peter Dyneley (as Larry Stanford) conveniently shows up; a self-described "brilliant and highly underpaid foreign correspondent", Mr. Dyneley wants to interview Nakamura about his research on "the secrets of evolution". Nakamura is a very perceptive mad scientist; he senses Dyneley is a sex-stared alcoholic, who lies about his age. Dyneley laps up Nakamura's offer of booze and flooze.

With some re-writes and re-takes, George Breakston (a former child actor) might have had a genuine classic. Still, "The Manster" is some good fun.

***** The Manster (7/59) George Breakston ~ Peter Dyneley, Tetsu Nakamura, Jane Hylton

As one poster put it... this is the film you saw as a kid but never remembered its name. I did!!! It is kinda cheesy...but I've seen much worse. But for its time, I gotta hand it to the make up folks and the actor's reaction for that scene with the eye on his shoulder. Gosh! Ya gotta guess that most of the budget went into that, and what fun! There isn't one person I have shown this film to that hasn't gasped at it! I just wished the rest of the film was that way. This is one film that HAS to be in your Halloween collection...your "low budget" vintage B movie horror collection...you know you've got one. Set it right between the William Castle films and the Hammer Films!! Get this film, get it now. It's a hoot!