Apart from Spider Baby (1967) and The Haunted Palace (1963), I don't think I've been very impressed with the Lon Chaney Jr. Movies that I have seen so far (no, I don't think much of The Wolf Man): he's just not a very good actor-certainly not in the same caliber as other Universal greats such as Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Bela Lugosi. In Man Made Monster (AKA The Electric Man), Chaney gets solid support from Lionel Atwill (as the villain, obviously), but the film is yet another disappointment, the star putting in a wooden performance as carnival performer Dan McCormick, AKA Dynamo Dan The Electrical Man, whose act involves him taking jolts of electricity.
When Dan survives a bus crash into a pylon that kills everyone else, scientist Dr. John Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds) is intrigued and invites him to take part in tests to see if the man has built up an immunity to electricity. John's lab partner Dr. Paul Rigas (Atwill) has other ideas: he wants to expose Dan to ever increasing voltage to turn him into an obedient slave with a dependency on electrical power. When Dr. Lawrence leaves to go to a conference, Rigas seizes the opportunity, zapping Dan with more and more volts, getting him hooked on regular doses of juice, eventually turning him into a glowing killer.
With Chaney out-acted by a pooch (Corky the Dog, who has quite the impressive filmography), some not-very-special effects (the fully-charged Chaney looking like he's had his Ready Brek), and a predictable finale in which 'the electrical man' goes on the rampage after being given several jolts in the electric chair (having been found guilty of the murder of Dr. Lawrence), Man Made Monster is an unexceptional B-movie in almost every way.
4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.
When Dan survives a bus crash into a pylon that kills everyone else, scientist Dr. John Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds) is intrigued and invites him to take part in tests to see if the man has built up an immunity to electricity. John's lab partner Dr. Paul Rigas (Atwill) has other ideas: he wants to expose Dan to ever increasing voltage to turn him into an obedient slave with a dependency on electrical power. When Dr. Lawrence leaves to go to a conference, Rigas seizes the opportunity, zapping Dan with more and more volts, getting him hooked on regular doses of juice, eventually turning him into a glowing killer.
With Chaney out-acted by a pooch (Corky the Dog, who has quite the impressive filmography), some not-very-special effects (the fully-charged Chaney looking like he's had his Ready Brek), and a predictable finale in which 'the electrical man' goes on the rampage after being given several jolts in the electric chair (having been found guilty of the murder of Dr. Lawrence), Man Made Monster is an unexceptional B-movie in almost every way.
4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.