2
(nothing direct)
7
(mild violence)
4
(see it or skip it, either way)
If you were to sit down to watch "Indestructible Man" you would see a story about Butcher who begins the tale as a criminal on death row. He has come to believe that his lawyer, who is actually a member of his crime team, turned his gang against him for getting greedy with the money they were all supposed to split. He vows to kill them all (revenge on them for their revenge on his greed I guess) and gets his chance when a scientific experiment conducted on his executed corpse brings him back to life - in a manner of speaking.
In somewhat of a cross between Frankenstein and the Incredible Hulk (though without much in the way of corpse or green monster makeup) his body has changed. He’s now enormously strong and virtually impervious to harm, and he’s out for vengeance.
The result is a kind of noir cop movie with an X Files type villain narrated from the point of view of the detective, Dick, who is chasing down the villain, but shown visually from the eyes of Butcher. It’s a decent movie with an uncomplicated story (even if the manner in which the scientist gets Butcher’s body is hard to swallow). It’s campy at times but pretty well executed for an old black-and-white movie.
Lon Chaney, Jr. carries his role well which helps even if all he really has to do is look mean and menacing (he has few if any lines after his execution scene at the beginning). Max Showalter does a fair job as the detective, and Marian Carr is not bad as Butcher's former girlfriend turned criminally-minded damsel in distress.
The other roles are good enough to keep the movie alive if only just barely; there are some moments when the acting is too stiff. My biggest complaint is that the narration tends to ramble and gets old. Usually a movie like this would be from the narrator’s eyes.
The conflicting points of view might be one reason the narration feels too out of place here. We’re seeing Butcher’s story while hearing Dick talk about it – obviously after the fact which kind of spoils any suspense about who will win in the end. I think an epilogue and perhaps a prologue would have been sufficient, but I would settle for more interesting narration.
If I have any other complaint it is that the editing is choppy even for a film of this era. On the other hand, though, I like the noir atmosphere and the story of the detective, an ordinary man, chasing down what is essentially a super villain.
Morality
Like most old black-and-white horror movies this is tame other than the concept of Butcher being a murderer. There is some bloodless violence (guys getting thrown off railings and such) in this one. While it does include characters who are strippers it has no sex, nudity, or strong language.
Spirituality
Winning the lottery brings out what's in your heart. If you are foolish with your money chances are you'll be broke again soon enough after even a sizable stroke of fortune. The same is true for Butcher. He won the lottery in a manner of speaking. What good could a hero do with super strength and invulnerability to harm? Butcher, though, is a man with a greedy, vengeful heart. When he gains the power to charge through bullets like a tank through mosquitoes he takes care to put that ability to nefarious usage. It's probably a good thing we aren't granted superhuman powers in the real world. We would have far too many Butchers and far too few Supermen.
Final Thoughts
I stayed moderately entertained throughout the movie though it has nothing going for it that will put it on my list of favorites. Check it out but only if it doesn’t take too much effort to do so.
Buying Guide
If you assume that "Indestructible Man" has a seemingly indestructible mountain of releases being thrown at you like so many other old public domain movies, you are dead right.
There are numerous stand-alone DVD's including a widescreen high-def transfer, a DVDTee package, and any number of others that are nearly indistinguishable from each other. There are even more multi-movie packs of equally generic proportions although the Lon Chaney Jr Collection stands out amongst those.
The widescreen edition is a DVD even though it says that it is a high-def transfer. There are two huge issues here. First is that despite the claims of the great transfer, reviews strongly suggest that this is not a great presentation. Second is that the movie was not filmed in 1.85 widescreen and has therefore either been stretched or matted neither of which is a good idea.
The Lon Chaney Jr Collection offers a reportedly better transfer (though reviews suggest that it is still not truly good). You'll also get some other of the acting legend's works though nothing else as well known as this one.
The DVDTee releases offers a shirt along with the DVD, but doesn't appear to include anything else of interest.
Beyond those I found nothing notable. All releases list the same 1.33 ratio, mono sound (when they bother to list the specs at all), and no extras.
Final Recommendation:
The Lon Chaney Jr Collection is the only one I found that sounds like it might offer an improved presentation that might be worth considering above the others. Other than that I say go with whatever you find as the best bargain. I've been pleased with the 50 Horror Classics collection for the most part.
I got mine in the “Horror Classics” 50 pack.
Video
1.33:
This is the TV standard “full-screen” ratio. The video in this one gets messy at times but is mostly fair for a movie of this age.
Audio
2.0 mono:
The audio is generally OK though it has a lot of crackling that gets annoying.
Packaging
This particular disc is housed in a cardboard sleeve contained in a Velcro-fastened box though it has been repackaged in plastic. You can read about the set as a whole in great detail in the Horror Classics (50 pack) guide.
Extras
There are none.