Maybe if the Bowery Boys had crossed paths with Universal Pictures along the way, they might have put together a meaningful monster flick a la Abbott and Costello. The word 'Monster' in the title is a bit of a misnomer, as all you get here is a man in an ape suit and a tin man robot that's not all that scary. My two year old granddaughter was watching the flick with me and she couldn't take her eyes off Gorog, and she was smiling the whole time.
But as far as Bowery Boys flicks go, this is as entertaining as most, near the end of their run and down to only four members for this story, along with patron Louie (Bernard Gorcey). The story nominally involves the gang looking to pick up a ball field for the neighborhood kids, and wind up confounding the members of a pre-Addams Family assortment of mad scientists. In turn, Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) become the target of Dr. Gravesend (John Dehner) and his brother Anton (Lyoyd Corrigan), who both need human brains for their respective scientific pursuits. I was a bit surprised to see Paul Wexler doing the 'Lurch' gimmick a full decade before Ted Cassidy gave it a whirl in the TV series a decade later.
For once, Slip's malapropisms are given their proper due by Dr. Gravesend, who figures that Slip is no mental giant the way he fractures the English language. For his part, Slip doesn't disappoint with any number of his stereo-optical delusions.
The entire escapade falls into a slap dash finale, not as well choreographed as say, the Marx Brothers, but still zany nonetheless. If you keep a sharp eye, you'll note it wasn't Sach under the goofy monster mask when he put the Gravesend's into those body slams and airplane spins. The stunt double they used was obviously broader in the chest and shoulders, even under the suit. In contrast, Sach did all of his own wrestling moves in the 1952 Bowery Boys film, "No Holds Barred".
But as far as Bowery Boys flicks go, this is as entertaining as most, near the end of their run and down to only four members for this story, along with patron Louie (Bernard Gorcey). The story nominally involves the gang looking to pick up a ball field for the neighborhood kids, and wind up confounding the members of a pre-Addams Family assortment of mad scientists. In turn, Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) become the target of Dr. Gravesend (John Dehner) and his brother Anton (Lyoyd Corrigan), who both need human brains for their respective scientific pursuits. I was a bit surprised to see Paul Wexler doing the 'Lurch' gimmick a full decade before Ted Cassidy gave it a whirl in the TV series a decade later.
For once, Slip's malapropisms are given their proper due by Dr. Gravesend, who figures that Slip is no mental giant the way he fractures the English language. For his part, Slip doesn't disappoint with any number of his stereo-optical delusions.
The entire escapade falls into a slap dash finale, not as well choreographed as say, the Marx Brothers, but still zany nonetheless. If you keep a sharp eye, you'll note it wasn't Sach under the goofy monster mask when he put the Gravesend's into those body slams and airplane spins. The stunt double they used was obviously broader in the chest and shoulders, even under the suit. In contrast, Sach did all of his own wrestling moves in the 1952 Bowery Boys film, "No Holds Barred".