The Manster (1959)

Directors:

George P. Breakston
Kenneth G. Crane

Writers:

George P. Breakston (story)
William J. Sheldon (writer)

Release Date:

28 March 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Half-Man, Half-Monster!

Plot:

An American reporter in Japan is sent to interview an eccentric Japanese scientist working on bizarre experiments in his mountain laboratory...

Plot Keywords:

Experiment | Monster | Japan | Two Headed Monster | Two Headed Man

Cast

Peter Dyneley	...	Larry Stanford
Jane Hylton	...	Linda Stanford
Tetsu Nakamura	...	Dr. Robert Suzuki (as Satoshi Nakamura)
Terri Zimmern	...	Tara
Norman Van Hawley	...	Ian Matthews (as Van Hawley)
Jerry Ito	...	Police Supt. Aida
Toyoko Takechi	...	Emiko Suzuki
Kenzo Kuroki
Alan Tarlton	...	Dr. H.B. Jennsen
Shinpei Takagi
George Wyman

Also Known As:

Nightmare
Sôtô no satsujinki (Japan) (theatrical title)
The Split (Japan: English title) (theatrical title)
The Two-Headed Monster

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1960)

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Lopert Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Sam Raimi's "ARMY OF DARKNESS" pays homage to this film. When Ash has swallowed one of his little dopplegangers, he then grows an eye on his right shoulder, which results in him splitting into two beings; Good Ash and Evil Ash. In The Manster, the reporter is injected with a serum and later develops an eye, which grows into a head, resulting in him splitting into a good being and an evil one.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Army of Darkness (1992)

Waiting to be rediscovered!

I can't understand why 'The Manster' isn't better known! It's often unfairly lumped in with 'The Incredible Two Headed Transplant' and 'The Thing With Two Heads', but 'The Manster' is much more than a kitschy gigglefest. It is closer to another forgotten Japanese 60s movie, 'The Human Vapour', made around the same time. Both movies use horror/sf trappings to explore questions of identity and what it means to be human Philip K. Dick style. Neither reaches the giddy, hallucinogenic heights of PKD's best work, but they are both a cut above your average "monster movie" of the era.

'The Manster' concerns a cocky American journalist who befriends a charismatic Japanese scientist. The scientist's lifestyle seduces the journalist who goes off the rails and ignores his job, wife and responsibilities. He thinks he's just letting his hair down after several years of hard work, but doesn't realize that he is the unwitting guinea pig in an ambitious scientific experiment which turns out horribly wrong.

Try and see 'The Manster', and if possible make it a double bill with 'The Human Vapour'. You'll see that was a LOT more going on in Japanese fantastic cinema that Godzilla, Mothra, et al. 'The Manster' is a low key, imaginative movie just waiting to be rediscovered!