The old story of transplanting a human brain into an ape's skull is an old one that's been done plenty of times in Hollywood. Also the situation of reviving someone wrongfully executed & then getting revenge on those who put him in that spot. This version is ok as a "time waster" & interesting to watch in comparison to an earlier version of this plot, "The Walking Dead" with Boris Karloff, 1936 made at WB. The current 1941 version lacks that certain atmosphere especially in the laboratory scene where everything seems quite normal & this is just another routine operation. George Zucco who plays the scientist seems to have been "held back" by the script and the director from being his usual "mad scientist" persona, not to mention the fact that he has very few lines & screen time in this whole mess. IT all boils down to just a guy in a gorilla suit & even the revenge scenes are not at all dramatic or erie as in the Karloff version. Speaking of that 1936 version, Karloff in some of scenes almost resembles his Frankenstein Monster but without the makeup. Sadly in this 1941 take-off there IS a very good cast but the story just doesn't seem to make any attempts to thrill or scare one making it somewhat of a "yawn" for just over an hour running time. Watch this first then go back 6 years to the Karloff version & compare. Then again, with Karloff in such a role, how could anything go wrong?
1941 was the middle of the second horror film cycle that began in 1939 with "Son of Frankenstein", 1940's "Man Made Monster" with Lon Chaney Jr. & of course 1941's "The Wolfman." Studios would follow Universal Studios horror wave with their own attempts at the genre. As 1945 came to a close & Universal made their last classic monster film "House of Dracula" so did the other studios. For awhile in the late 40's everyone switched over to westerns until the early 50's when monsters, gigantic things, once again would roam the Earth.
Review of The Monster and the Girl
