Bride of the Monster (1955)
Director -Ed Wood, Jr.
The Plot
People are disappearing near a haunted looking house on a spooky, swampy lake. The house is really the secret laboratory of Dr Eric Vornoff (Bela Lugosi) who is attempting to build new race of atomic supermen! The lake is the home of another one of the good doctor's experiments – a giant octopus! Crack detectives are on the case, though, and a woman reporter thinks there's a story there somewhere.
Film Notes
A Step Above the Lowest Common Denominator
Bride of the Monster stars Bela Lugosi in this Ed Wood Jr. production. Mr Lugosi of course was the star of the classic 1931 Dracula. Ed Wood Jr. is generally at the top of list of Worst Hollywood Directors of All Time. Wood was also the writer/director of Plan 9 From Outer Space, and though that film is commonly regarded as a the worst film of all time, Bride of the Monster "coulda been a contender" if Eddie didn't have a few extra dollars in his budget for this effort.
A Film by Any Other Name
Originally titled Bride of the Atom, this was Mr Lugosi's last real starring role. He died early on during Plan 9 and barely appears in that film, but in Bride of the Monster a sickly, drug ravaged Bela puts everything he has left into Dr Vornoff, a role he bites into with relish and delicious ham.
Only Bela Could Deliver Dialogue Like This...
"Home, I have no home. The jungle is my home. Abandoned! Despised! Living like an animal! But I will show the world that I can be its master! I will create my own race! A race of atomic supermen to rule the world!" Oh, yeah, bad does not get better than this!
-- Ed Schneider
Cast & Production Credits
| Bela Lugosi | Dr. Eric Vornoff |
| Tor Johnson | Lobo |
| Tony McCoy | Lt. Dick Craig |
| Loretta King | Janet Lawton |
| Harvey B. Dunn | Captain Tom Robbins |
| George Becwar | Professor Strowski |
| Banner Productions, Inc. | |
| Edward D. Wood Jr. | Producer, Director, Writer |
| Alex Gordon | Writer |
| Warren Adams and Igo Kantor | Editors |
| Ted Allan and William C. Thompson | Cinematographers |
| Frank Worth | Composer (Music Score) |
