... and it probably wouldn't be remembered at all if not for Bela Lugosi being second billed as Dr. Mirakle and Leon Ames (so early in his career he is still going by Leon Waykoff) as Pierre Dupin, a medical student. And yet it is on DVD!
Dr. Mirakle is a mad scientist, and he meets Pierre and more importantly his girlfriend Camille (Sidney Fox) at a circus sideshow where Dr. Mirakle claims he can talk to his gorilla, Eric, and that the gorilla is lonely. It is obvious Mirakle wants Camille to be Eric's "girlfriend", but she is difficult to get close to. So he continues trying - and failing - with prostitutes, who are easily abducted. and not missed. He injects gorilla blood into their blood, probably in an attempt to turn them into gorilla like creatures as a companion for Eric, but the experiment always fails and the girls die. Dr. Mirakle blames the failures on the girls' "sins". There were some things that you couldn't come out and say even in the precode era, and what he is probably trying to say is that he needs the blood of a virgin - enter Camille. Mirakle's assistant dumps the bodies into the Seine. That is where Dupin comes back into the picture as he is frequenting the Rue Morgue where their bodies end up, and is trying to determine the cause of death.
The dialogue is pedestrian, and so is the acting. Only Lugosi comes alive at all. And there are some really obvious shots of a man in a gorilla suit that is supposed to be Eric and repetitive close up shots of the gorilla himself that do not impress. What does impress is the set design. It is very detailed and interesting and worth a look. Plus there are a couple of scenes, that, if it wasn't for the fact that King Kong came out a year later, I would swear were stolen from that more famous film.
Probably for fans of Lugosi and of interesting and atmospheric set design only.
Dr. Mirakle is a mad scientist, and he meets Pierre and more importantly his girlfriend Camille (Sidney Fox) at a circus sideshow where Dr. Mirakle claims he can talk to his gorilla, Eric, and that the gorilla is lonely. It is obvious Mirakle wants Camille to be Eric's "girlfriend", but she is difficult to get close to. So he continues trying - and failing - with prostitutes, who are easily abducted. and not missed. He injects gorilla blood into their blood, probably in an attempt to turn them into gorilla like creatures as a companion for Eric, but the experiment always fails and the girls die. Dr. Mirakle blames the failures on the girls' "sins". There were some things that you couldn't come out and say even in the precode era, and what he is probably trying to say is that he needs the blood of a virgin - enter Camille. Mirakle's assistant dumps the bodies into the Seine. That is where Dupin comes back into the picture as he is frequenting the Rue Morgue where their bodies end up, and is trying to determine the cause of death.
The dialogue is pedestrian, and so is the acting. Only Lugosi comes alive at all. And there are some really obvious shots of a man in a gorilla suit that is supposed to be Eric and repetitive close up shots of the gorilla himself that do not impress. What does impress is the set design. It is very detailed and interesting and worth a look. Plus there are a couple of scenes, that, if it wasn't for the fact that King Kong came out a year later, I would swear were stolen from that more famous film.
Probably for fans of Lugosi and of interesting and atmospheric set design only.