2
(nothing notable)
7
("frightening" moments, suggested violence)
3
(see it only if you really like old horror films)
"The Monster Walks:" What is it with these old horror movies and apes? Maybe they felt like it was the only semi-dangerous animal they could replicate at that time? Maybe they thought that was what people wanted to see? I really don't know. This is yet another movie centered around them. A better title would have been “The Monkey Walks.”
Rich, eccentric Mr. Earlton has died suddenly. In life he was a scientist experimenting on primates. His daughter, Ruth. returns home to mourn and take her inheritance, fiancé Ted in tow (because in these movies the pretty young ladies always have to have fiancés if they aren’t going to be won by the leading man). During the night someone or something makes an attempt on her life. Is it one of the experimental monkeys escaped and on a murderous rampage? The others try to unravel the mystery and stop the monkey if it’s true, although if it’s not true they aren’t.
Actually, most of them think she's imagining the whole thing so it’s really kind of a double mystery. As the plot thickens the lady Emma will be the one to drop dead, and members of the family turn out to harbor dark secrets. Be it ghost, ape, or greedy recipient of Earlton’s worldly possessions someone wants the people in the will out of the picture.
Maybe this movie would have been slightly more interesting if so many of these old plots didn’t use monkeys. It’s really not all that bad a flick even if it drags a bit. It’s got a half-way decent mystery and doesn’t lead to the most typical conclusions though I wouldn’t go so far as to call it unpredictable.
Acting ranges from tolerable to terrible. An improved cast would have done a lot to enhance the drama and suspense. This being filmed in the early 30’s though there weren’t yet a lot of actors with much in the way of movie making experience, not movies with sound, anyway.
With campy dialogue poorly delivered and scares that don't come close to being scary you will either groan or have a good time providing comic commentary. If you can get yourself into the mystery plot, though, you might enjoy this one a little.
Morality
There is very little questionable in the movie. It’s all suspense with no actual violence. Nothing sexual or revealing. It has a small amount of mildly strong language and that’s it. It’s pretty typical for a black-and-white movie.
Spirituality
While there might be something of a morality tale here based around greed, there isn't much of anything spiritually to mention.
Final Thoughts
I might have gotten into this one more if I weren’t so tired of the ape usage in these old horror movies. I don't caution you to stay away but neither do I encourage you to track this one down.
Buying Guide
If you thought "The Monster Walks" would have a monstrous number of releases I wouldn't blame you. I actually didn't turn up all that many (relative to other similar films, that is). The main issue is that search engines tend to think you couldn't POSSIBLY be looking up THIS movie and throw out returns like “Walk Away the Pounds” which might very well be more entertaining for some people.
There are still several DVD's out there, each one more identical than the last. You'll have more luck finding it in one of the many multi-movie packs with other campy horror movies.
All releases list the same specs (when they bother to list anything, that is) which are the same as what I'll talk about below. There's no mention of remastering and no extras.
There is a Blu collection that includes it, but it is not HD quality. The high storage capacity of the Blu format is used to hold lots movies rather than higher quality versions of them.
Final Recommendation:
While the quality of the Horror Classics 50 pack is low, I can't find any that promise to be significantly better. At least with a big budget pack you'll get some better films along with it.
I got mine in a pack of 50 “Horror Classics.”
Video
1.33:
There is no widescreen version. The image is messy being trashy, fuzzy, grainy, and otherwise rough.
Audio
2.0 mono:
The sound is distorted and marred by constant white noise with loud crackles and pops occasionally. It may take some concentration to follow all the dialogue.
Packaging
This particular disc is housed in a cardboard sleeve contained in a Velcro-fastened box (more recently 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.