The Monster Maker (1944)

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The disfiguring disease of acromegaly-which grotesquely extends the bones and distorts one's facial features-was the "gimmick" in the PRC horror opus The Monster Maker. J. Carroll Naish stars as Markoff, a mad doctor who has no qualms about experimenting on human beings. Markoff's unwitting victim… More The disfiguring disease of acromegaly-which grotesquely extends the bones and distorts one's facial features-was the "gimmick" in the PRC horror opus The Monster Maker. J. Carroll Naish stars as Markoff, a mad doctor who has no qualms about experimenting on human beings. Markoff's unwitting victim is famed concert pianist Lawrence (Ralph Morgan), who is injected with the doctor's acromegaly-inducing serum. It is Markoff's intention to extort a great deal of money from Lawrence before providing an antidote-and also to win the hand of Lawrence's pretty daughter Patricia (Wanda McKay). Though the film is as lumpy and unconvincing as Lawrence's rubbery facial makeup, the flawless performances of those old barnstormers J. Carroll Naish and Ralph Morgan carry the day. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi