IMDb RATING
5.5/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
When a master monster make-up artist is sacked by the new bosses of American International studios, he uses his creations to exact revenge.When a master monster make-up artist is sacked by the new bosses of American International studios, he uses his creations to exact revenge.When a master monster make-up artist is sacked by the new bosses of American International studios, he uses his creations to exact revenge.
Rodd Dana
- Lab Technician
- (as Rod Dana)
Jaclyn Hellman
- Jane
- (as Jacqueline Ebeier)
Thomas Browne Henry
- Martin Brace
- (as Thomas B. Henry)
Paulene Myers
- Millie
- (as Pauline Myers)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was advertised with the tagline "See the Ghastly Ghouls in Flaming Color!" However, most of the movie was in black and white with only the final two reels in color.
- GoofsThe visitors to the studio are told they are about to visit the set of Horrors of the Black Museum (1959). That film, which was also produced and written by Herman Cohen, was actually shot in England, not at the U.S. studio.
- Quotes
Jeffrey Clayton: [Surprised that Pete has declined severance pay] Turn down money? Maybe you've been living too long with these monsters!
Pete Dumond: Sometimes I find them better company than humans.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Aweful Movies with Deadly Earnest: How to Make a Monster (1970)
Featured review
Silly premise but still quite watchable.
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.
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.
helpful•72
- planktonrules
- Jun 29, 2009
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Der Satan mit den tausend Masken
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 13 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was How to Make a Monster (1958) officially released in Canada in English?
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