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16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :- Waiting to be rediscovered!, 18 August 2001 Author: INFOFREAKO from Perth, Australia
I can't understand why 'The Manster' isn't better known! It's often unfairly lumped in with 'The Incredible Two Headed Transplant' and 'The Thing With Two Heads', but 'The Manster' is much more than a kitschy gigglefest. It is closer to another forgotten Japanese 60s movie, 'The Human Vapour', made around the same time. Both movies use horror/sf trappings to explore questions of identity and what it means to be human Philip K. Dick style. Neither reaches the giddy, hallucinogenic heights of PKD's best work, but they are both a cut above your average "monster movie" of the era.'The Manster' concerns a cocky American journalist who befriends a charismatic Japanese scientist. The scientist's lifestyle seduces the journalist who goes off the rails and ignores his job, wife and responsibilities. He thinks he's just letting his hair down after several years of hard work, but doesn't realize that he is the unwitting guinea pig in an ambitious scientific experiment which turns out horribly wrong.Try and see 'The Manster', and if possible make it a double bill with 'The Human Vapour'. You'll see that was a LOT more going on in Japanese fantastic cinema that Godzilla, Mothra, et al. 'The Manster' is a low key, imaginative movie just waiting to be rediscovered!
11 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :- THE THIRD EYE, 24 March 2001 Author: (maxbemba@lovemail.com)
I saw this thing as a child, for chrissakes, and still vividly remember that darned eye! Since I didn't exactly knew what a movie was (I was a VERY SMALL little runt) and didn't understand a word of English, and though the movie was subtitled in Spanish I didn't yet know how to read, I was absolutely terrified! Were there really people around us who grew eyes on their shoulders, turn into really scary monkeys that split in half, and then each half tried to strangle each other? I don't understand. Is this for REAL!?It really took me a while to get over that one, I'll tell ya, until I saw The H-Man Monster and the whole stinking nightmare started over again.Is this for REAL!?
9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :- The One where the head grows out of the guy's shoulder., 16 November 1998 Author: Chris J. from Seattle, WA
Yep, this is one. The movie so many of us have seen and vaguely remember. What was the name of that weird movie where a head starts growing out of this guys shoulder? An eye pops out, then a whole head... then.....This is it.It's not a great film, but it's sure inventive. Probably the first two headed monster movie. Pre-dating that Ray Milland/ Rosie Grier Thing with Two Heads movie and the one with Bruce Dern too by over ten years. That counts for something.Well okay... this is a lot better than those movies. It's very similar to the classic Werewolf in London.An American reporter in Japan is injected with a serum by Dr. Suzuki--who's wife is a mutant creature from another unsuccessful experiment and is in a cage.Rash, then bump, then voila an eye pops out of the Reporter's shoulder. It gets worse. The murderous thing continues to grow right out of the American reporter's body.This is an American film, filmed on a very low budget in Japan.I'm sure it was the inspiration for all the two headed movies that followed and particuliarly How to Get Ahead in Advertising. The one where the boil.... oh never mind.Not a very good film, but fun and for many they remember the scene very well from their childhood... the.. gulp EYE coming out of the guy's shoulder. EEEEK....Cheesy, fun.
10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :- Not bad b-film that manages to be very subversive, 30 June 2006 Author: TimothyFarrell from Worcester, MA
This film suffers from many of the problems that plagued drive-in flicks of the era. Hammy acting, campy dialog, and poor special effects are all prevalent in this film. However, these factors are the reasons why many people (including myself) find these films to be so entertaining. In addition to that, there are several undertones that should be noted. It shows that these drive-in flicks were much more subversive and ahead of their time as far as content goes than most of the Hollywood product of the day.The plot of the film involves an American reporter who is granted an interview with a reclusive Japanese scientist. While at the scientist's house, he is drugged than injected with a serum. In the following days, those who know him begin to notice many personality differences. He is violent, crude, and aggressive. He is drinking heavily and always seems to be in an alcoholic stupor. While he was previously loving and faithful to his wife, he has sex with the geisha girls. All this climaxes in the legendary scene where he has a cramp in his shoulder. He looks into the mirror and realizes an eye growing out of it. He runs out of the house and eventually grows a second head. He than goes on a rampage as the authorities attempt to find and kill him.One of the factors in this film's cult status are all the Freudian subtexts. For one, it has a surprisingly frank (for it's time of course) depiction of sex. The memorable opening sequence has bathing geisha's being slaughtered by one of the scientist's monsters. Despite the bad makeup of the Manster, the scientist's mutated wife whom he keeps in a cage has a very creepy appearance. Also, the plot of the film can be taken as a metaphor for alcoholism. Maybe I'm looking too deep into this film, but one thing is for sure. It is quite lurid, bleak, and disturbing.Now there are many things that don't work in the film. One is the performance of Peter Dyneley. From his beginning as a loving family man to being a psychopath, he is unconvincing. Also, the makeup for the title creature and the growing of a second head is cheap even for a film like this.Despite several cheap public domain copies, I really recommend Retromedia's DVD. They give the obscure film (whose original negatives are no doubt lost) a very good transfer as opposed to the previous shoddy bargain bin dupes. Originally the second feature to the French horror classic "Eyes Without a Face", this is a watchable and subversive cult item. It was obviously seen by Sam Raimi who payed tribute to it in "Army of Darkness". One wonders if Cronenberg saw this, as a lot of the themes are present in his own works (done much more skillfully of course). If you enjoy films of this type, than this is recommended. (6/10)
8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :- Get Ahead with Ed, 21 June 2005 Author: spider63 from United States
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
OK, the Ape is named Kenji, and the two-headed monkey-man is Larry-Peter. So there is no Ed, but there are two heads. Not only that, but the cool Big Round Eye on the shoulder! It's growing! When I was a kid, this movie was on Creature Feature a couple of times and it terrified the bejesus out of me! I kept rubbing my shoulder and running to the mirror to check. I was afraid of going to the doctor (when my Mom would take me) and injections for a while. OK, I still am. Manster is a crude movie by modern standards, but back in 1962 is was pretty good. The idea of a second head growing on a man's shoulder and then becoming a separate entity was certainly different at that time from the Hammer Films reliance on Frankenstein and the Wolfman themes. Compared to Hammer Films, perhaps the special effects were not great, but the eye growing on the shoulder was well done. The wife of the doctor was horrible even compared to the Zombies of George A. Romero and Dario Argento.The scene where the monster and the man split from each other is still very good even by today's standards. The lighting was very well done in this black and white film. People who have grown up in the era of full color films and television don't realize how important lighting was in the old days of black and white movies. Lighting often sets the mood of a scene, and Manster had excellent scenes which were were dark but had enough detail to create terror. The film crew did a great job with this low budget production.In addition to the excellent low-budget special effects, Manster had some cute actresses! Recently, when I saw Manster again (buy buying the DVD), I was amazed at how gorgeous Terri Zimmern is. She plays Tara, the mad scientist's girlfriend. While she is supposed to be Japanese, she looks like a Hispanic woman, or possibly mixed race European. She is a stunning beauty, and only appeared in this movie according to IMDb. I wonder what she did with her life? She was a young beauty in 1962. 43 years later, she must be at least 65 years old. Did she ever pursue acting? Did she go into another career? Did she fade away into the mists of time? Will anyone ever know?
6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :- A film you never forget!, 11 October 2001 Author: lambiepie-2 from Los Angeles, CA
As one poster put it... this is the film you saw as a kid but never remembered its name. I did!!! It is kinda cheesy...but I've seen much worse. But for its time, I gotta hand it to the make up folks and the actor's reaction for that scene with the eye on his shoulder. Gosh! Ya gotta guess that most of the budget went into that, and what fun! There isn't one person I have shown this film to that hasn't gasped at it! I just wished the rest of the film was that way. This is one film that HAS to be in your Halloween collection...your "low budget" vintage B movie horror collection...you know you've got one. Set it right between the William Castle films and the Hammer Films!! Get this film, get it now. It's a hoot!
6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :- monster-movie classic with some unforgettable scenes, 10 December 2003 Author: sasullivan from USA
I watched this last night for the first time in 30-something years. From childhood, three scenes were indelibly stamped on my memory: the gibbering woman with the nightmarish melting face in a cage, the eye in the shoulder, and the infamous 'separation'. But what also was stuck in memory was the horrible screaming that accompanied some of these (not my own, but that of the characters ;>). Well, the movie's not *quite* as scary to my jaded sensibilities as it was then, but those scenes still had a kick; the unearthly howling, tearing sounds when the Manster 'separates' still chilled.While it'll never be mistaken for great moviemaking, this film deserves a bigger 'cult' status than it has.
4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :- Remembered vaguely by many. Slightly above average horror., 21 November 1998 Author: Chris J. from Seattle, WA
The scene so well remembered by so many (who usually don't remember the film's title) is when the eyeball appears growing out of the horrified man's shoulder.Later a head sprouts.This film is perhaps the first of the two headed monster movies. It pre-dates The Thing with Two Heads (the Ray Milland/Rosey Grier masterpiece) and The Incredible Two Headed Transplant (Bruce Dern's entry), not to mention Ghidrah, Hercules in the Haunted World, and the eerily similar How to Get Ahead in Advertising (the boil that grows).It's a film with a similar plot to the 1930's Werewolf London. A reporter goes to Japan and sees mad scientists' Dr. Suzuki (prior to inventing the car I suppose)wife is a mutant being kept in a cage. Suzuki injects the report however and soon an eye grows out of the reporter's shoulder, then a head and then....well it's pretty silly stuff of course, but... it's got the scene you saw as a kid and can't shake.Somewhat recommended.
2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :- On The Slopes Of Mount Fujiyama - Dr. Frankenstein San, 16 February 2008 Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York
The Manster in the 46 years since I first saw it in theaters as the lower half of a double bill has become quite the cult item. It's that bad it would almost have to be.On the slopes of Mount Fujiyama is the laboratory of Doctor Tetsu Nakamura who's conducting some kind of experiments in human evolution. Or possibly both since at one point in the film both events do occur. Anyway one fine day up pops wire service reporter Peter Dyneley who hears there might be a story. The doctor decides in a piece of sheer brilliance that a newspaper reporter is definitely not a guy who will be missed and he slips him an enzyme mickey during cocktails. The enzyme is something the good doctor developed to speed up the evolutionary process.I think the doc got his formula mixed up because what we see here is a retrogression into something primeval. Not only that, Dyneley starts growing a second head. And he goes on a homicidal rampage.Of course his strange behavior is worrying his wife Jane Hylton who just thinks maybe Pete's just playing around. Not to mention his reporter colleagues.Peter Dyneley and Jane Hylton were husband and wife in real life as well and were British, but playing Americans with the proper accent. I'm always fascinated when I hear non-Americans try to talk with our accent. It's always interesting to hear what others think we sound like to them.My guess is that Dyneley and Hylton signed on for The Manster to get a nice free Japanese trip. It certainly didn't do either of their careers any good.I don't know about others, but I split a gut when I see Doctor Nakamura give Dyneley that last shot and then later on he splits like a paramecium reproducing. Watching it 46 years ago and now, I'm still not sure what the doctor was trying to accomplish.What the producers accomplished was, tax write-off.
5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :- One of My Childhood Favorites, 16 February 2002 Author: Sonja (SonjaSeabon@aol.com) from United States
I too remember this film from my childhood! Love it, Love it, Love it! Yeah, the eye in the shoulder and then the monster breaking free! It's the best!
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