Man Made Monster

I recently watched Man Made Monster (1941), starring Lon Chaney Jr. as a man who is immune to electricity. He is recruited by a mad scientist, who specializes in "electrobiology", to participate in experiments, which end up turning him into an electrically-charged superman. He is also then completely under the control of the scientist, who orders him to kill a rival doctor. After turning back into a regular man, he admits to the murder, and is sentenced to death by electric chair, which of course just turns him back into a monster. It is a pretty ridiculous concept, but it actually is a pretty good movie, mostly due to Chaney's performance as the sympathetic, reluctant monster. The role is pretty similar to the Wolf Man, in that he is basically turned into a monster against his will, and has to deal with the fact that he can't help himself from killing.

Speaking of the Wolf Man, I thought the movie was pretty awesome, despite some technical limitations. I think it's interesting that it sort of flips the formula, where the threat is not an external force, like Dracula, Frankenstein, etc., but rather an internal demon being unleashed on the world. I've also noticed that many of these films deal with the issue of control, or the fear of losing control. Dracula and I Walked With A Zombie address the issue of being controlled by someone else, Frankenstein and Island of Lost Souls deal with losing control over our creations, and the Wolf Man deals with losing control of yourself.