Majorthebys Charming and brutal

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Coventry Now this is definitely a curious and utmost interesting B- horror/monster movie from the late fifties! The peculiar element is that "The Manster" was an American/Japanese co-production, meaning the events entirely take place in Tokyo while the characters (with the exception of the lead villain and some random casualties) are all Caucasian. High in the mountains, the self-acclaimed brilliant Dr. Suzuki is messing around with evolution theories and mutations. He's not very successful, though, as he just had to destroy a monstrous creation that went on a murdering rampage and he has another aberration locked up in a cage. When he meets foreign correspondent Larry Stanford, however, the crazy doctor immediately sees the ideal specimen for another experiment and promptly puts a drug in his whiskey. Larry undergoes a lengthy metamorphosis, not just physically but also in terms of behavior and personality, and discovers that the pains in his neck and left hand are foreboding signs of a hideous monster growing inside of him. A monster that desperately wants to pop out! The changing process Larry goes through is rather unusual. It's actually more of a "Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde" journey of doom in which our poor journalist gets corrupted under the influence of Dr. Suzuki and his lewd assistant Tara. Apparently "getting acquainted with Japanese culture" means binge- drinking, taking numerous public baths and committing adultery with several Geishas, as Larry changes from a hard-working and wife- loving American into a sleazy and obnoxious … Japanese citizen? That's quite racist, if you ask me, but it were the fifties and there were as many Japanese crew-members and producers involved as American ones, so I reckon they knew what they were doing. "The Manster" is more remarkable and special than the vast majority of 50s Sci-Fi/horror flicks thanks to a few impressive special effects (the eye in the shoulder was copied a number of times) and the bizarre atmosphere of conflicting cultures. In case you can't help thinking Larry's voice sounds familiar, it means you were also hooked on a legendary puppet-series… Thunderbirds are GO!

Richard Chatten The late Bill Warren in his classic history of fifties sci-fi 'Keep Watching the Skies!' characteristically astutely observed that "The story of the production of 'The Manster' would almost certainly be more interesting than the film itself." For starters, the leads Peter Dyneley and Jane Hylton (best remembered by me as a kid as respectively the urbane voice of Jeff Tracy in 'Thunderbirds' and as Frank Spencer's anxiety-stricken mother-in-law in 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em') were both British - Dyneley was raised in Canada and held dual Canadian & British nationality - and were in real life married to each other. I expect they got a nice expenses-paid holiday together in Tokyo out of making this. (Dyneley also spoke the opening narration of the 1963 film version of 'The Day of the Triffids'.) I knew years ago about the famous 'eyeball' shot, and have just been dismayed to have had to sit through 45 minutes of Dyneley shuffling about getting boorishly drunk and attacking people before finally getting to see what all the fuss had been about; and then had to endure another half hour of him shuffling about some more, now with two heads and the Japanese police in pursuit. Jerry Ito is personable and reassuring as the police superintendent, while many before me have commented on how seriously Hot the mysterious Terri Zimmern is as Dr.Suzuki's assistant (or rather accomplice) Tara. I was on the verge of expiring from boredom when finally, minutes from the end, the film suddenly regained my involvement with the genuinely touching farewell between Dr. Suzuki and his deformed wife Emiko, whose sad, drooping left eye generated actual pathos; followed soon afterwards by the spectacular final split which earned the film it's British release title.

bnwfilmbuff Mad scientist Tetsu Nakamura has a couple of failed experiments on his brother and wife turning them into mutants while studying evolution. Conveniently, journalist Peter Dyneley stops up to his cabin laboratory hidden on top of a volcano to do an interview and the "good" doctor seizes on the opportunity to try again. After drugging him, Nakamura injects him with the experimental serum and then uses his ravishing assistant Terri Zimmern to lead Dyneley astray into a life of drunken binges and Geisha girls giving the serum time to take effect. Dyneley eventually evolves into a murderous two-headed Neanderthal. Only worth viewing for its camp value.

Woodyanders Reclusive scientist Dr. Robert Suzuki (nicely played by Satoshi Nakamura) uses his experimental serum to transform arrogant American reporter Larry Stanford (a solid performance by Peter Dyneley) into a hideous and murderous two-headed monster. Director George P. Breakston, working from a tight and absorbing script by William J. Sheldon, relates the neat story at a brisk pace, maintains an appealingly earnest tone throughout, and stages the attack scenes with aplomb (the lively and exciting last third with Stanford on the run from the police smokes in no uncertain terms). Moreover, the grotesque make-up effects are creepy and effective; Suzuki's malformed wife in particular is genuinely freaky and unnerving while that infamous eyeball on Stanford's shoulder is pretty gnarly. This picture further benefits from competent acting from a capable cast, with especially praiseworthy work by Jane Hynton as Larry's caring wife Linda, Terri Zimmern as Suzuki's lovely, but chilly assistant Tara, Norman Van Hawley as Larry's concerned boss Ian Matthews, and Jerry Ito as the no-nonsense Police Supt. Aida. David Mason's stark black and white cinematography does the trick. Hirooki Ogawa's spooky and spirited score hits the shivery ooga-booga spot. An enjoyable fright feature.