Manster (1960)

Cast:

Peter Dyneley is Larry Stanford
Satoshi (Tetsu) Nakamura is Dr. Suzuki
Jane Hylton is Linda

What the box says:

An American reporter is sent to interview a Tokyo-based scientist. The scientist goes completely mad, and while experimenting with mutations, he turns the reporter into a two headed monster called The Manster, half-man and half-monster. The ending is truly bizarre. A MUST SEE!

Plot:

Frolicking Japanese girls are in a hot spring before a furry monster attacks them.

Dr. Suzuki heads to his lab. He finds Emiko, his wife, still in a cage. He does find Kenji who has returned after rampaging through a nearby village. Suzuki shoots him and disposes the body in an incinerator that ties into a nearby volcano.

Larry Stanford arrives and makes a couple of passes at Tara, Suzuki’s assistant. He came to interview Suzuki about his research. Suzuki comes out and discusses his research which isn’t ready for publication. Larry mentions that he is about to leave Japan in a week. Suzuki drugs a drink for Larry.

Larry passes out. Suzuki fixes a dosage of his newest serum to test on Larry. He plans to follow Larry to study how every change: psychological, etc, alters Larry. Suzuki wakes up Larry and offers to take him out to party on the town when he comes to Tokyo.

Back at Tokyo, Larry gets a phone call from Suzuki who offers to take him on the town. Afterwards, Linda, Larry’s wife, calls and is waiting for him to return to New York City.

Later, Suzuki and Larry are kicking back at a geisha party.

WE DO NOT PLAY Freebird and Stairway to Heaven..
Larry seems to love sake as much as the geishas. He enjoys the wild side that Suzuki is showing to him. After swapping some spit with the geishas, the very drunken Larry swaggers out calling it a night.

A few days later, Ian, another reporter finds that Larry has been boozing and carousing with Suzuki.

Larry and Suzuki are going to a hot spring. After a bit more sake, Suzuki has brought his uber hot assistant, Tara to meet Larry. Suzuki leaves to attend to an errand. Let the hot bathing ensue. Larry notices that is hand is starting to draw up and he leaves.

Later, Larry and Tara are dancing.

Who knew linedancing Hokey Pokey was that big in Japan?
They head to his room and find Linda and Ian waiting on them. Larry gets indignant that Linda came to Tokyo for him. Linda gives him a choice, to leave with her or stay with the other woman. Well, Larry decides the hot Tara is the better choice. Linda will give him some time to decide.

Larry and Tara go to her place. He is just attracted to her. Tara wants him to talk with Linda and will wait for him.

Larry’s hand starts to draw up again. He finds that Linda is asleep in his apartment. As he pours himself a drink, Larry sees his hand growing fuzzy. Demanding that Linda leaves, let the relationship fu ensue. Larry starts yelling at her. Linda leaves after Larry starts to choke her. Larry storms out.

Taking a long walk, Larry stops at Buddhist temple. He starts talking to the priest. Panning away, we hear a scream.

Larry returns to Tara’s place with a string of Buddhist prayer beads. Tara distracts him the best way she can.

Police cars are on the streets, and the plot specific newspaper montage headline ensues.

Ian talks with Linda trying to figure what is wrong with Larry. Later, Ian finds the very surly Larry in a bar before the creepy music plays.

Down a dark street, Larry gets another girl. The creepy music plays as the reign of terror ensues.

Dr. Suzuki has kept detailed notes on Larry as how the changes are gradual. Tara has to stay with Suzuki or back to house of ill repute. Suzuki claims that his wife, Emiko, and his brother volunteered for the experiments. The world wouldn’t let Larry live if they knew what happened to him and how Tara can’t afford to fall in love with Larry.

Ian and Dr. Jensen meet Larry. Ian realizes that Larry has a string of Buddhist prayer beads and is convinced he saw the priest murder which is why he’s acting so different. Dr. Jensen is psychiatrist. Larry sends them out, and creepy music plays. Larry sees an eye growing on his shoulder…

When 'Plastic Surgery Goes Awry', next on Fox..

At Dr. Jensen’s office, he spots Larry approaching. Calls the cops and fixes a tranquilizer syringe. Larry undergoes a transformation and is growing a second head

I'm here to pick Jenny for our date... and promptly kills Dr. Jensen.

The police want Ian to hold back of reporting the story temporarily.

The press conference, the cops haven’t been able to find a pattern to the killer. Later, Ian tells the police superintendent about how Larry carrying the prayer beads.

Night rampage, Larry-monster attacks some cops. It is also too dark to really tell what is happening in a non-Rerun manner.

Ian and the superintendent are still talking. The evidence is awfully circumstantial. However, the police will stakeout Larry’s apartment.

Linda heads to Larry’s apartment and discovers the Larry-monster. She faints. The police arrive and drive Larry-monster away.

Another chase ensues. Ian and Linda head after the cops.

Larry-monster trashes Tara’s place. The cops, Ian, and Linda reach Tara’s place and find it wrecked like Motley Crue stayed there. Linda tries to convince the police not to try to shoot to kill Larry-monster.

The cops get a report of Larry-monster at the shipyards. Another chase that is too dark to see anything.

Tara and Suzuki are working at the lab. He is sure that Larry-monster will be coming. Suzuki has finally realized he has tampered in realms that science should best never explore. He has a notebook with all his research except the formula. There may be a cure if enough heat is applied. Tara leaves and calls the cops.

Suzuki regrets everything, and shoots his monsterfied wife, Emiko.

Larry-monster reaches the lab and attacks Tara.

As Larry-monster approaches Suzuki, he is able to stab the 2-headed monster with a syringe. Steam fills the lab as Larry-monster rampages throughout.

The police reach Suzuki’s lab.

Larry-monster carries Tara to the nearby volcano. The police, Ian, and Linda follow.

At the edge of the volcano, Larry-monster separates into a monster and the alcoholic reporter. Monster throws Tara into the volcano. Larry is able to push the monster into volcano, too. Linda rushes to Larry’s side.

The police arrest Larry and are unsure how the legal responsibility will be deciphered.

The moral is to have faith in good.

What I say:

Nowadays with the derivatively flat remakes of classic horror movies and brain dead slasher thrillers, it is good to find there are still some insane movies to be appreciated. The lame computer generated monsters aren't as entertaining as a true old school masked monster. A 1960 movie monster isn't going to be remembered for having Rick Baker or Rob Bottin worthy monsters which is just something B-movie fans have come to accept. The monster near the end looks better than the Thing with 2 Heads but having Rosey Grier standing right behind Ray "Frogs" Milland as another of the 2 headed monster movies doesn't quite make it a very highly respected sub-genre. Still, the scene with the eye on the shoulder is freaky and had to be a lot closer to the edge back when it first was released. In fact, that scene has been tributed in other movies. If you've seen Captain Supermarket, you will find a homage to part of the Manster. The eye growing on the shoulder scene. Actually, if you've not heard of Captain Supermarket, which is the Japanese title, it is better known as Army of Darkness.

Japan is more than the land of the rising sun, twisted animation about miniskirted schoolgirls, and truly sweet monster movies. Until the 1850s, it was a land of mystery to the outside world. Too many people still think of it as mysterious land in every negative way imaginable. Adventures of Fu Manchu may show the fear of the yellow scare far better than Dr Suzuki in the Manster. Yes, Fu Manchu isn't Japanese. Though the writer pretty much took every negative stereotype of the Chinese, Japanese, and the other Oriental countries fusing them together. Back then most people didn't pay much attention to the differences between China, Japan, Korea, and other Oriental countries. I get the feeling that Dr. Suzuki wasn't to be considered just the mad scientist in the Frankenstein mold but to be inherently even more evil. The script did throw around the idea that he was tampering around to create a master race but is easily dropped after a comment or 2. Though normally whenever the phrase "master race" is thrown around in a movie or TV show, everyone assumes Germany is involved in some manner.

For a horror movie from the early 1960s, this has to be one of wilder movies of the time before the exploitive era of the late 60s. I never saw Manster as a kid. Though it seems that most who did see it thought it was a pretty warped movie. I'm sure I would have had I seen it back in my younger days...Granted, it doesn't have the sleaze of even the Beast of Yucca Flats. A guy running around on his wife is pretty raw for the typical monster movie before the coming of the scream queens in the 80s or the random chicks from Hammer's movies from the 1970s like Lady Frankenstein or Satanic Rites of Dracula.

This has to be one of the most anti-hero movies ever. I don't mean anti-hero like Dirty Harry or the Punisher. When the main character starts off just as functional alcoholic, that is his good point. After Dr. Suzuki takes him to the wilder side of Japan and a teeter totter ride into depravity. After, Larry was given the serum, he seems to booze even more. Well, good Larry moved onto running around on his wife and then apparently is justified to chew her out for checking on him because he's a real man.... The better question is how any woman could feel anything besides utter contempt and disgust for Larry. When Leisure Suit Larry is Sean Connery compared to this movie's hero, things aren't looking good. Larry is the kind of guy that would be voted most like to be dropped into an industrial meat grinder feet first.

If Linda were any more of a doormat, she'd have "WELCOME" tattooed across her forehead. Your spouse cheating on you, have them fix you dinner then throw them out and their dinner and tell them they were a lousy cook...However, Linda isn't even bothered that her husband has disappeared and gone on a sake-fueled geisha-samplin' hentai-hunt. She'd only have been worried had had he went to Thailand and done a Gary Glitter impression, I suppose. Seeing him stagger in with a woman doesn't do anything but make you demand that he drop her. "Ummm, lady if you catch your husband with another woman that normally is a sign the marriage is heading to Divorce Court."

Tara is the other woman and according to movie morality means she must pay for her sins. Well, it is even worth considering she also is the assistant of Dr. Suzuki. Tara has to answer for running around with a married man and the wages of science, too. Of course, that means, she has a smaller chance than Tokyo not being attack by Godzilla in a kaiju movie.

Satoshi (Tetsu) Nakamura is Dr Suzuki. He doesn't play this role with the deattached demeanor of Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell. I can't say I've seen any of his movies but still if you seen any kaiju or any Japanese sci-fi movies from the 50s and the 60s, there's a good chance you seen him in something like Mothra and Yog: The Space Amoeba . Near the end, Suzuki did seem to realize the error of his experiments which is more than can be said for most movie mad scientists. However, realizing the error of his ways still isn't enough for according to horror and most sci-fi movies from the 50s and 60s, the wages of science is death unless you're a Rugged 2 Fisted Man of Science like Peter Graves in Beginning of the End capable of handing any monster with a machine gun and ensuring others listen to you because of the right jab.

Most of the chases in the second half of the movie are so dark, you can't tell what is happening. Let my non-ranting ensue. The worst thing a movie can do is be boring. Still a close second is having it so dark, you can't tell chat is happening. Not every scene will be perfectly clear or filmed in perfect sunshine. Though, anything that distracts from the movie isn't good. Especially when it was mainly done just to keep from doing retakes or not being able to afford the script. Though just having the Manster knocking over a gaggle of police officers would have been good enough if it were seen. Thus endeth my rant...

Throughout the movie, there are the creepy music bits that sound like they were from most of the older horror movies. It isn't anything as creepy as say "Tubular Bells" from the Exorcist or the theme from Halloween. However, those are awfully hard to compete against. Still a bit of creepy music when either Larry is about to snap and whack someone is a nice touch. Just those few keys are more effort than most early 1960s monster movies ahve in them.

Manster is more than just a catchy title that whoever developed it should be given far more credit that what they got. "Man Monster." The movie seems like the typical mad scientist movie with a bit of man being overwhelmed by his beastly nature has shades of Dr Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. However, it is wilder than one expects for the time it came out though nowhere as wild as what came out by the end of the 1960s.

Quotable Dialogue
"You were an experiment that didn't work out."
"Because of my mutation serum, Larry will soon become a beast!"
"You think I covered all the wars cause I was weak."
"So, you're a witch doctor, eh?"
Morals of the Story
Business suits are suitable mountain climbing uniforms.
Alcohol wakes people out of stupors.
Husbands are allowed to go to weeks of geisha parties and be indignant when their wives complain.
Reporters assume all Japanese Buddhist Priests speak perfect Englsih...
Cleaning women expect to be hit in the head regularly.