“The Monster Walks” (1932)

The Monster Walks

Brief Description: 

The late Mr. Earlton’s monkey hates his daughter, Ruth, and Ruth is terrified of him. She has left home for a while, but due to her father’s sudden death she has returned with her fiancé to read her father’s will. Everything is left to her… but if she dies, who will get it? And is the monkey out to get her?

(possibly written by me, possibly taken from Tubi, IMDb, or Wikipedia and edited by me. I forget)

Date: 1932

Genre: American horror

Running time: 1 hour

Cast: 

Rex Lease (Ted)

Vera Reynolds (Ruth)

Sheldon Lewis (Robert)

Mischa Auer (Hanns)

Martha Mattox (Mrs. Krug)

Sidney Bracey (Wilkes)

Sleep’n’Eat a.k.a. Willie Best (Exodus)

Director: Frank R. Strayer

Production company: Action Pictures

Wikipedia page

Watch on Archive

(watched on Tubi)

Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 3/5

Good horror movie setting—a thunderous rainstorm and a draughty house. But it felt a little forced to me, since it was only focussed on in “scary” moments and ignored the rest of the time.

Characters: 2/5

I wasn’t fond of Mrs. Krug sometimes but overall she was sweet to Ruth. Ruth was a nice, brave girl if slightly flat and one-dimensional (clearly only meant to be the damsel in distress). The uncle was creepy, Wilkes was weird, Hans felt off, Exodus was the stereotypical “funny stupid black character.” The doctor [Ted] was a nice guy with some character though. 

Plot: 2/5

I thought this was supposed to be an exciting mystery with narrow escapes. Instead, it’s clear who the baddies are from the beginning and what they’re trying to do, and it takes the good guys what feels like an inordinate amount of time to figure it out. Also the ape was NOT scary so I don’t see why he even figured and I felt very cheated. I felt like the whole thing was supposed to be creepy but it just came off silly and weak and dirty. 

Romance: 4/5

Ruth & Ted had a sweet relationship, and I loved how careful he was of her and how he believed her and looked after her without belittling her. 

Content: 2/5 (high)

Illegitimacy; inter-family murdering and attempt to murder; perhaps adultery??

Violence: 3/5 (medium)

Animal mistreatment; two on-screen strangulations. 

Overall: 2/5

I was looking for something to “tickle my brains” and give me some suspenseful animation. Instead it just felt cheap and vulgar and flat.