The Ape Man starts as famed ghost hunter Agatha Brewster (Minerva Urecal) returns from Europe to be greeted by Dr. George Randall (Henry Hall) & newspaper headlines that scream 'Dr. Brewster disappears', the same Dr. James Brewster (Bela Lugosi) who just happens to be her Brother. Dr. Randall reveals that he made the story up to cover up the fact that Dr. Brewster & himself made an 'astounding discovery' that Brewster tested upon himself & inadvertently turned himself into a half-human half-ape creature. At this point a nosey reporter named Jeff Carter (Wallace Ford) from the 'Globe Tribune' ask's for an interview which Agatha says yes to but at another time. Jeff decides to pursue the story & together with his somewhat good looking photographer Billie Mason (Louise Currie) heads out to the Brewster house where Dr. Brewster is locked up in his secret laboratory working on trying to get what he needs to cure himself. While there Billie takes some photo's of Agatha & accidentally captures one of Brewster as an ape but is only spotted after the photo's have been developed. Jeff knows something fishy is going on & investigates further as James reveals that to completely cure himself he needs human spinal fluid to counteract the ape fluid, the only problem is he need fresh fluid from still living donors...
Directed by William Beaudine there is very little to recommend The Ape Man as a film, in fact nothing at all really. The script by Barney A. Sarecky based on the novel They Creep in the Dark by Karl Brown is boring, dull & virtually nothing happens during it's short 67 minute duration which seems like a lot longer while your watching it. The whole film makes no sense & the central idea is just so stupid & flawed, why on earth did Brewster & Randall want to cross a human & ape in the first place? Aren't humans above apes in the evolutionary scale? Wouldn't a hybrid send the human race back & not forward? I don't know maybe it's just me but The Ape Man has no logic at all & has no credibility. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take itself too seriously but it does. The characters are stiff & bland which also adds to The Ape Man's problems. On a positive note the witty interplay between the mismatched Carter & Mason is quite amusing at times & stops The Ape Man from getting 1 star instead of 2. There's no real horror in The Ape Man & Lugosi in his make-up & stooped over hunchback pose looks awful. I sat there & kept thinking why doesn't Lugosi just have a good shave because his Ape Man make-up consists of a long beard & hairy hands, that's it. Director Beaudine also throws in a terrible looking Gorilla which Lugosi uses to kill a few people, again it's hard to take these scenes seriously because wouldn't someone notice a weird looking guy with a ridiculously fake looking beard & a lumbering Gorilla following him around & not contact the relevant authorities? Obviously not as the police proclaim that they don't have a single clue to go on... The acting is rotten & Lugosi is poor, the black and white cinematography is point & shoot, the editing ruins any sort of tension that could have been built up & as a whole the film is a chore to sit through. The only other thing I will say is that director Beaudine, who made an incredible 293 films before he died in 1970 aged 78, rightly earned the nickname 'One-Shot' due to the amount of time he would take to shoot each scene... The Ape Man is poverty row rubbish all the way & yes I know it was made in 1943 but that doesn't excuse the fact that it's painful to sit through. Cinema has moved on, audiences tastes & expectations have moved on while films like The Ape Man unfortunately haven't any sort of lasting appeal, merits or virtue to move on with them & stand the test of time.
Directed by William Beaudine there is very little to recommend The Ape Man as a film, in fact nothing at all really. The script by Barney A. Sarecky based on the novel They Creep in the Dark by Karl Brown is boring, dull & virtually nothing happens during it's short 67 minute duration which seems like a lot longer while your watching it. The whole film makes no sense & the central idea is just so stupid & flawed, why on earth did Brewster & Randall want to cross a human & ape in the first place? Aren't humans above apes in the evolutionary scale? Wouldn't a hybrid send the human race back & not forward? I don't know maybe it's just me but The Ape Man has no logic at all & has no credibility. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take itself too seriously but it does. The characters are stiff & bland which also adds to The Ape Man's problems. On a positive note the witty interplay between the mismatched Carter & Mason is quite amusing at times & stops The Ape Man from getting 1 star instead of 2. There's no real horror in The Ape Man & Lugosi in his make-up & stooped over hunchback pose looks awful. I sat there & kept thinking why doesn't Lugosi just have a good shave because his Ape Man make-up consists of a long beard & hairy hands, that's it. Director Beaudine also throws in a terrible looking Gorilla which Lugosi uses to kill a few people, again it's hard to take these scenes seriously because wouldn't someone notice a weird looking guy with a ridiculously fake looking beard & a lumbering Gorilla following him around & not contact the relevant authorities? Obviously not as the police proclaim that they don't have a single clue to go on... The acting is rotten & Lugosi is poor, the black and white cinematography is point & shoot, the editing ruins any sort of tension that could have been built up & as a whole the film is a chore to sit through. The only other thing I will say is that director Beaudine, who made an incredible 293 films before he died in 1970 aged 78, rightly earned the nickname 'One-Shot' due to the amount of time he would take to shoot each scene... The Ape Man is poverty row rubbish all the way & yes I know it was made in 1943 but that doesn't excuse the fact that it's painful to sit through. Cinema has moved on, audiences tastes & expectations have moved on while films like The Ape Man unfortunately haven't any sort of lasting appeal, merits or virtue to move on with them & stand the test of time.