Man Made Monster (1941)

I remember seeing this as a young boy one rainy Saturday afternoon during our local horror show "Sir Graves Ghastly Presents." I actually cried during the final scene. I wondered if it would have the same impact some 30+ years later. Yup.

Lon is great here as 'Dan McCormick' and he elicits tremendous audience sympathy as we see he is an unassuming, charming, genuinely nice man, being being totally corrupted by a twisted deviant - all in the cause of science, of course! The other actors are very good here also.

I don't think it would've impacted me anywhere near as much if it weren't for the inclusion of the little dog into the story. That's what tugged at my heartstrings then, and again the other day as I watched it for the first time in so many years. It was a brilliant plot device, because we all know that animals can easily sense a person's true nature so much better than other people. The little dog's trust and affection of 'Dan' makes us take him to heart, too. This makes his tragic demise so much more powerful.

Or am I getting too sappy about a 59 min. formula film that hardly anyone else seems to extole the virtues of? Guess I'm just a wuss.