How to Make a Monster

source: How to Make a Monster

If you have seen I Was a 'Teenage Werewolf (1957)' & 'I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)' first then you will recognize the Werewolf and Frankenstein's Monster in this film. You do not have to see the first two films to watch 'How To Make A Monster' because the story has nothing to do the first two films directly - each film is a story all on it's own. "How to Make a Monster' is a fairly interesting, campy and a fun flick. It's a B film but one of the better B horror films from the 1950s. I think it took the idea of putting the Werewolf and Frankenstein's Monster from the Universal classic 'Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man' but this film is totally different - only the idea of the two monsters in the film together is the same. This movie is actually more of a crime film with the use of 'monsters' to help commit the crimes. As I said earlier this film is fun to watch but it's nothing spectacular either. 7/10

deliciously fun revenge movie with lots of gay sub- and not so subtext a pair of lovers working in the makeup dept of AIP, one dominant the other submissive, are faced with the big faze out... well, one of them is not about to take it lying down so to speak! this is a richly observed little movie. lots of brilliant touches - for example the makeup job for the teen werewolf is as good or better than much of what we see today, while the teenage whatsits looks like some kind of paper mache effort attempted by a blind man. the effect is of something gone terribly wrong. the performances are more than adequate and the lead Robert H. Harris is nothing short of inspired. don't want to say anything to spoil or ruin, but if you have the least taste for camp, get busy and track down this amusement packed spectacular!

American International Pictures, that famed home of countless delightful B flicks, takes self-referential aim at its own filmography with this knowing script (by the legendary producer Herman Cohen and his frequent collaborator Aben Kandel). It can work as a follow-up to the two A.I.P. "Teenage Werewolf" and "Teenage Frankenstein" classics, with two young actors, Gary Conway (the actual Teenage Frankenstein) and Gary Clarke ('The Virginian'), working on the studios' final monster movie. You see, the new regime at the studio have decreed that the current monster movie cycle is over, and they want to concentrate on upbeat diversions like musicals. This doesn't sit well with veteran makeup effects designer Pete Dumond; unsung character actor Robert H. Harris ("Valley of the Dolls"), in a rare case of top billing, plays the unstable Dumond. He can't abide the thought of his career possibly being over, so he takes revenge on the new executives, using a new formula in his makeup to make Tony and Larry (Conway and Clarke) very suggestible. Once they are all made up, they make for handy murderers. Dumond and his weak-willed longtime assistant Rivero (Paul Brinegar, "High Plains Drifter") must then dodge frequent questioning by some very determined police. The landscape is dotted with a variety of familiar character actors - Harris, Brinegar, Malcolm Atterbury ("The Birds"), Morris Ankrum ("Earth vs. the Flying Saucers"), Paul Maxwell ("Aliens"), Thomas Browne Henry ("Beginning of the End"), and Robert Shayne ('Adventures of Superman'), as well as the various creations of real-life monster maker of the era, Paul Blaisdell. These creations also figure into a final sequence that is filmed in color in order for us to properly appreciate them. John Ashley (the later "Blood Island" film series) does a brief musical number. Overall, the movie offers quite a bit of fun. It is capably directed by Herbert L. Strock, who'd done "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein", as well as other flicks like "Gog", "Blood of Dracula", and "The Crawling Hand". It will have the most resonance for "monster kids" of all decades, but particularly those who originally got to see these efforts in theaters. No, it doesn't sport a lot in the way of atmosphere, suspense, or major scares, but it's pretty hard to resist, just the same. Seven out of 10.

This film needs to be viewed as the third film in a trilogy. I really enjoyed I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, the latter in particular is quite hilarious in places, mostly intentionally. However, I was very impressed with How to Make a Monster. This film may qualify as the first post-modern sequel. It openly acknowledges that the first two movies were just movies. Set in American International Studios (How Arkoff and Nicholson must have wished this was true), it is an interesting satire on Hollywood politics. It seemed that AIP were trying to move in a new direction, away from the teen-centred themes of the first two. This film focuses more on Robert H. Harris as Pete Drummond, the studio's greatest make-up man. After finding out he's being sacked by the new studio owners, he vows to get his revenge by murdering them using his own monster creations. This involves hypnotizing his two favourite teenage boys after applying their monster make-up, and the ease with which he does this suggests that murder comes easily to him. This coupled with the predatory sub-text makes him a very unpleasant person indeed. (At one point he also makes himself up as what appears to be Rondo Hatton in order to murder a security guard). I may be accused of reading too much into what is essentially a drive-in monster movie, but HTMAM can be read as a warning to young men to avoid old predatory homosexuals, a theme which also ran through the first two movies, but more overtly so in this movie. In each film the main scientist (hey, movie make-up is a science too) has a camp, passive assistant, and they practically drool over the young male specimens at their control. This is particularly evident in IWAT Frankenstein, which focuses in great detail on the physique of the teenage monster himself. In HTMAM Drummond elucidates at great length how much he enjoys spending time with these young men, and attempts to develop a powerfully corrupting and controlling influence over them under the pretence of helping their careers. Equally, the message of this film could simply be: If a creepy old guy invites you round for dinner, and you find he has a large collection of heads on pedestals, don't stay for dessert. HTMAM features less overtly comical moments than I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (who can forget the classic line, "I know you have a civil tongue in your head! I sewed it there myself!), and has less to say about the awkwardness of adolescence which gave I Was a Teenage Werewolf its resonance with audiences, but is still an interesting and entertaining movie, and one which completes the trilogy with the wit and style that you associate with the majority of American International Pictures drive-in movies. DVD extras: This DVD was released as part of The Arkoff Library Collection in the UK. Each DVD contains identical extras: a selection of original and highly amusing trailers for such classics as Earth vs the Spider, The Brain Eaters and War of the Colossal Beast. The jewel in the crown however is a fifty minute audio interview with AIP producer and B-movie legend Samuel Z. Arkoff. He starts with his own life story, and how he got into the business, and has lots of anecdotes about the hundreds of films he has been responsible for. This interview is worth the cost of the disc alone. It is worth noting that Lion's Gate Films have recently announced the R1 releases of The Arkoff Library, although there are no details yet of extras.

How to Make a Monster is an American International Pictures film about and set on the lot of American International Pictures. The premise is that the studio has been sold, and the new owners are going to make some major changes, including canning in-house employee Pete Dumond (Robert H. Harris), a noted master of horror make-up. It then becomes a relatively simple revenge flick, with a nice, slightly sci-fi twist in the method of revenge. The idea behind this film is very clever. It also provided an effective means of saving money on the production, since not many sets had to be built or dressed, and even when that was necessary, AIP was able to use materials on hand from other films, such as the gallery of masks, in a way that makes this a self-referential treat for horror fans. The idea is good enough that especially in our modern era of film industry cannibalization, it's surprising that it hasn't been used far more often. Aside from the admirable tightness of the script and the evergreen attraction of revenge films, How to Make a Monster works as well as it does because of the performances. Harris is a fairly subtle psycho, and extremely effective as an anti-hero. Especially in contemporary times, his situation--getting laid off after a company takeover--will find him many sympathizers, but it's also that he plays the role with such a mellow, likable, grandfatherly charm, and a self-righteousness rooted in his expertise and pride in a job well done. As others have noted, there are subtexts in the film of (homo)sexual predation, which give an added air of creepiness to Harris. His unwitting targets on that end, Tony Mantell (Gary Conway) and Larry Drake (Gary Clarke), are played with an appropriate wide-eyed and willing innocence. If there's a flaw in How to Make a Monster it's that nothing about it--except maybe the very final scene--is particularly atmospheric or suspenseful, but oddly, it really doesn't matter, because it's a good story told well enough that it keeps you engaged for its length. I still haven't quite figured out why a few American International Pictures, including this one, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) and War of the Colossal Beast (1958), have the final scenes in color (I know it was a gimmick, but I don't really get the attraction of it as a gimmick), but it doesn't disrupt the flow of the film and it's nice seeing the gallery of masks in color.

Plot- a souless eastern movie studio takes over an old Hollywood monster-making studio and fires the production employees. But they haven't foreseen make-up artist Harris' 25-year devotion to his craft or his secret formula that turns his fake monsters into killers. So Harris ain't leaving his job easily. Clever premise that unfortunately flattens out with too many pointless scenes between story-driving episodes. Those early studio scenes behind a movie shoot are grabbers for old flick fans, as is the power grab by arrogant magnates taking over the old studio. I especially liked the skimpy forest set-up that sort of covers a monster lurking behind. No wonder those old movies I am addicted to were such cheapos. Trouble is these revealing episodes soon give way to a spot-lighted Harris showcase, along with too much drab police procedure. Unfortunately neither does much to build suspense. Still, it's good to see movie stalwart Morris Ankrum picking up a payday in his usual authoritative role. Anyway, I could have definitely used more eye candy in place of Harris's endless close-ups. All in all, it's an imaginative premise that fails to develop its unusual potential. Too bad an efffective re-write didn't exploit that potential. Nonetheless, I've got to admit that any flick that headlines two such unknowns as Harris and Brinegar merits some kind of recognition.

Everyone knows that makeup artists are expert hypnotists and can make people do things no other hypnotist can do. You must believe this or HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER might make very little sense--as this IS the premise for the film! Let me back up a bit. A long-time studio makeup man who specializes in monsters is fired when his studio is sold. The big-wigs insist that monster films are a dying breed and so his services are no longer needed. So, to get revenge, the makeup man hypnotizes two young men who are in his makeup chair for one final monster film. Made up (very poorly) like Frankenstein and the Wolf Man, they kill studio execs yet have no recollection of it afterwords. That's because as they sit their getting the prosthetics applied, the makeup artist talks to them--hypnotizing them very subtly and giving them the command to forget. By the way, I really, really wish that hypnosis DID work that way--I'd use it for evil and global domination myself...or at least to get out of traffic tickets and get free stuff. I have a decent amount of graduate training in clinical hypnosis and believe me, if you could do this sort of brainwashing, someone would have done it a long time ago! This is the sort of silly drive-in movie that American-International excelled at in the 50s. None of these films were brilliant or had great production values, but they were entertaining on a simple level. And, despite the silly premise and bad makeup I mentioned above, you can't help but like HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER. It's a nice behind the scenes look at the studio and it is a pleasant little diversion. By the way, for a long-time makeup man, you sure think the guy would have done a better job with his Frankenstein. It just looked like some guy who was standing too close to an A-bomb blast and not the famous monster! Also, interestingly the film changes from black & white to color towards the end. At this point, the makeup man shows the actors his little home gallery of masks--it's really actually very cool, as many of the American-International monsters and aliens are there in this room. Cool stuff.

How To Make a Monster is the third of the movies from American International to feature teenage monsters and follows I Was a Teenage Frankenstein and I Was a Teenage Werewolf. A movie maker, Pete Dumond is fired when new people take over the studio where he works, American International. Instead of horror pictures, the new owners specialise in musicals and comedies. Pete gets revenge on the new owners by murdering them using his movie monsters, the werewolf, Frankenstein monster and also himself dressing up as a caveman. Victims include a security guard. He then takes his assistant and the two boys he uses for the monsters back to his place and after killing his assistant, he accidentally sets fire to his home but the boys manage to escape the inferno just as coppers arrive. We get to see heads from various other monsters from AIP movies in Pete's home, including the carrot monster from It Conquered the World. The cast includes Robert H Harris, Paul Brinegar, Gary Clarke, Gary Conway (Land of the Giants) reprising his monster role from I Was A Teenage Frankenstein and sci-fi regulars Morris Ankrum (Invaders From Mars, Earth vs the Flying Saucers) and Robert Shayne (The Giant Claw, Teenage Caveman). This movie is a must for all 50's sci-fi/horror buffs. Great fun. Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

It can never be said that American International Pictures doesn't have a sense of humor. The studio that gave us such classics as I Was A Teenage Frankenstein and I Was A Teenage Werewolf joins the two teen monsters in a cute satire of the genre. A new day is dawning at American International, the new studio heads want no more monster pictures that were the bread and butter of its existence and paid a nice living for makeup artist Robert H. Harris. They want lighter fare for the public and give poor Harris the old heave ho. But Harris isn't taking it lying down. A new makeup base applied to the skull allows Harris to control those he applies it on and he takes his two teen stars from Teenage Frankenstein and Werewolf and starts sending them on a murder spree and bringing back trophies. Gary Clarke and Gary Conway were Harris's two subjects and they and Harris went along with the fun. A whole lot of familiar character actors get involved. It's American Internation so don't expect any high production values. But it actually isn't too bad. How To Make A Monster is made up in fact with tongue firmly in cheek.