Review #997: The Monster Walks (1932)

Title: The Monster Walks 

Year: 1932

Director: Frank Strayer

Country: US

Language: English

The 1930's was a big decade for the horror genre in Hollywood. Universal Studios enjoyed many great financial and critical successes at the start of this decade, which included Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1933), Island of Lost Souls (1932) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) The advent of sound, and thus demise of the silent period, added an extra layer of creep whether it be music used to build suspense or signal the presence of a threat, or magnified footsteps echoing down a corridor.

A doctor (Rex Lease), who keeps an ape for medical studies, dies and his daughter (Vera Reynolds) inherits his estate. Her uncle (Sheldon), a paralytic, working through his natural son by the housekeeper, plans her death, and the ape may or may not be involved.

The Monster Walks features a who's who (as in "who are these people?) of various B-movie actors. The female "star" of the film (Vera Reynolds) seemed to be big in Demille's silents, but could not make much of herself after the advent of sound. In general the performances are poor and unconvincing, although Willie Best does provide a laugh. Unfortunately the actor is outweighed by the enormity of racial stereotypes pressed on his character. 

Plot and visual elements are borrowed from Cat and the Canary (1927) but unfortunately that picture outmatches this in every aspect. In this picture the characters are poorly established and the mysterious "who dunnit?" aspect is fairly obvious at the beginning of the picture. Within the first 5 minutes an audience member will understand the "who", the "what", the "why" and the "where". Sloppy writing does nothing to improve the picture. 

Despite being a horror film, the atmosphere is lousy and you won't feel yourself being scared in the slightest. The Monster Walks was pre-code, but there is nothing that would have scared Hollywood censors anyways. I had decent hopes for this picture, but there's nothing really to see here. Avoid it if you can. 

No Stars