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Customer Reviews

One of my childhood favorites

2006-03-19
I remember watching this flick on TV back in the 60's, and it used to scare the daylights out of me. Especially the scene where he finds the eye embedded in his shoulder. And then, this flick, and many other movies like it, vanished from sight for almost 30 years.

Now, it's back in circulation, and I love it even more, because now, I find it truly HILARIOUS! When the main character, Larry Stanford, gets into his mood swings (caused by that serum that the Doctor injected into him), look out! He goes all-the-way off on everybody, including his boss, and his wife! This movie is worth watching just to see Larry verbally tear down everyone in sight, before he grows the extra head. Speaking of which, for a supposedly cheapie flick, the head-growing scene was superbly done. The sight of that extremely ugly head slowly sprouting up out of Larry's overcoat as he writhed in agony was well done. Now, the inevitable split scene, where the Manster is clutching onto a tree as his two heads slowly seperate into two beings, was also well done (especially when the two heads get far enough apart to actually look at each other....and scream). But c'mon! Larry's body should've been torn apart after that big ol' woolly beast ripped outta him. Nevertheless, this remains one of my all-time favorite horror classics, and I'm glad that it's back.

Great Movie

2006-03-13
This movie has some of the things that are required for any good movie:

story
casting
location

The main character is a straight talking, hard drinking newpaper reporter who is very down to earth. That's what make it so shocking as he reacts to what happens.

He becomes the victim of a genetic experiment perpetrated by a mad scientist. This causes him to develop what we might call a 'split personality'. One side is his evil nature I guess and the other is his good side.

Don't think that things like this aren't possible as we continue to explore the mysteries of the genetic code.

The Atlanteans used genetic engineering to create 'things' that were only partly human to do all of their manual labor.

This brought the wrath of the gods down on Atlantis as it did to Dr. Suzuki. The god Vulcan terminated all of his experiments.

Phantasm

Voodoo Island/The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (Midnite Movies Double Feature)

The Thing from Another World

The Fly (1958)/Return of the Fly (1959)

I Was a Teenage Werewolf

Recommended further viewing:

The Thing (from another world)
Horror Hotel
The Hideous Sun Demon
The Blob (with Steve McQueen)
The Indestructible Man
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
Not Of This Earth (original)
The Incredible Shrinking Man
IT (The Terror From Beyond Space)

A Huge Set Back For International Understanding

2005-12-19
This cheesy and predictable monster movie from 1962 was a product of international cooperation between the US and Japan. The film is concerned with an evil Japanese scientist who (of course) lives adjacent to a volcano (what with Tokyo having such a high cost of living and all) who injects a reporter with a drug that changes him from a nice guy to a criminally insane two-headed monster. Obeying the movie dictum that all monsters are evil, he goes on a rampage and terrorizes the country.

In the end his wife from New York shows up, confronts him and spends the remainder of the film in hysterics. The climax of the movie is when the Manster takes care of the evil scientist, then splits in half in the most laughable transmogrification scene in history (it happens behind a tree). The reporter becomes normal, and the monkey-demon pushes the love-interest geisha into the volcano. After the reporter pushes the monkey-demon into the volcano, too, the police show up and moralize for a bit (this will remind some viewers of "Bride of the Monster") then explain how the Japanese legal system will have to sort the whole mess out.

There are many problems with the movie, but I do give it three stars for camp value, and for pioneering the path for other two-headed monster movies like my favorite "The Thing With Two Heads" (starring Rosey Grier and Ray Milland). I think it's worth pointing out that the great B-movie critics Harry and Michael Medved had a brilliant insight in their book "Golden Turkey Awards" that "according to the credits, [The Manster] was directed by George P. Breakston and Kenneth G. Crane, but it is not known if this team represented the industry's first two-headed director." Given the schizophrenic cutting between people walking and cars driving in gloriously boring stretches of stock footage and hyperactive overacting and maniacal killing, I think they could be on to something.

The special effects in "The Manster" are awful, even by the standards of the early 1960s, the storyline is stilted and plodding, but it is a good monster movie to watch from a historical perspective if nothing else. I noted that Amazon lists the plot keywords as "Experiment, Monster, Third Eye, Two Headed Monster, [and] Volcano". That pretty much sums it up, and any movie with those plot keywords can't be all bad.

'Raindrops keep falling on my heads...'

2004-06-03
Written, directed and produced by George P. Breakston, who's probably more known for his role as Beezy in the Andy Hardy movies throughout the 30's and early 40's, The Manster (1962) aka Kyofu, aka Nightmare, aka The Split, aka The Two-Headed Monster, has the distinction, as far as I know, of being the first film to deal with the issues associated with a man having two heads, appearing some ten years before the better known and definitely more schlocky vehicle starring Ray Milland and Rosie Grier, The Thing with Two Heads (1972).

Starring the runner up in the Lon Chaney Jr. look-a-like contest Peter Dyneley, whose other notable roles include the voice of Jeff Tracy in the Supermarionation Thunderbirds series from the 60's, also appearing in such films as Chato's Land (1972) and K is for Killing (1974), as foreign news correspondent Larry Stanford. Also appearing is Jane Hylton, whom I recognize from Circus of Horrors (1960) as Linda Stanford, Peter's somewhat wooden and estranged wife, Tetsu Nakamura as Dr. Robert Suzuki, and, in her first and only role, the comely Terri Zimmern as the doctor's assistant, Tara.

The film plays out in Japan, and starts off by showing some women bathing and such, oh yeah, and then being attacked by a mysterious, extremely hairy man-creature, oh no. Now, we don't actually get to see the attack, but given the blood-curdling nature of the screaming, we can assume things didn't end well for these ladies. Segue way to what appears to be a hunting shack on a mountain where Dr. Suzuki and his assistant Tara are discussing an experiment that escaped the previous night and has now returned. The good doctor acknowledges that his man-thing is too dangerous, and proceeds to the cavernous basement of the shack (it's built on a mountain, so I guess he's utilizing the caves for his laboratory) and shoots the man-beast and dumps the body into a convenient lava pit. Now here comes foreign news correspondent Larry Stanford, trekking up the mountain to the shack. Apparently his boss arranged a meeting with the doctor, fishing for a juicy story of sorts. The doctor informs Larry that he's working on theories of evolution, and takes a keen interest in the reporter, as he decides that Larry has just the right characteristics for his experiments (if that includes smoking like a chimney and drinking himself silly, yes, doctor, he's your man). Anyway, the doctor slips Larry the proverbial mickey, and then injects him with something. Larry awakens with a doozy of a headache, and leaves, but not before agreeing to meet up with the doctor again in Tokyo.

Next we cut to Larry at his newspaper, and we learn that his days of traveling the world, reporting on various events are coming to an end as he's soon leaving to return to New York to settle down with his wife, Linda. Peter gets a call from the doctor, and they hang out in a Geisha house, where Larry gets schnockered good on saki and has a grand old time. Larry has so much fun he puts off his returning home to New York to hang out with Dr. Suzuki and pitches a little woo with the doctor's assistant, Tara. Larry also begins suffering from pains in his shoulder and arm, and we know this has something to do with the secret enzyme shot the doctor administered not too long ago. Soon Larry's wife shows up from New York, worried about his not coming back when he was supposed to, and she finds that Larry is not quite himself. Larry tells her they're through, and that he's going to stay in Japan with the much more attractive Tara (who is beginning to feel a bit guilty about her involvement in Dr. Suzuki's part of the experiment on Larry).

Soon Larry's hand and arm changes, getting all hairy and claw-like, and his shoulder begins to hurt more and more. What's with this pain in the shoulder? How about the fact that he has an eyeball growing out of there? Wouldn't that be something worth getting checked out? Maybe it's not covered in the HMO...anyway, we learn from the doctor that Larry is evolving into a species never before seen on Earth...this should be fun...given what I've seen, I think devolving would be the more correct term. Larry begins to flip out, sprouting a second head, and murdering a few Japanese locals along the way, while the police become involved as they start hunting this homicidal manic haunting the streets of Tokyo. Things eventually come to a...ahem, head (pun intended) as the chase for Larry and his permanent buddy increases. What happens next? Let's just say Larry and his new buddy come to a `parting of ways'...

I rather enjoyed this movie, despite a few shortcomings...the most noticeable being given the dangerous and secret nature of Dr. Suzuki's experiments, I am unsure why he let Larry run around Tokyo during his transformation...I would have probably kept him locked up, but then, what do I know? And there's a pretty clunky sub-plot about Dr. Suzuki, displaying classic mad scientist symptoms with his cold and calculating methods, later feeling remorse and regret about his deeds, based on nothing more than the continual harping from his assistant Tara...but whatever, this movie was still a lot of fun. With its 72 minute run time, the pacing was pretty quick, and the makeup wasn't too bad. I didn't get to see as much of it as I would have liked, but since this was a lower budget production, it was probably best not to highlight it too much, as it may have displayed inherent flaws.

Retromedia Entertainment presents a passable print, with some noticeable deterioration, but given the price of the DVD, I wasn't expecting a whole lot in this area. There is also a special feature included in the form of a rather meager photo gallery (three or four photos).

Cookieman108

Scientist Suzuki's Scary Subject- A MANSTER! 2004-05-31
In Tokeyo, Dr. Suzuki likes to conduct experiments on unsuspecting human beings. Enter Larry Standford, American newspaper reporter. Dr. Suzuki drugs Larry, injects him with his special ENZYME and POOF! A MANSTER (Half man, half monster) slowly but surely emerges. Murders ensue, of course along with a really FREAKY eye growing out of Larry's shoulder. Soon a WHOLE BEASTLIKE head with scary fangs sprouts up! The transformation sure gives a new meaning to the old romantic song, "Put Your Head On My Shoulder"! Great special effects for it's time and just a LOT of cheesy, scary fun!

The film is filmed in black and white/1960/72 minutes

Highly recommended for schlock lovers!

Happy Watching & Don't Loose Your Head!

Keep a eye on your shoulder.......... 2008-07-16
Great creepy classic. A doctor experiment goes wrong, then all hell brakes loose. A eye on a shoulder that become a monster. Seen lots of copy of this film. Retromedia is the best print so far. Keep them classic coming Fred O'lay.

I never forgot the creepy scene with the eye on his shoulder (3.5 stars) 2008-04-21
There are a few scary old movies I recall seeing when I was a kid back in the mid 70s, usually on a Saturday afternoon TV program called "Science Fiction Theater." One had this doctor who gives some kind of injection into this guy's shoulder and later, when it's hurting like crazy, the guy pulls his shirt back and there's an eye growing in the skin! It was enough to scare a 7 or 8 year old to death back then, and I never forgot it.

Recently I discovered the movie was called "The Manster," and I found it cheaper on Amazon than renting it (if the rental stores actually had it, that is). The basic storyline is the mad scientist Dr. Suzuki, experimenting with unsuspecting victims, in this case Larry Stanford, a foreign correspondent working in Japan. I'm not sure what the doctor's goal was, but the reporter spends most of his time drunk and enjoying himself with geisha girls. Soon he gets the eye on his shoulder and the urge to kill someone. Eventually a full head pops out, followed by more killings, police chases and... the plot isn't hard to figure out.

But remember, this was a B movie - it probably wasn't that good when it was new in 1962. It's in black & white and for the most part the special effects and acting are decent - the worst exception being the actress who plays the reporter's wife. It was kind of fun to watch, especially with the kids who found it mildly frightening, or at least didn't laugh out loud.

Great Nostalgia but don't waste your Money 2007-11-27
Wow, now this was some scary film. I remember this one as a child, where the eye growing out of our star's shoulder was very grim. The repetitive shots, wondering where the mad scientist was and why he was not keeping an eye on our star as he rampaged Tokyo; how the cops could not catch him falling over each other; the wife of our star in hysterics most of the film; our star reporter acting like a jerk before and after his treatment; and how the furball deviant was ripped from our star's body without a scratch! Now that's filmmaking. Shudder....

ALPHA DVD VERSION 2006-10-08
I FIRST SAW THIS MOVIE ON A LOCAL TV PROGRAM CALLED 5:00 SHOWTIME IN THE MID-1960's & BEING A YOUNG LAD AT THE TIME FOUND THE MANSTER SOMEWHAT UNSETTLING, MORE ADULT-THEMED & LURID THAN THE USUAL BRIDE OF THE MONSTER/COSMIC MAN STUFF... WHICH IS WHY IT BECAME AN INSTANT FAVORITE!
YEAH IT'S KINDDA HOKEY & CHEAPLY MADE BUT IT'S CERTAINLY ENTERTAINING AND STILL FUN TO WATCH. THE HERO ISN'T REALLY A HERO (AN ALCOHOLIC SCUMBAG PERHAPS ) & THE MAD DOCTOR ISN'T REALLY ALL THAT MAD (HE DOESN'T EVEN WANT TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD WITH AN ARMY OF MANSTERS ).WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A LOW-KEY NOIRISH MASTERPIECE OF NIGHTMARE PROPORTIONS...OR JUST A GOOD TIME AT THE SAKI BAR. THE MANSTER STALKS HIS VICTIMS IN JAPANESE BACK-ALLEYS & THE KILLINGS ARE STRIKING & WELL DONE. AND OF COURSE THERE'S THE EYEBALL ON THE SHOULDER SCENE. IT'S ALL SO TERRIFYING & BLEAK YET FASCINATING & INANE. RECOMMENDED.
I VIEWED THE ALPHA DVD & IT PLAYED FINE...NO SKIPPING, NO FREEZING...& THE PICTURE QUALITY WAS VERY GOOD,CLEAR & QUITE WATCHABLE MAKING THIS DVD AN EXCEPTIONAL BARGAIN. AS WITH THE FILM ITSELF, THE ALPHA DVD VERSION IS RECOMMENDED.

sucks 2006-05-19
this has to be one of the worst movies ever made - it makes plan 9 from outer space oscar material and a winner at cannes