The Strangler's Revenge

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Movie
German title The Strangler's Revenge
Original title Bride of the Monster
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1955
length 68 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Ed Wood
script Ed Wood
production Ed Wood,
Donald E. McCoy ,
Tony McCoy
music Frank Worth
camera Ted Allan , William C. Thompson
cut Warren Adams ,
Igo Cantor
occupation

Bride of the Monster is an American horror film of director Ed Wood from the year 1955 . Bela Lugosi was seen in his last leading role in this film.

action

Dr. Eric Vornoff carries out experiments on people in his house, which is located in a swamp, in order to breed “atomic super-beings” from them. His assistant, Lobo, a silent giant, is responsible for the procurement of the material. Unpleasant contemporaries of Vornoff are either used for his experiments or thrown to the monster he created, an octopus, to eat. Professor Strowski, who was commissioned by a foreign power to bring Vornoff back to his homeland with his research results, met this fate.

After the journalist Janet Lawton discovered Vornoff's machinations, she almost became a victim of Vornoff herself. At the last moment she is saved by Lobo, who has fallen in love with her. Lobo dies in the flames in the laboratory after he has "irradiated" Vornoff and he has now become an "atomic super being" himself and has tried to kidnap Janet. Officer Craig - Janet's fiancé - and other officers rescue Janet. Vornoff finds his end in the clutches of the monster he created. An atomic explosion occurs because Dr. Vornoff, according to the police chief, “has sold out on God's creation”.

background

With this film, too, Ed Wood lived up to his reputation as a very idiosyncratic director . The story looks outrageous, the special effects were produced very simply and as cheaply as possible. A lot of the actors were clearly lacking in acting experience, and some of them were here for the first and last time in front of a camera.

Ed Wood put the worn-out, drug addict actor Bela Lugosi, whom he had previously employed at Glen or Glenda , as the mad scientist Dr. Vornoff and this time hoped to land a hit thanks to Lugosi's still high profile. Lugosi was weakened by his addiction and his age. He was therefore replaced by a double in several action scenes . It was the last leading role for the man who had once achieved world fame through the film Dracula . Despite the amateurish style of the film, Lugosi managed to retain a trace of its old glamor for his role.

Tony McCoy, who played the young cop Craig, had no previous acting experience. He got one of the lead roles because he and his father produced the film. Loretta King also acted for the first time in front of the camera. Allegedly, Wood had hired her because she had offered to help pay for the film. First Wood had his then girlfriend Dolores Fuller for the role.

Like other works by Wood, this film also achieved cult status among B- Movie fans , because its “trademarks” can also be found here in large numbers: Logical errors, shaky backdrops, overwhelmed actors, conspicuous foreign material from other films, jump cuts and much more. Ed Wood would later repeat or even “surpass” some of the misfortunes in his most famous film, Plan 9 from Outer Space .

World premieres

  • USA: May 11, 1955
  • Germany: March 25, 1960

Reviews

“A highly amateur horror film of the B category with the former goosebumps king Bela Lugosi. The pleasure in Ed Wood's miserable staging skills constantly rubs against the increasing boredom. "

- Lexicon of international film

Mishaps and inconsistencies

  • The lights are on in the old house at the beginning of the film. Even so, one of the two men claims that the house has been empty for 15 years.
  • The shots the man fired at the octopus would hit rather than save his friend, who has fallen into its clutches.
  • Octopuses cannot exist in swamps.
  • The tentacles of the octopus are visibly moved by the victims.
  • Lobo stands outside in the pouring rain. When he then enters the house, he is completely dry.
  • When you see Lobo entering the house for the first time, you realize that he doesn't know what to do and that he receives instructions from the off.
  • A microphone stand is used to “hang” the lamp above the operating table in Vornoff's laboratory.
  • As Lt. Craig enters the police chief's office, the chairs are suddenly rearranged.
  • Professor Strowski's aim is to bring Vornoff and thus his research results back to his homeland as inconspicuously as possible. Why he goes to the police beforehand and informs them of his presence in the country remains his secret.
  • Strowski and Lt. Craig arrange to meet at the police station the next morning. Although no one mentions the time, the police chief knows that Strowski will arrive at 10 a.m. Strowski doesn’t show up at the police station without an explanation, but drives straight to Vornoff.
  • When Janet Lawton collapses next to her car, Lobo takes her to Vornoff's lab. Vornoff found out who she is from the papers in her handbag. But she didn't have her handbag with her when she collapsed.
  • The police chief orders Lt. Craig to "keep an eye on" Strowski. Craig has no way of knowing where Strowski is at this point.
  • Although there are always uninvited guests in Dr. When Vornoff's house appears, his front door is never locked.
  • The animals in the swamp are taken from film material with a completely different exposure.
  • A pit in the swamp is poorly prepared and very clearly visible. Nevertheless, Craig, who says he has to do in the swamps again and again, falls into it.
  • After Craig has freed himself from the pit with quicksand, no dirt is visible on his clothes.
  • The police car is approaching during the day. When the people get out, it is night.
  • Vornoff orders Lobo, Lt. Bringing Craig into the next room, which he does. Afterwards, Craig is still chained in the laboratory so that he can attend the "experiment" on his fiancé. The way he is held captive is also very unusual: he was not chained to the wrists, as is usually the case in such cases, but to the upper arms.
  • Next to the refrigerator in the laboratory, where Craig is chained, was the couch that Janet Lawton lay on.
  • When the “giant” throws Lobo against the “wall” during a duel, the backdrop shakes considerably.
  • Vornoff mutates into a "giant", an "atomic superman" after being "irradiated" by Lobo. Bela Lugosi is clearly replaced by a double with high heels. The many bullets from the police can no longer harm him, but surprisingly he has no chance against the rather lame octopus in whose arms he falls.
  • Lt. Craig's clothes were torn while fighting Lobo. On Craig's arms there are badly hindering rags of his shirt, from which he only frees himself after a considerable time.
  • Craig takes care of a policeman who is lying in close proximity to a large "stone". The policeman says he has "only a few scratches" but is apparently injured so badly that he cannot get up. When Craig went to the "stone" a few seconds later to roll over with this Vornoff, the policeman had disappeared.
  • The "stone" that Craig sets in motion to roll over Vornoff is far too big for a single man to move. In addition, after coming under this "stone", Vornoff must have been crushed. Instead, Vornoff falls into the swamp after a jump cut and defends himself with hands and feet against the monster devouring him for a while.
  • The atomic explosion that apparently takes place in close proximity to the protagonists at the end of the film does not seem to affect them.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ World premieres according to IMDb

Web links