How to Make a Monster (1958)

In 1957, American International Pictures (A.I.P.) released I Was a Teenage Werewolf, starring Michael Landon, and the movie proved to be a huge hit at the box office. Over the course of the year, they would release three similar movies; I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, The Blood of Dracula, and How to Make a Monster. The Blood of Dracula, which should have been titled I Was a Teenage Vampire, is essentially a remake of Teenage Werewolf, with the key difference being that all the main roles are played by women.  The four films have multiple things in common, other than their teen theme:

1)      The true villain in each movie is a well respected authority figure (Whit Bissell’s psychologist, Dr. Brandon, in Teenage Werewolf, Bissell’s Professor Frankenstein in Teenage Frankenstein, Louise Lewis’ chemistry teacher, Miss Branding, in Blood of Dracula, and Robert H. Harris’ make up artist, Pete Drummond, in How to Make a Monster) that manipulates the teenage protagonist into furthering their own agenda.

2)      With the exception of I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, each film features a rock n’ roll number by an “up and coming star”; Ken Miller sings “Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo” in Teenage Werewolf, Jerry Blaine croons “Puppy Dog Love” in Blood of Dracula, and John Ashley pops up long enough to sing the timeless “You’ve Got to Have Ee-ooo.” These musical numbers are completely jarring, and tonally out of place, given how dour these movies usually are; one moment the lead character is brooding about something, then, all of a sudden, everyone is dancing around with huge smiles on their faces. 

3)      They have a police procedural subplot involving an investigation into the murders being committed. The efforts of the police are usually inefficient and prove to be worthless.

I Was a Teenage Werewolf is  one of the must underrated horror movies of all time, but my favorite one out of the four is How to Make a Monster.  In his Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin rates How to Make a Monster a BOMB and dismisses it as a, “dismal chiller.” How to Make a Monster is certainly no masterpiece of the genre, but it is a far more fascinating movie than Maltin, and most critics, are willing to give it credit for. What distinguishes How to Make a Monster from the other movies is that the main villain, Pete Dumond, is a sympathetic character. When the movie begins, he is a respected, and well liked, make up artist at American International; a position that he has held for twenty five years.  American International is currently working on a horror movie, “Werewolf Meets Frankenstein,” and everyone is in awe of Pete’s creations.  Unfortunately, for Pete, American International has been purchased by NBN Associates and the new regime is convinced that the monster cycle has played itself out. They intend to produce comedies and musicals, and, rather unceremoniously, give Pete the pink slip; once filming has wrapped up on “Werewolf Meets Frankenstein,” he must leave the studio.  Pete doesn’t take this lightly and vows revenge on the suits that fired him.  He hypnotizes the two young stars of “Werewolf Meets Frankenstein”, Larry Drake (Werewolf) and Tony Mantell (Frankenstein Monster), into doing his dirty work for him in full monster make up.  Pete also dons a make up at one point to murder a studio guard that knows too much. 

How to Make a Monster is very much a send up of A.I.P. and the movies that the studio was churning out on a consistent basis. My favorite bit has the director of “Werewolf Meets Frankenstein” walking his actors through the climatic show down, “It’s got to be the greatest fight we’ve ever had on the screen and I’ve got to get it in one take.” The scene builds up to the final confrontation between the two monsters and just when the fight is about to begin it cuts to the next scene.  This brief moment perfecting sums up American International; their movies were rushed into production, filmed on the cheap, and released to theaters, regardless of quality. Their movies often failed to deliver what the exciting poster promised; the poster for How to Make a Monster promised, “SEE THE GHASTLY GHOULS IN FLAMING COLOR!” This is only partially true, as the last ten minutes of Monster are in color, though, none of the characters are in monster make up.  This scene promises an exciting battle between the werewolf and Frankenstein, but, in the end, the audience is left hanging.  It’s also fun to see A.I.P. plugging their own movies throughout the movie; posters for I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein hang on the studio walls, while in the movie’s climax all of American International’s former creatures (The Saucer Men, The She Creature, etc) decorate Pete’s household.   Pete Dumond was based off legendary make up artist Jack Pierce, the man responsible for The Wolf Man, Frankenstein Monster, and the Mummy, to name a few.  Pierce was let go by Universal Studios, after over twenty years of loyal service, to make way for more faster and cheaper make up techniques (foam latex). 

There are a few touches in How to Make a Monster that I genuinely like: the first victim, executive, John Nixon, is brutally murdered in a screening room while watching the dailies from “Werewolf Meets Frankenstein”; the way Pete becomes increasingly more sinister as the movie progresses; the behind the scenes of a studio, which includes a sight seeing tour; the wannabe detective Monahan and the way he casually tells Pete everything he knows, thus setting himself up for a grisly demise; the police’s constant badgering of Pete’s loyal assistant, Rivero, and how they try to pin the murder on him; and the transition to color at the end, which is synched up with Pete lighting a candle.  It’s also surprising just how efficient of a thriller How to Make a Monster is, despite its limited budget and tight schedule; the performances, especially Robert H. Harris, are effective, there are very few technical gaffes, and even the scare scenes are well done.  

There are a few slow spots in the movie; most notable is the pointless scene in which Larry has a brief chat with his girlfriend, Arlene (Heather Ames, who played the first victim in Blood of Dracula). I initially thought Arlene would play a pivotal part in the movie’s climax, but she completely disappears from the movie after this scene.  Then there is John Ashley’s awful rock n’ roll number, complete with leggy woman dancers, “You’ve Got to Have Ee-ooo,” in which he does his best Elvis impersonation and falls flat on his ass. 

It would be a stretch to call How to Make a Monster a classic, but it's not nearly as bad as critics make it out to be. It is an enjoyable little movie and is well worth wasting 73 minutes on.  However, feel free to skip John Ashley's rock n' roll number; he maybe the squarest Elvis impersonator that ever lived. 

Credits

Cast: Robert H. Harris (Pete Dumond), Paul Brinegar (Rivero), Gary Conway (Tony Mantell), Gary Clarke (Larry Drake), Malcolm Atterbury (Richards), Dennis Cross (Monahan), Morris Ankrum (Capt.Hancock), Heather Ames (Arlene Dow), Walter Reed (Det.Thompson), Paul Maxwell (Jeff Clayton), Eddie Marr (John Nixon), Robert Shayne (Gary Droz), Rod Dana (Lab Technician), Jacqueline Ebeier (Jane), Joan Chandler (Marilyn), Thomas B. Henry (Martin Brace), John Phillips (Det.Jones), Pauline Myers (Millie), John Ashley (himself).

Director: Herbert L. Strock
Screenplay: Kenneth Langtry (Aben Kandel), Herman Cohen.
Running Time: 73 min.

Friday the 13th, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

The best thing that Friday the 13^th, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan has going for it is that it is not Friday the 13^th: A New Beginning. It is easily one of the worst entries in the series, which is saying quite a lot. The earlier Friday the 13^th movies certainly weren’t masterpieces, but at least they tried to be a genuine horror movies, Jason Takes Manhattan is essentially a Jason’s Greatest Hits reel expanded to 100 minutes.  It has a few interesting moments scattered throughout, but, man, it is one awful movie.  The first time I saw it was my freshman year at high school; my dad and I rented it from a video store, and spent the entire time ripping on it.  When the nerdy character of Wayne first appeared, my dad turned to me and said, “That’s you, Bryan.” Sadly, I did have a close resemblance to that character.  Later on, when Wayne came to a fiery end, my dad once again looked at me and said, “Nice going, Bryan.” He then proceeded to laugh. What can I say? My dad has a sick sense of humor. 

Through a set of contrivances, Jason is once again resurrected from the dead and sneaks onboard a steam ship headed towards New York.  The passengers are a graduating senior class from Lakeview High School, chaperoned by the stuffy biology teacher, Charles McCollouch, and the more liberal minded English teacher, Colleen Van Deusen.  Also on board is Charles’ niece, Rennie (Jensen Daggett), an aspiring writer who has a fear of water.  Her uncle protests her being there, but she insists on coming along, hoping that by facing her fears she can cure them.  I’m sure she regrets not taking her uncle’s advice, for this cruise turns into one long nightmare.

Rennie is a likable character with an equally nice boyfriend, Sean, and a cute dog, Toby, to boot. However, at this point in the series, Jason was the real star, and the plight of the leading lady was secondary to creative the deaths the filmmakers could dream up.  Sure, it’s nice that Rennie finally faces her fears, but audiences want gore, and the filmmakers gave it to them.  No one cheers when Rennie stands up to her uncle, but I’m willing to bet practically everyone hoots with delight when he gets his comeuppance.  Poor Jensen Daggett!  The body count in Jason Takes Manhattan is around twenty, which gives Daggett very little opportunity to create a memorable character; she’s not bad and has an appealing presence, but her performance gets lost in all the chaos. 

Then there is Rennie’s crusty Uncle Charles; if Jason Takes Manhattan was a teen sex comedy, rather than a horror film, Charles would shake his fists at all the shenanigans on display and then get pushed in a swimming pool by one of our heroes.  He’s that kind of character.  However, instead of being pushed in a pool, he is drowned in a barrel of toxic waste.  Granted, character development isn’t exactly top priority in the Friday the 13^th movies, but there is no attempt at making him the least bit sympathetic. He is over protective of Rennie and is a complete asshole to just about everyone else. Yet, his fears are justified in the end, though, not in a way he could have ever imagined.  

Colleen, Rennie’s English teacher, is a counterpoint to Charles; she is warm and extremely encouraging.  She is also incredibly inept in a time of crisis; when the ship starts sinking, she tells a group of teenagers to wait in the restaurant while she finds help.  WHAT? 

As I mentioned before, the earlier Friday the 13^th movies at least tried to be real horror films by building up, and maintaining, suspense throughout; the death scenes were unnerving because  of how drawn out they were. You know Jason was going to strike, but you didn’t know when.  Jason Goes to Hell says, “TO HELL WITH SUSPENSE, LET’S GET TO THE BLOOD AND GORE!” Practically every five minutes someone is killed with little, or no, build up; Jason walks into a room and disposes of them in a gruesome manner.  Jason has also developed the power of teleportation - one second he’ll be standing behind a character, the next second he is right in front of that person. In one scene, Eva (Kelly Hu, who would go on to bigger and better things) is trapped in a dance room and, to her horror, finds that Jason is somehow standing in front of every exit.  These scenes are more jolting than scary, though, I find them to be rather laughable. 

There are a few creative touches by director Rob Hedden that make the movie watchable; Rennie imagining Jason, as a kid, jumping out of her mirror and strangling her;  while chasing Rennie and Sean through New York, Jason kicks over a boom box belonging to a gang of punks.  They yell at Jason and are looking for fight. Jason, rather than butchering them all, turns around and lifts up his hockey mask to reveal his deformed face. The punks are horrified and back off.  It’s funny a moment; Hedden, rather wisely, doesn't show the audience Jason’s face (his back is facing the camera), instead the camera lingers on the punks faces as they react to the reveal.  I guess even Jason needs a break from blood and gore every once in a while. The most memorable scene is when Julius fights Jason mano a mano with his fists. He gets a few punches in, but eventually tires out, and then Jason decapitates him with a single punch. Sure, it’s a silly moment, but at least it is something different.

There is also an extremely clever edit at the movie’s end; Rennie flashes back to a traumatic moment in her childhood when she nearly drowned.  What triggers the flashback is a flaming puddle in the street.  There is a close up of the puddle and then it slowly morphs into a long shot of a lake with rowboat paddling its way to the center of the frame.  It’s an eye popping moment and an interesting way to transition into a flashback. 

Kane Hodder is the most celebrated of all the actors to play Jason, yet he starred in, arguably, the worst movies in the entire series: Friday the 13^th:Part VII: The New Blood, Friday the Part VIII: Jason takes Manhattan, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, and Jason X.  His Jason is an extremely brutal and aggressive villain (hero); in Jason Takes Manhattan, he strangles Eva to death and then violently tosses her corpse to the ground. In The New Blood, he wraps a woman up in her sleeping bag and bashes her against a tree.  Hodder’s Jason was a force of nature that could only be temporarily defeated; this is far removed from the deadly, but clumsy mongoloid introduced in Friday the 13^th, Part 2.  

Friday the 13^th, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan is a terrible movie, but I have to admit that every few years I am compelled to watch it. It’s absurd screenplay and, sometimes, interesting visuals are enough to sustain one’s interest.  

Credits

Cast:  Kane Hodder (Jason), Jensen Daggett (Rennie), Scott Reeves (Sean), Peter Mark Richman (Charles McCulloch), Barbara Bingham (Colleen van Deusen), V.C. Dupree (Julius), Kelly Hu (Eva), Sharlene Martin (Tamara), Martin Cummins (Wayne),  Tiffany Paulsen (Suzi), Todd Caldecott (Jim), Gordon Currie (Miles), Saffron Henderson (J.J.), Warren Munson (Admiral Robertson), Alex Diakun(Deck Hand), Tim Mirkovich (Young Jason), David Jacox (other boxer), Ken Kirzinger (New York Cook), Peggy Hedden (New York Waitress).

Director: Rob Hedden.
Screenplay: Rob Hedden.
Running Time: 100 min. 

Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

If Peter Cushing had starred in more “prestige” movies, he would easily be regarded as one of the finest film actors to ever grace the silver screen. Unfortunately, he spent most of his career starring in horror movies; a genre that is greatly frowned down by most film critics and historians.  look no further than Dracula A.D. 1972 for proof of Cushing’s greatness, because his presence alone elevates it from being absolute garbage to being a passable thriller.  Indeed, whenever Cushing is not onscreen the movie is absolutely dreadful, even laughable at times – check out the scene in which Caroline Munro’s wide eyed hippie, Laura, begs to be sacrificed to Dracula.  In fact, its modern setting (1972) makes the movie far more dated than the previous Dracula movies, which were all set in the Victorian Era.  What is truly amazing is that, despite the silly script, Cushing gives it his all; there is no condescension in his performance nor does he ever resort to histrionics. He gives an air of credibility to the movie and is fairly affecting at times, especially in the scenes that involve Van Helsing’s granddaughter, Jessica (Stephanie Beacham).  Cushing tended to play different variations on the same role – the authority figure. Whereas his Baron Frankenstein was a cold man that became increasing more cynical as the series progressed, his Lorrimer Van Helsing is a beacon of hope in a jaded age; he is an extremely warm and inviting figure.  When Lorrimer finds out that Jessica took part in the black mass that awakened Dracula, rather than screaming at her, he tells her, in a calm voice, that he wants to help, and then hugs her. 

Jessica has gotten herself involved with a group of hedonistic hippies; their ringleader is Johnny Alucard, who comes from a long line of Dracula disciples.  Johnny persuades his friends to attend a black mass ceremony at an abandoned church, and they all agree, though Jessica is reluctant, because it is something different.  Of course, this is a ruse by Johnny to resurrect Dracula from the dead, and his friends are merely sacrificial lambs in his pursuit to achieve immortality.  After Johnny dumps a cauldron of blood all over Laura’s body (she volunteers to take part in the mass), Jessica and friends flee in horror, abandoning the hysterical Laura. Dracula is successfully brought back to life and wastes no time in disposing of Laura; he drains all the blood from her body.  Dracula spends the rest of the movie offing Jessica’s friends, until he is stopped by Lorrimer.

I like Stephanie Beacham as Jessica Van Helsing, despite her sporting one of the most unfortunate mullets in film history.  Jessica is a young girl just looking to get some kicks, oblivious to the danger that is lurking around the corner.  It’s extremely unfortunate that Jessica is never given a full character arc, because it might have smoothed over the movie’s more glaring flaws.  In the previous Dracula films, most notably Dracula Has Risen from the Grave and Taste of the Blood of Dracula, the main protagonist is a young, carefree lad (named Paul in both films) who reluctantly finds himself going head to head with Dracula at the movie’s climax; at stake is the souls of their girlfriends (Maria in Risen, Alice in Taste). At first, it seems that Jessica is going to be given a similar type of arc – she is a carefree soul and is very dismissive towards her grandfather.  When he tells her that the study of the occult has been his life’s work, she snaps back, “It’s not one of my hang ups.”  Like the protagonist in the earlier movies, she soon finds her life going to hell; she is being questioned by the police, while her friends are killed off one by one.  She seems destined to become Lorrimer’s successor, but, sadly, she is relegated to a typical damsel in distress role, and spends the last ten minutes staring in a hypnotic trance.   It’s a really a wasted opportunity by Hammer, but they were more interested in filming Beacham’s cleavage than developing an interesting heroine. In the following year's The Satanic Rites of Dracula, Jessica (now played by Joanna Lumley) is Lorrimer's assistant, but, even then, she is still given very little to do. 

 Dracula A.D. 1972 was Hammer’s attempt at rebooting the Dracula series; it takes place in a different timeline than the previous movies. There is a prologue set in 1872 where Lorrimer’s ancestor, Lawrence, is battling Dracula on top of a runaway carriage. Lawrence impales Dracula with a broken wheel from the carriage. Dracula turns to ashes, while Lawrence dies from the wounds he received in the battle.  Just then one of Dracula’s disciples walks into frame and gathers up the ashes.  There is a fairly creative transition from 1872 to 1972; there is a close up of Lawrence Van Helsing’s headstone and then the camera pans up to a jet airplane flying in the sky. 

The first half of the movie is as bad as it can get, - it focuses primarily on Jessica and her hippie friends. When we first meet them, they are crashing a birthday party being held by a wealthy family; the dance around, make out, while a rock band, Stoneground, plays in the background. There is an argument between the ringleader, Johnny Alucard, and Joe, the odious comic relief, as to how much time they have before the cops show up. 

This is a big problem, because none of these characters are particularly likable nor, with the exception of their ghastly wardrobe, interesting to watch.  The cast tries their hardest to breathe life into the characters, but the script lets them down. Are we supposed to like the characters? Is the audience supposed to find Joe funny? Jessica, despite being a modern woman, is very much a follower and easily gives into peer pressure. Her boyfriend, Bob, constantly makes idle threats to Johnny, but never backs them up. Laura willingly goes along with whatever Johnny suggest. Joe is an obnoxious pain in the ass, and the other two girls, Gaynor and Anna, are just there for the ride. Jessica at least feels guilty about abandoning Laura at the church, the rest of the group just shrugs it off.  Johnny Alucard, with his penchant for using 70s slang and wearing flamboyant outfits, comes across as more comical than menacing; his death scene is more befitting for a Home Alone movie than a Dracula sequel

Dracula A.D.1972 is filled with laughably bad moments; the black mass, where Johnny urges the group to “Dig the music, kids,” as percussion music plays in the background; Johnny Alucard’s death by shower; the way Jessica and her friends put the word, “man” at the end of every other sentence;  Dracula getting annoyed at Johnny for bringing him the wrong woman, etc.  These are script problems, the movie itself is competently made – it never falls to level of Ed Wood, or other legendary bad movie directors. 

While Dracula A.D. 1972 takes place in a different universe than the previous movies that didn’t stop the filmmakers from essentially lifting the plot to Taste the Blood of Dracula, albeit with a few revisions. Taste of the Blood of Dracula is a flawed, but interesting entry in the Dracula series, because it is, in essence, about the sins of the fathers being visited upon the children. The fathers, in this case, are three respected members of a small community, who in their spare time are looking for some new kicks; they usually go to brothels to indulge themselves.  At the brothel, they meet a young man named Lord Courtley, who is really a disciple of Dracula. Just like, Johnny Alucard, he convinces these men to partake in a black mass which results in the resurrection of Dracula.  Taste of the Blood of Dracula is a better movie than A.D. 1972, but it does lack a strong protagonist. Ralph Bates is fun in the early going as the flamboyant Courtley, but he is killed midway through.  Dracula A.D. 1972 is fairly dreadful up until the half way point, then comes to life once Peter Cushing takes over. I also like Michael Coles as Inspector Murray; it's extremely refreshing to see a horror film in which the police force not only believe Van Helsing, but are the ones who seek him out. 

Christopher Lee is given very little do; this was the case in practically all of Hammer’s Dracula movies.  He has less than ten minutes of total screen time, but he is genuinely menacing in his few scenes.  Though, it isn't until the very end that Lee and Cushing share a scene, and even then, they are rarely in the frame together.  They were much more effectively paired in the same year’s Horror Express, where they play rival scientists. 

Cast: Peter Cushing (Lorrimer Van Helsing/Lawrence Van Helsing), Stephanie Beacham (Jessica Van Helsing), Christopher Lee (Count Dracula), Christopher Neame (Johnny Alucard), Michael Coles (Inspector Murray), Caroline Munro (Laura), Philip Miller (Bob), Marsha Hunt (Gaynor), Janet Key (Anna Bryant), William Ellis (Joe Mitchum), Michael Kitchen (Greg), David Andrews (Detective Sergeant).

Director: Alan Gibson.
Screenplay: Don Houghton.
Running Time: 96 min.