Plot Details: This opinion reveals everything about the movie's plot.
Of the 7 actors in the 1932 “horror classic” THE MONSTER WALKS, I believe it was Willie Best as Exodus the chauffeur who had the most sense; he was billed under a pseudonym. Then again, considering the pseudonym he chose, maybe not. The credits list “Exodus………….Sleep ‘N’ Eat." WHAT??? He billed himself as SLEEP 'N' EAT???
THE MONSTER WALKS is the story of Ruth Earlton who returns one stormy night to her childhood home (a mansion, of course) for the reading of her father’s will. Also present are the lawyer (Mr. Wilkes), Ruth’s fiancee (Dr. Ted Clayton), Ruth’s uncle (Robert), the maid (Mrs. Krug), and the maid’s son (Hanns). And locked up in the basement in his cage is Yogi, Mr. Earlton’s “ape” (although the posters for the movie advertise a hulking brute of an ape in the background, Yogi is really a regular-sized chimp, and not once does he ever leave his cage).
Strange goings-on take place during the night as Ruth (sole inheritor of her father’s estate) is woken late at night by a large furry arm reaching out from a secret panel behind her bed. She screams and everyone comes running. Yogi’s cage is checked, but everything seems to be in order there. So who, or WHAT, was after Ruth?
Alright, enough of this. I’m not even going to try to instill any drama in this thing, I might as well just tell you and save you the trouble. Robert (Ruth’s uncle) is an invalid who is being cared for by his brother (Ruth’s dead father). But Robert wants the estate to himself, not to be a ward of it, so he tells his son, Hanns (DUN-DUN-DUN, yes, Hanns is the illegitimate lovechild of Robert and the maid) to kill Ruth so Robert, as the only living relative, will then have all that money to himself. However, after things go wrong on the first go-round, Mrs. Krug winds up sleeping in Ruth’s bed and when Hanns (wearing a large fake gorilla arm for some reason) reaches out from the panel and strangles the sleeping woman, he thinks he’s killing Ruth, but in fact he’s killed his mother. Upon discovering his mistake, he then goes after Robert who forced him into it, but Robert survives and warns Dr. Clayton and Mr. Wilkes who arrive in the basement just in time to save Ruth, whom Hanns has tied to a post while he whips at Yogi. Yogi, luckily, grabs the whip and uses it to haul Hanns closer where the chimp is able to strangle the murderer and everyone lives happily ever after . . . except Ruth’s father, Mrs. Krug, and Hanns.
Man, I’ve seen some bad movies while working through this series, but holy crap this has got to be in the top 5. Not only is it’s 60-minute running time about 50 minutes too long, the actors might as well be wind-up toys for all the conviction they show. Myself, I wasn’t aware automatons existed in 1932.
And the camera work is no better. Each and every shot in the movie looked like director Frank Strayer set up the shot, started rolling, and walked away. The movie was obviously shot with a tripod, but someone should have informed the cameraman that the thing could be moved side to side at the very least.
The pace of the movie is abysmal. The first ten minutes are devoted to setting up the situation--dead father, daughter coming for will-reading, invalid uncle, chimp in the cellar (see, the audience is supposed to believe that Yogi--who has always been jealous of Ruth, is trying to murder her)--while the next 20 minutes bring in Ruth and Clayton, then the reading of the will, and the last half hour is the murder and resolution. And it’s all done without one single note of music. You sometimes forget just how important music is to a movie until you watch an hour of one in near silence (Sure, CLOVERFIELD was sans music except for the opening scenes at the house party, but CLOVERFIELD also really DID have a giant monster and lots of action). And when the bulk of the action is dull people walking around mumbling to each other about whether or not Yogi’s cage is locked, you REALLY notice the lack of score.
You know, you’d think that a movie called THE MONSTER WALKS would have a monster or that, failing that, the real instigator of the conflict would be able to walk. Alas, neither is true in this case. Maybe it should have been called THE INVALID HUMMED AND HAWED WHILE HIS BASTARD SON WORE A GORILLA GLOVE.
Either way, I’m glad I’m done with it. I certainly won’t be watching this one again.
The Monster Walks - Dvd - Rex Lease,sidney Bracey,vera Reynolds,sheldon Lewis,mischa Auer,martha Mattox,frank Strayer - Woman In JeopardyMore at Target
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