The Ape Man

Plot

Dr. James Brewster and his colleague Dr. Randall conduct experiments that transform Brewster into an ape-man. To reverse the condition, Brewster must inject himself with recently drawn human spinal fluid. Reporter Jeff Carter and photographer Billie Mason investigate after an odd man suggests the disappearance of Dr. Brewster.

Before interviewing Brewster's sister Agatha, a ghost-hunter, they hear strange sounds outside. After Dr. Randall's butler is murdered and ape-like hair is found, Carter suspects the sounds came from an ape. Dr. Randall refuses to help Brewster again and threatens to go to the police. Needing more spinal fluid, Brewster and his gorilla go on a killing spree, but the odd character saves a potential victim.

Brewster demands Randall inject the fluid; when Randall breaks the vial, Brewster strangles him. Carter and Mason separately return to Brewster's home. Billie accidentally knocks Jeff unconscious, and Brewster carries her to his basement lab to withdraw spinal fluid.

Carter regains consciousness and, with police, tries to break into the secret basement. The gorilla attacks Brewster, breaking his back and killing him. Billie is freed, and the gorilla is shot by police. Agatha finds Brewster dead.

Jeff and Billie leave and find the odd character in Jeff's car. When asked who he is, the man replies, "Me? I'm the author of the story!" He breaks the fourth wall, saying "Screwy idea, wasn't it?" and rolls up the window as "THE END" appears on the glass.

Production

Originally announced on November 4, 1942, as The Gorilla Strikes, the film was adapted from Karl Brown's Saturday Evening Post story "They Creep in the Dark." Brown had previously scripted Boris Karloff movies for Columbia, including The Man They Could Not Hang and The Man With Nine Lives. Associate producer Barney Sarecky wrote the screenplay.

Amelita Ward was initially cast but replaced by Louise Currie. Production started December 16 under the new title The Ape Man. Currie later recalled wearing her own clothes because Monogram Pictures lacked a wardrobe department.

Reception

Contemporary reviews were largely negative. Variety stated the film was "good for laughs which aren't in the script." The Daily News commented that "Monogram's writer didn't have to wipe the dust off of Bela Lugosi's Ape Man, he had to rake the mould off." The Hollywood Reporter called Lugosi's make-up "horrible." A positive review from the Los Angeles Times noted that "chill chasers will get a tremendous thrill out of the picture, while the more detached will obtain laughs out of the slyly satirical moments." Retrospectively, Tom Weaver wrote in Poverty Row Horrors! that the film was "one of Lugosi's livelier and more entertaining" Monogram films, though the plot was "flimsy" and characters "barely sketched." The New York Times dismissed it as an "unscary Lugosi vehicle" that "isn't quite campy enough to be entertaining."

Did You Know?

• Monogram released an in-name-only sequel, Return of the Ape Man, in 1944.
• The film was released on Blu-ray in 2020 by Retromedia in a double-feature with Doomed to Die.