The Monster Walks

Treating this horror film as anything but camp and you will agree it's one of the worst films ever made. The acting is wooden, the writing amateurish (with leading lady, Vera Reynolds, saying to her fiancé, Rex Lease, "Oh Ted, take me away" at least five times, whenever something disturbing happens), and the production values poor. As a horror film by today's standards it's totally laughable, but in 1932 it was intended to scare audiences. You see a wall picture move, revealing a hole (gasp! someone is watching). You see a furry arm come through the headboard and threaten an unsuspecting sleeper. And there's a caged ape in the basement that may or may not know how to get out of his cage. (He's called an ape but is obviously a chimpanzee.) Willie Best, annoying billed as "Sleep N' Eat," provides the intended comedy relief and is as good as usual, but don't expect too much from anyone else. See it with a group and you'll all have some fun.

Forgetful Filmmakers Dept.: Lawyer Sidney Bracy is billed onscreen as "Herbert Wilkes." But in the will he reads, he is referred to as "William Wilkes."

Ever since the literary origins of the horror genre, stories about old dark houses have haunted the dreams of horror fans across the globe. Like in literature, cinema adopted this kind of stories quickly and this Gothic branch of horror was early explored by the filmmakers. Among the earliest movies of this kind in the "sound era", is this little known Gothic film by Frank R. Strayer starring no one else but Mischa Auer (whom years later would achieve fame and recognition as a comedian) in a creepy and very dark role.

The film is about the death of a millionaire scientist, and the subsequent reading of his will. Among them are his young daughter Ruth (Vera Reynolds), his brother Robert (Sheldon Lewis) and his two servants, Mrs. Emma Turg (Martha Mattox) and her son Hanss (Mischa Auer). After the reading of the will, mysterious events begin to happen as it seems that a killer is after those more benefited by the scientist' will. This kind of plot is nowadays a cliché, but in its day it was still fresh and a favorite both among the audience and among the writers.

Made just 5 years after the first sound movie, "The Monster Walks" is a stylistically a film that still retains some features from silent films. It is one of the first works of writer Robert Ellis (who would achieve fame writing the Charlie Chan films), more exactly, his first talkie; and sadly, it shows, as it feels too stagy for its own sake. However, Ellis' love for mystery is present and while clichéd, the plot is well developed and shows why he became a master of the genre.

Strayer's direction is also a bit restrained, as if he was experimenting with the new technology. Strayer builds up his film with care and at a very slow pace, and while his lack of expertise is obvious, it's interesting to see the steps that lead to his far superior "The Vampire Bat" and "The Ghost Walks", and eventually to his highly successful "Blondie" series. It is also worth to point out that he gave both Mischa Auer and Willie Best one of their first opportunities in the business.

The acting is a mixed bag of extremes, with some members of the cast being excellent while others give rather poor performances. Mischa Auer is without a doubt among the former and while he is more recognized as a comedian, he pulls off a role clearly inspired by Lugosi and Karloff's performances on the Universal films of 1931. Martha Mattox is equally impressive as his mother but is definitely Wilie Best (under the racist pseudonym of "Sleep 'n' Eat") who steals the show with his great talent for comedy. The rest of the cast is less impressive, and while Rex Lease makes a good lead, Vera Reynolds' over the top melodrama (probably another element from silent films) is a bit annoying and distracting.

Like most films done on the Poverty Row, "The Monster Walks" suffers of a terribly low-budget and even lower production values. The old dark house scenery becomes repetitive and modern viewers may be bored by this old style of film-making. The over the top acting of some members of the cast may also be another distraction that hurts the film, but the biggest problem lays on the fact that nowadays the plot is neither original nor interesting. This last detail is definitely not the film's fault, but viewers are to be warned.

"The Monster Walks" is not a classic, and definitely not a very good film, but it is a great chance to watch how film-making was evolving as it features the early work of four great artists of the 40s and how they learned the business. As a novelty, this film is very rewarding and a nice chance to watch non-Universal horror of the origins of film. 5/10

It is surprising how many "old dark house" movies there were back in the early days of talking pictures. It seems like every independent, Poverty Row studio made their fair share. Some are actually quite good even after all these years. I am about to talk about one of them. Stop me if you've heard this one before: a rich, reclusive, eccentric man passes away and his relatives gather for the reading of the will. What? You've heard this one already? Stick with me, it gets good. The dead mans brother (Sheldon Lewis, the Clutching Hand himself in a surprisingly subdued performance) is confined to a wheelchair and the servants (Martha Mattox, best remembered from THE CAT AND THE CANARY, 1927 and Mischa Auer later to costar in CONDEMNED TO LIVE, 1935) are the creepiest characters you ever saw. The family attorney (Sidney Bracy) is acting mighty suspicious too. Along comes the dead man's daughter (Vera Reynolds) who seems to be the only likable member of the family. With her comes her fiancee (Rex Lease, taking a break from westerns) and his chauffeur (Sleep n' Eat who later went back to his real name, Willie Best). Also in the house is Yogi, a large chimp whom the doctor used for experiments. Everyone in the house gets a chance to say "His death was so sudden!" so right away we are ready for foul play to be mentioned. Like all houses in this genre there are lots of secret passageways but at least this time the killer does not skulk around in a cloak and black hood. It looks like the killer is Yogi the chimp. Ah, but things are not always what they seem to be! Before the 65 minute running time is over we learn about secret love affairs, children, murder plots, bribery and madness. Sadly the weakest point in the movie is the heroine herself. It hardly takes more than a clap of thunder or a shadow to start her screaming "Take me away from here!" to her fiancee. Willie Best steals many scenes with his on-the-money delivery of many great lines. When informed that his room is in the basement near Yogi's cage he responds "Well get me an umbrella and I'll sleep on the roof." Once we know there is a killer loose in the house Willie is asked if he left his gun in the glovebox of the car and he replies "No sir, it's right here!" and pulls it from his pocket. Mischa Auer is quite effective as a menacing presence but he later abandoned drama and became quite a successful comedian. Sheldon Lewis gets much more to do in this movie than he does in THE PHANTOM (1931) where he does a retread of his old Clutching Hand character. Okay so the movie is old and the plot is nothing we have not seen before; this is still a fun movie and worth catching if you are studying early talkies or if you just want something to enjoy.

The owner dies and leaves his fortune to his daughter (Vera Reynolds), but the brother (Sheldon Lewis) wants it for himself and the son (Oscar nominee Mischa Auer) he is hiding. He plans to have the son eliminate everyone so he can grab the riches.

The plan goes awry when the son kills his mother (Martha Mattox) by mistake. He turns on his father and tries to kill the daughter.

It was a weird little film, just out of the silent era, and there was more talking than anything.

Of course, they have the stereotypical black chauffeur (Willie Best, who was listed in the credits as Sleep 'n' Eat). I kid you not! I last remember Best from High Sierra. He has a long career with numerous roles, probably many of them doing that stereotypical frightened black man.

Not very scary for a haunted house.

"The Monster Walks" is a very old and very cheap haunted-house mystery thriller without much mystery. Yet, considering the budget and the experience cast & crew members disposed of, this probably isn't such a bad movie after all. I'm sure that fans of early horror films will definitely detect a lot of charm and goodwill in this typical story about a wealthy daughter that is targeted for murder upon returning to her parental house for the regulation of her dead father's inheritance. Ruth has always been petrified by her father's pet-ape and, although safely caged in the basement, some malicious persons uses the animal to scare her senseless. Rex Lease is her all-knowing doctor/boyfriend who investigates the strange nightly events and eventually reveals the true culprit. Maybe the plot-twists would have intrigued me more if the actual climax wasn't stupidly mentioned on the DVD-box, but I still can't say the script is very complex or effectively misleading. There are one or two decent suspense-moments but overall this is a dull and unexciting poverty row movie. All the lovely clichés of 30's horror cinema are there, though, like the exaggeratedly polite servants, the seemly endless thunderstorm outside the castle and the black chauffeur-guy who simultaneously serves as the comic relief. This is an okay film as long as you don't expect to see another "The Old Dark House".