{"id":6171,"date":"2013-03-01T15:45:02","date_gmt":"2013-03-01T20:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6171"},"modified":"2013-03-01T15:45:02","modified_gmt":"2013-03-01T20:45:02","slug":"dvd-monster-the-revived-monster-el-monstro-resucitado-il-mostruoso-dottor-crimen-1953","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6171","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Monster \/ The Revived Monster \/ El monstro resucitado \/ Il mostruoso Dottor Crimen (1953)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to: <\/strong>Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>M<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Film: Very Good\/ DVD Transfer: Good\/ DVD Extras: Standard<\/p>\n

Label: One 7 Movies\/ Region: 0 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released: March 12, 2013<\/p>\n

Genre: Horror<\/p>\n

Synopsis: A sleuthy reporter becomes dangerously involved with a scarred, brilliant, mad surgeon determined to make the world as ugly as himself! Can Nora save herself?<\/p>\n

Special Features: Poster Gallery \/ DVD-Rom: Italian Photo-novel<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Prolific Mexican director Chano Urueta worked small miracles in this almost zero budget shocker by grabbing the basic elements of the Frankenstein monster tale and reworking it into the terrible tale of a brilliant mad scientist who himself is scarred for life, but with the aide of his loyal assistant, transfers the mind of a feeble-minded, caged servant into the revived cadaver of a serial killer \/ Casanova to lure a duplicitous reporter back to his lair for the first of several \u2018reverse operations\u2019 that will turn pretty people into unfortunate souls scarred with ugliness equal to their tormentor \u2013 all in less than 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

Warped and cruel, Urueta\u2019s film is reportedly Mexico\u2019s first \u201cmedical sci-fi\u201d flick, and deserves the attention of B-movie and genre aficinados for its great combination of compelling story and fromage<\/em>. The opening hook is brilliant: long marginalized reporter Nora (Miroslava) leaps at the chance to tackle an investigative piece on a reclusive, highly respected surgeon living solo in an isolated mountain castle. Crazy Hermann Ling (Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Linares-Rivas) is angry at the world for his dreadful disfigurement, and he\u2019s determined to find a way to turn all of humanity – starting with babes – into a reflection of himself person-by-person until he falls for the pretty reporter. When he discovers her true m\u00e9tier, he goes bonkers and restarts Operation Uglification.<\/p>\n

Linares-Rivas and Mirsolava play their role dead serious, and while the film was shot entirely in interior sets \u2013 a dock scene is clearly just a big photo backdrop hanging in the near distance<\/em> of the small set, and all in-car scenes are completely<\/em> unconvincing \u2013 Victor Herrera creates highly atmospheric cinematography that almost hides the seams of the tiny sets. A chase through a cemetery is expertly scored and edited, and the town streets at night resemble the angular sets of German expressionism, especially The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari <\/strong>(1922). Indeed, Urureta borrows from Robert Wiene\u2019s classic when crazy Dr. Ling creates his own somnambulist from the abby-normal remains of a serial killer (Carlos Navarro) whom Ling manipulates physically and mentally by pure mind control.<\/p>\n

How Dr. Ling achieves his amazing mind transplant is immaterial, because actor Navarro plays the character as a compellingly conflicted soul; one can see the three personalities struggling for control: the suave serial killer smooth-talking his way with Nora using Ling\u2019s articulate diction, and the formerly caged servant (naturally, a wrestler) who eventually overcomes his nervousness and takes control of the walking cadaver to halt Ling\u2019s evil master plan..<\/p>\n

Ling\u2019s primordial Frankenstein makeup is quite hideous, and while clearly a heavy-set mask, Linares-Riva manages to add enough dimension through his deep voice and physical presence to overcome the makeup\u2019s limitations. His castle is exceptionally detailed for a zero-budget production, with covered mirrors, odd nick-knacks, and a peculiar collection of creepy female mannequins which Ling \u2018created\u2019 as objects d\u2019art to occupy his antsy hands but are more evocative of waxen cadaver parts hung, strung, and mounted like grisly hunting trophies. Director Urueta also positions a marvelous prop – a disturbing before \/ after head cast of Ling\u2019s first great success \u2013 within the frame\u2019s centre in several sequences to infer the degree of how far Ling can reconfigure a face to something straight out of a Brian Yuzna film (like Society<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Urueta and Arduino Maiuri\u2019s scenario packs a lot of genre references into a short running time, and the finale is somewhat anti-climactic – rather than a big bloodbath of combat, there\u2019s a wrestling fight to the death \u2013 but it\u2019s a compelling little film, and while it could be remade with vivid blood and carnage, the film\u2019s elegance and charm can\u2019t be replicated.<\/p>\n

One 7 Movies\u2019 source print is pretty well-used, but fans accustomed to vintage PRC and Monogram B-movies won\u2019t have any issues. Once little Nora leaps at the chance to cover a \u2018real story,\u2019 the plot subjugates any concerns for print quality. A stills gallery offers some vintage publicity materials, and a nice surprise is an 81-page photo-novel \/ fumetti version of the story, as originally published in 1970 as part of the Italian Wampir series.<\/p>\n

Note: although shortened to a single world title and dated 1955, One 7’s branding is bound to make it tough to find further details on this forgotten gem. The was released in 1955, and is better known as The Revived Monster<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Although he directed more than 100 films between 1928-1974, Urueta\u2019s key thriller films seem to be among the few available on home video, albeit not in the U.S. Other entries \u2013 El cuarto cerrado<\/strong> (1952) and The Magnificent Beast<\/strong> \/ La bestia magnifica<\/strong> (1953) \u2013 are tough to find with English subs, and One 7 Movies\u2019 DVD probably marks the first time an Urueta movie\u2019s been released on DVD to English language audiences with subtitles.<\/p>\n

Co-screenwriter Arduino Maiuri is responsible for writing a series of classic Italian films, including Mario Bava’s comic book masterpiece Danger: Diabolik<\/strong> (1968), the spaghetti western Companeros<\/a><\/strong> (1970), Sergio Sollima’s Revolver<\/strong> (1973), Enzo Catellari’s Street Law<\/strong> (1974) and The Big Racket<\/strong> (1976).<\/p>\n

Among the cast, the most iconic is Miroslava, the Czech-born actress who eventually settled in Mexico. She appeared in barely any Hollywood productions \u2013 Robert Rossen’s The Brave Bulls <\/strong>(1951) and Jacques Tourneur’s Strangers on Horseback<\/strong> (1955) are the rare exceptions \u2013 and just as her career was starting to rise in Mexico after starring in Luis Bunuel\u2019s The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz<\/strong> \/ Ensayo de un crimen<\/strong> (1955), she was dead from suicide, and remains a tragic film icon. Arielle Dombasle portrayed the actress in the 1993 biopic Miroslava<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2013 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB<\/a><\/p>\n

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Amazon Search Links:<\/em><\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a>\"\" \"\"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0M<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to: Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/ M . Film: Very Good\/ DVD Transfer: Good\/ DVD Extras: Standard Label: One 7 Movies\/ Region: 0 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released: March 12, 2013 Genre: Horror Synopsis: A sleuthy reporter becomes dangerously involved with a scarred, brilliant, mad surgeon determined to make the world as ugly as himself! Can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[1877,1875,1873,1876,1874,1872,1878],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1Bx","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6171"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6178,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6171\/revisions\/6178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}