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Film: The Monster
Year: 1925
Director: Roland West
Writer: Roland West, Crane Wilbur, Willard Mack and Albert Kenyon
Starring: Lon Chaney, Gertrude Olmstead and Hallam Cooley
Review:
This was a film that I was intrigued about. I found it when compiling my master list of horror films for 1925. Seeing that this was streaming on Tubi made it easy. What I didn’t realize until settling in was that this starred Lon Chaney. Getting the chance to check out another of his works made me excited.
Synopsis: a meek clerk who doubles as an amateur detective investigates strange goings-on at a remote mental sanitarium.
We start this film off seeing a dark road that is running through a country area. There is someone in the tree and they lower a mirror. A car comes down this path and panics when they see the reflection coming toward them, causing an accident. The driver is named Bowman. The person in the tree pulls him from the car and takes him away.
It is the next morning that an investigation into what happened comes. The insurance company sends someone to look into what occurred. It is from here that we follow Johnny Goodlittle (Johnny Arthur). He is the meek clerk from the synopsis and also the amateur detective. He pulls out a book that he’s using to help figure out what to do, which gets him mocked by the local deputy.
Something else here is that he’s caught in a love triangle with Betty Watson (Gertrude Olmstead) and Amos Rugg (Hallam Cooley). The problem is that Amos is rich. He has been taking Betty around in his car. Johnny points out to her that he hasn’t seen her much and she changes the subject.
Johnny also found evidence at the crime scene and showed it to the insurance investigator, Detective Jennings (William H. Turner). It is a letter with the address of the nearby asylum. On the back, written backwards is the word ‘help’. The problem is that this hospital is closed after being abandoned by Dr. Edwards (Herbert Prior). Johnny is convinced it means something so he goes out there at night to look for more evidence. Amos and Betty also end up there after a car accident.
It is here we see there is more going on. The asylum isn’t abandoned. Dr. Ziska (Chaney) reveals that he’s been here. He has a servant named Caliban (Walter James) who is asked to make up rooms for his guests. There is also this odd character of Daffy Dan (Knute Erickson) hanging around as well as this mysterious person who is causing the accidents, Rigo (Frank Austin). Our trio has to figure out what is happening here before it is too late, which could land them in an experiment by the strange Dr. Ziska.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. What is interesting to me is that this one isn’t talked about more. I know that it isn’t one of the more iconic roles for Chaney. He doesn’t have wild make-up on like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera or London After Midnight. This does have historical significance though being that this is an early mad scientist film. It also is one of the first ‘old dark house’ movies. That made me smile as a fan of this sub-genre/element. This is also a horror/comedy. That part seems to be due to being based on a stage play, which would help keep the audience engaged. Just elements that I wanted to credit here.
Now that I have that set-up, let’s delve into what we’re getting here. This is darker than other films I’ve seen from the era. It is whimsical, which does help to balance that tone. What we’re getting is a mad scientist, wanting to conduct an experiment where he will create a new person by transferring their soul. The hold up is that the person trying to do this experiment is needing a woman. They’ve only had men coming through until Betty. My only issue with this part of the story, they pull their punch with a reveal. There is also a plot hole with this local and the missing people as well.
Then moving from that element of the story to what made me smile, the ‘old dark house’. It is at this point that it started to feel like a play. The staging of it was part of it. There were comedic aspects at play. Caliban brings wine for the guests. Amos worries it is poisoned so he and Betty pour it into a water pitcher. Johnny doesn’t know this happened. He drinks from the pitcher and then is drunk. I did think that this handled the comedy and this part of the story well. There is this catacomb under the asylum. I did like when they were down there exploring.
There isn’t more for the story to go into so let’s shift to the acting performances. Now everyone here is over the top but since it is a silent film, people would go due to previous acting experiences. Chaney is great here. We don’t see him until the beginning of the second act. His make-up has him pale looking, but he does good things with facial expressions to seem menacing. Arthur is also solid as our lead. He adds comedy due to being bumbling. Olmstead and Cooley aren’t overly developed but give Johnny someone to play off. I like James, Erickson and Austin as the others that are at this asylum. The rest of the cast also rounded this out for what was needed.
Let’s then finish out with the filmmaking aspects. I thought that for being as early into cinema this is that it was made well. The cinematography is fine. It is static which you’d expect. I did like how they captured this asylum along with the hidden area underneath. Credit to the framing for that as well. I did like the makeup that was used for Daffy Dan and Rigo. They both have odd feelings about them. Other than that, I did enjoy the soundtrack that was synced up here. That fit what was needed. I would like to know if this was the originally intended music.
In conclusion, this was one that I’m glad I sought out. The story that we get here is interesting. We have an early mad scientist element with one of the first ‘old dark house’ films as well. The comedy that we get didn’t hinder this. That feels like a holdover from the stage version. The acting performances fit. Credit to Arthur and Chaney to lead the way. Everyone else rounded this out for what was needed. The filmmaking aspects were solid with the setting leading the way. I can only recommend this if you like silent era films as this is one, I’d say to check out, especially to Chaney fans.
My Rating: 7 out of 10