INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN (1956)

INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN (1956)

Tagline: The Screen's 300,000 Volt SHOCKER!

(Sci-Fi, Crime, Silent Revenge) [PG]

Note: The MPAA did not give a rating for this movie, but I am guessing it would have been a [PG]. This movie came out in theaters as a double feature with either WORLD WITHOUT END or INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. 

You planned the whole job. You hired us. When you found out I stashed the money you decided it was time for me to die. You got those two crumbs to turn state's evidence on me. You stinkin' rotten mouthpiece.

In this one, a criminal known as “Butcher” Benton is sentenced to death and executed for an armored-car hold-up. Before he dies he claims he will come back from the dead and punish the three men that double-crossed him. Shockingly his body is taken by Professor Bradshaw who believes he is doing good by bringing things back to life. He decides “Butcher” is his next subject and he succeeds to horrifying effect. “Butcher” is out for revenge and is seemingly indestructible!

First off this movie has the legendary Lon Chaney Jr. in it. Chaney was in everything from THE WOLFMAN to BRIDE OF THE GORILLA and had a storied career that spanned from 1922 to 1971. As famous as Lon Chaney Jr. was though, not all of his movies were good and this one is pretty much one of the worst. Perhaps HILLBILLY’S IN A HAUNTED HOUSE is worse, but I am not running to see that anytime soon. Outside of the opening scene where “Butcher” makes his threats, Lon Chaney Jr. who plays the character doesn’t have a single speaking line for the rest of the movie. So not only is the indestructible man, hard to “destruct”, but he's also super quiet. 

The lighting for this movie is fine and the sets are typical b-movie, but the script is horrible. The plot is overly simplistic and really doesn’t offer anything new. Normally I can glean a few fun moments from even the worst plot, but this feels hollow and uninspired even creatively. It’s essentially a Frankenstein story with a bit of noir and crappy editing and a burlesque house. I think this could have worked if they had done something different with the “way” the indestructible man got indestructible, but nope. 

Regarding the acting, it does feel like everyone was trying. For the standouts, we get Max Showalter who had a very long acting career that had him involved in over 100 roles. He plays Lt. Dick Chasen in this but is best known for SIXTEEN CANDLES and THE MONSTER THAT CHANGED THE WORLD. We also have a Ross Elliott appearance as Paul Lowe (one of the criminals the “Butcher” wants revenge on). No stranger to sci-fi Elliot was also in MONSTER ON CAMPUS, THE CRAWLING HAND, and THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS among others. The female lead is Marian Carr as Eva Martin. She doesn’t have a ton of lines though. Even though she has a very short role, it’s also worth noting that Marjorie Stapp was in this movie basically just freaking out. Marjorie was in several sci-fi and horror films including KRONOS and THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD as well as others. She even made an appearance in an episode of the TV series “Quantum Leap”. 

I wish I liked more about the movie. The poster is actually fine and even the score fits, but it feels like too much was left out and there are too many throw-away characters that I wish we had heard more from. I do like that they at least explained why “Butcher” lost his voice. If you like noir films more than I do, or even the TV show “Dragnet” this might be for you, but I found myself checking out several times due to the terrible dialog and just couldn’t get into this thing. 

For those reasons, I have to score this a 3 out of 7. I don’t see myself checking it out again unless we’ve just run out of 1950’s sci-fi to “re-watch” at some point.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF C.G.K. PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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