An evil doctor uses a carnival to mask his experiments with ape blood on women. A medical student catches wind of his plan and trys to stop him.This is one of Bela Lugosi's better films. I think it's thanks to director/screenwriter Robert Florey and cinematographer Karl Fruend. Lugosi had experience with both men and was comfortable working with them. To put things simply, it's a German horror film with American funding. You can see it in the set design, in the lighting, the camera work, even the script was a lift from Das Cabinet die Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) but uses an ape instead of a somnambulist. The trademarks of German Expressionism are there. This makes the movie, somewhat unique for it's time.
There are some flaws to the movie, but I believe these flaws were either out of the hands of the crew or were, at the time, limits to the technology they had. Constant cuts from man in ape suit to chimpanzee is a bit annoying. Florey was irked when he was told to eject some humor into the story to "cut the tension". I was irked too. The most the comedy was bad even for his time. It doesn't work and feels 'horned in at times. This has become somewhat the mark of the Hayes Code at the time.
This is a movie that needs to be in anyone's horror collection. No ands, ifs, or buts. Get it! NOW!
Four stars.
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