Yet another in the long list of Lugosi's B-movies as his career was in decline, this is of interest only to those who wish to follow that downward trajectory. Here he plays a stricken scientist, whose experiments have rendered him with ape-like instincts and a mass of facial hair. It's a thankless part that leaves Lugosi stumbling around for the most part in a simian stoop, leaving the best parts of the story to his supporting cast. But there's neither suspense nor horror enough to cover up the limits of the cast and the budget of the production. Ford and Currie, as the journo duo offering light relief, seem to have escaped from a different movie, and Urecal's wide-eyed posturing is ham of the highest order. Pity the unfortunate Van Horn, who spends his time in an unconvincing gorilla suit throughout. Oddly, there's an obscure, self-referential ending, which serves little or no purpose as far as I can see, and which points up the apparent irregularity of the comedy/horror subject matter.

A short waste of time, but a waste of time nonetheless.

"The Ape Man" (1943), directed by legendary hack William Beaudine (the man who gave us "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" [1966] and "Billy the Kid versus Dracula" [1966]), this b-movie gives us a deliciously hammy, over-the-top performance from Bela Lugosi, who had gone down a long way since his myth-making role in Tod Browning's "Dracula" (1931). The plot is the usual hokum: a crazed scientist, Dr. James Brewster (Bela Lugosi), with help from his more sane counterpart, Dr. George Randall (Henry hall), injects himself with spinal fluid that turns him into an ape man. But at sixty-nine minutes, the film moves so fast that plot logic is never anything you spare a great deal of thought on. Wallace Ford (who apart from having minor roles in a few Hitchcock movies and featuring in lots of TV shows, is most famous for starring in the brilliant "Freaks" [1932]), Ralph Littlefield and Louise Currie are decent and the whole movie on the technical side, is quite competent. A fun film for people who enjoy the works of Edward D. Wood Jr.

This may not be the worst Lugosi film I've ever seen -- I've seen *The Gorilla* and *Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla* and *Mother Riley Meets the Vampire** -- but it may be the worst one that wasn't trying to be a comedy.

We begin with screaming newspaper headlines: SCIENTIST MISSING! Must have been a slow news day. Some reporters are waiting for the arrival of the missing man's sister from Europe by ship. (They ignore the fact that World War Two is going on, a fact which is confirmed later by the hero stating that the reason he isn't in the military is because he's 4-F.) A sort of goofy-looking guy is hanging around, edging the reporters on to talk to her. Keep your eye on this character, who keeps popping up for no reason, because he's the key to this movie's insane ending.

The sister (who is some sort of psychic or medium, a fact which has nothing at all to do with the story) meets the missing man's assistant, who soon gives us our absurd backstory. It seems the scientist gave himself injections of gorilla spinal fluid. (We are never told why.) As they arrive at the hiding place of the scientist (Lugosi), we see that he has been transformed into an APE MAN!

Well, he actually looks more like an Amish farmer with back pain. Lugosi's make-up consists of shaggy hair and beard. He conveys his simian nature by walking slightly bent over. We first see him locked up in the same cage as a gorilla (or a guy in a bad gorilla suit.) This is later explained when Lugosi says that sometimes he loses his human rationality and the animal side takes control. There is not the slightest evidence later in the film to confirm this. Lugosi continues to act like nothing more than the world's hairiest mad scientist.

It seems the cure for being an ape man is human spinal fluid. The only source, of course, is freshly killed humans, so Lugosi and the gorilla go on a killing spree. When he gets a shot of the spinal fluid, the only change is that he can walk upright. Don't expect any kind of transformation scene in this movie.

The heroes are a spunky reporter (the 4-F guy) and a photographer named Billie. Attempted comedy ensues when the reporter finds out that Billie is a woman. While all of this nonsense is going on, the goofy-looking guy is shown peeking into the window of Lugosi's hiding place. In the very last scene of the movie, the heroes confront the goofy-looking guy and find out his confounding identity.

This is probably one of the worst films with Lugosi in it where he is just unable to raise the overall rating.