How to Make a Monster (1958)

When a master monster make-up artist is sacked by the new bosses of American International studios, he uses his creations to exact revenge.

Director:

Herbert L. Strock

Writers:

Aben Kandel (original story) (as Kenneth Langtry), Herman Cohen (original story)

Stars:

Robert H. Harris, Paul Brinegar, Gary Conway

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert H. Harris	...	Pete Dumond
Paul Brinegar	...	Rivero
Gary Conway	...	Tony Mantell (Teenage Frankenstein)
Gary Clarke	...	Larry Drake (Teenage Werewolf)
Malcolm Atterbury	...	Security Guard Richards
Dennis Cross	...	Security Guard Monahan
Morris Ankrum	...	Police Capt. Hancock
Walter Reed	...	Detective Thompson
Paul Maxwell	...	Jeffrey Clayton
Eddie Marr	...	John Nixon
Heather Ames	...	Arlene Dow
Robert Shayne	...	Gary Droz
Rod Dana	...	Lab Technician
Jacqueline Ebeier	...	Jane
Thomas Browne Henry	...	Martin Brace - director of 'Werewolf Meets Frankenstein' (as Thomas B. Henry)

Storyline

Accomplished but eccentric movie make-up artist Pete Dumond has been with the studio for decades and is totally devoted to his art especially in the creation of screen monsters. His world ends abruptly when new management acquires the company and arbitrarily decides that the horror cycle has run its course, and the studio will now concentrate on escapist musicals. When Dumond hears he will be pink-slipped, the neurotic but usually affable Pete turns psychotic and vows vengeance on the two movie executives responsible. Using a combination of hypnosis and a newly developed chemical formula, Dumond is able to use mind control to compel the young actors playing the teenage Frankenstein and werewolf to exact vengeance for him.

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Plot Keywords:

vengeance | monster | revenge | mind control | werewolf | 

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Taglines:

See the ghastly ghouls... IN FLAMING COLOR!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 July 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Satan mit den tausend Masken

Filming Locations:

ZIV Studios - 7950 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sunset Productions (III)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Samuel Z. Arkoff wanted Bela Lugosi for the lead in this film. Lugosi was an influence to Arkoff years before. Unfortunately, Lugosi had died in 1956.

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Goofs

The visitors to the studio are told they are about to visit the set of Horrors of the Black Museum. That film, which was also produced and written by Herman Cohen, was actually shot in England, not at the U.S. studio.

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Quotes

Pete Dumond: [Trying to justify horror films] Why, even psychiatrists say that in all these monster pictures there's not only entertainment, but for some people there's therapy. Well, you know, we never get over our childhood fears of the sinister - those terrifying faces we see in our nightmares. Well, through these pictures we can live out our hidden fears. It helps.

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Connections

Remade as How to Make a Monster (2001)

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Soundtracks

You've Got to Have Ee-Ooo
Lyrics by Skip Redwine Music by Paul Dunlap
Sung by John Ashley

User Reviews

Very interested but somewhat disappointing feature about a madman who is possessed by his own creations

During the 1950's,American International was the forefront of the "B" movie craze. During its heyday,the studio was famous for scary monster flicks and those juvenile deliquent tales and soforth. But in this one,there is a twist here and HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER does just that. It begins in a major Hollywood studio where a prop artist makes actors to look like monsters for a film they are shooting. Suddenly one of them is killed off and then another,and another until two actors find out just who is doing this and why. The answer,the prop artist is a madman who collects his figures as part of his obsession with his work,but with tragic and frightening results. Basically the rest of the film is shot in black and white,but the final 8 minutes of the film is in color. The color process wasn't the first time that AIP used this format,the other time was during the final scenes of "The Amazing Colossal Man"(1958) where the giant was brought down in color,but the rest of it was in black and white. Producers Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson wanted Roger Corman to produced,but instead took over the project which in turn was filmed right on the AIP set. Great storyline though,but in turn kinda of a disappointment. Look for a young Gary Conway(who would later appear in a dozen or so AIP films,and was later the regular in a Irwin Allen series called "Land of the Giants" on television)as the werewolf and Gary Clarke as a young but terrifying Frankenstein. It will resurfaced again on a local cable channel.