TERROR IS A MAN (1959)
Tagline: A Monster Science Created But Could Not Destroy!
(Sci-Fi, Horror, Take It Easy Walter) [PG]
Note: This movie was never given an MPAA rating. I think it would have been a [PG]. This movie is also called BLOOD CREATURE.
Sometimes I think I’ll die on this island.
In this one, William Fitzgerald encounters a storm and is shipwrecked on an island and runs into Dr. Charles Girard and his wife. Dr. Girard’s plan is to convert a panther into a human and as word of his exploits got to the natives they left the island. It doesn’t take long before this man-beast embarks on a killing spree involving humans.
First off this movie is one of a series of films that were imported from the Philippines that fit right into the sci-fi genre. It’s pretty clear that this movie was inspired by H.G. Wells's THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, but I am glad it didn’t feel like that movie, because I can’t stand THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. What we do get is a very slow-moving first 60 minutes. I don’t want to say it’s hard to watch, but it could have been a whole lot more interesting given this premise.
Acting wise most of this thing is driven by Demark actress Greta Thyssen who plays Francis Girard. She was famous for having a Marilyn Monroe look, being 1952’s Miss Denmark and JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET. Richard Derr is also good in this as William Fitzgerald as much as I didn’t like the actual character. His other big sci-fi claim to fame was 1951’s WHEN WORLD’S COLLIDE. We also get a grim but convincing performance from Francis Lederer who plays Dr. Girard. He was probably most famous for playing Dracula in THE RETURN OF DRACULA. So needless to say, the acting in this thing is pretty solid.
I will say these movies that have dudes turning humans into animals or animals into humans or rabbits into psycho rabbits to improve mankind always struck me as a little janky motive-wise. I guess to an extent I can understand some sick madman wanting to be a Frankenstein type, but even the motives there get weird once you get past the “I want to be able to rejuvenate body parts on a human to stave off death and sickness”. So if there is a flaw here, it’s just Dr. Charles Girard and his crazy cat-s—t crazy motive. What also doesn’t help the plot is that his wife is disloyal. I think plot-wise it might have been better to say she was a fiancé that slowly realized her man was all jacked out and then befriended William. Instead, we end up with a marital infidelity problem that for me is always a huge downer in any storyline.
One pretty funny thing about this movie is the notion William seems to object to everything that Dr. Girard says, but does nothing about it. If I wasn’t going to fist-fight the mad doctor, I would have at least gotten in a boat on the first day with normal weather and gotten the heck off that island.
What we do get on screen is just okay overall. I do appreciate that it wasn’t an exact rehash of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, but more of a subtle approach with a few human plot points I wish they had left out. Cutting a good 20 minutes out of this thing would have done it some huge favors.
Overall TERROR IS A MAN is a 3 out of 7. The fun in this film is just the nostalgia and the acting is more than adequate, but be warned, this is a very slow burn.
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