Search - Indestructible Man on DVD

Updating The Frankenstein Myth

Bart | Montpellier, France | 11/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"More than 150 years ago Mary Shelly sat down with a group of authors on a chilly winter night and came up with the Frankenstein Story.

Who could have guessed that new versions and evolutions of the story would continue to this day. The Indestructible Man came almost exactly 100 years after the first tellin of the tale and gives a good glimpse as to how the narrative can evolve with the times.

Frankenstein has always been about man's fear of technolgy and his desire to play god. Therefore filmakers play god with their stories while bringing each generations new technology to the task.

What I liked about this version was the casting choice. Lon Cheny Jr was almost always cast as one or another variation of The Wolf Man. Therefore to see him play Frankenstien is amazing.

You get to see what he would have done with the role if it had not gone to Boris Carloff 20 years before and he does a great job with it.

The movie is a little bit on the short side - comming in at 70 minutes, but that's really all you need to tell this story.

We know the monster will go bad and that he must be destroyed, so there is no point in dragging out the issue. Being a mid 1950s movie the monster is a symbol for the growing american ease with nuclear power and energy and this is worked into the story fairly well.

The film is also well preserved and one of the last chances to see Cheny while he was still in his prime."

Ponderous B movie

F. J. Harvey | Birmingham England | 05/23/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The title character is one Butcher Benton (Lon Chaney) who we first encounter on Death Row where he is awaiting execution for murder following an armoured car robbery ,the proceeds of which have not been recovered .He rails aginst his lawyer and his two accomplices in the robbery and vows revenge .
His body does not reach the morgue .It is taken to a laboratory where it is revived by high voltage jolts of electricity .He sets out to wreak revenge on those he feels have betrayed him .Hot on his trail are a detective and a friend of his from his former life the burlesque dancer Jane .Things build to a climax in the LA sewer system -rather like the classic monster movie Them but with much less impact .

Cahney looks ill and strained throughout and the somewhat muddy soundtrack and grainy colour is no help .Direction is routine and uninspired and the voice over narration slows things down even more

This is all pretty routine and the sight of an ill and uninspired Chaney going through the motions is sad

Avoid please-unless dull B movies are your bag"