Alpha Dog (2007)

Acromegaly Refined at Last!
This movie is a tale of paranoia and revenge. It begins all nice and sweet with piano virtuoso Anthony Lawrence (Ralph Morgan, who was a well-known character actor in his day; his biggest claim to fame is likely a star on the walk of fame in Hollywood) and his daughter Patricia Lawrence (Wanda McKay, who appeared in dozens of movies; her two biggest claims to fame: she was born Dorothy Quackenbush - sorry, I find that name to sound more fake than her stage name, and she was married to famous songwriter Hoagy Carmichael). Unfortunately for everyone concerned, whacko Dr. Igor Markoff (J. Carrol Naish, who has a Golden Globe and a star on the Hollywood walk of fame) spots Patricia and goes into stalker mode.

We soon discover that Dr. Igor Markoff is neither a doctor nor is he who he says he is; heady stuff! We also discover that Dr. Igor Markoff has a serum that induces acromegaly. Since this little review is not a treatise on acromegaly, I will just say that acromegaly causes enlargement of the extremities along with certain other portions of the body, eventually causing death. Usually acromegaly is caused by a tumor; sorry, no serum for acromegaly.

Acromegaly is important because Dr. Markoff decides to inject Anthony Lawrence with acromegaly to get his filthy paws on Patricia Lawrence. Soon Anthony Lawrence turns ugly with acromegaly and he can no longer play the piano, which yields the title "The Monster Maker."

I have to leave you with some surprises in this movie, so a quick summary of what you can expect next. The Lawrence's gain an unexpected ally. A gorilla goes ape, but he was just monkeying around because he doesn't hurt anyone. Dr. Igor Markoff probably gets some sort of justice just because characters like his usually do (but I ain't sayin'!).

On the other hand, what of poor Anthony Lawrence, who is suffering the eventually deadly ravages of acromegaly? What about beautiful Patricia Lawrence? Will she succumb to the evil Dr. Markoff? What about the gorilla? What about Rex, the Wonder Dog? Scratch that last; that was some other movie, I think (or a comic).

All things considered, this movie was okay. There is very little action, but the plot is interesting and contains some clever convolutions. I was impressed with the acromegaly makeup on Anthony Lawrence, which I thought looked quite good in black & white. Though the horror aspects of this movie are relatively muted, a horror fan might want to add this movie to his or her collection just because Sam Newfield did a nice job of directing this movie. Casual horror fans are likely to be disappointed because this movie is closer to being a thriller than a true horror movie.

Good luck!

Not Bad Considerimg It's From PRC
Given the law of averages, even PRC, the poorest of the poverty row studios, was bound to make a decent picture. And this is one of them.

"The Monster Maker" is helped by a good story ( loose theft from the Lugosi/Karloff thriller, "The Raven") and the casting of such veterans as J. Carroll Naish and Ralph Morgan (brother of Frank, who was best known as the Wizard in "The Wizard of Oz") as the leads.

Here's the plot: We open with a concert by famed virtuoso Anthony Lawrence (Morgan). In attendance at the concert is Dr. Igor Markoff (Naish). During the course of the concert Markoff happens to espy Lawrence's daughter, Patricia (Wanda McKay), who just happens to resemble Markoff's deceased wife. Naturally, Markoff is smitten and vows to marry Patricia. One obstacle, though - she can't stand the sight of him, and she's already engaged to Bob (Terry Frost). Of course, Markoff can't take a hint, and so Patricia is forced to ask her father to tell the Doc off. Dad tells her he'd be glad to and visits Markoff at his day job, which is working on a cure for acromegaly. During the course of their discussion, Markoff knocks Lawrence cold and injects him with acromegaly, causing Morgan to slowly take on the symptoms. This, in turn, forces Lawrence's daughter to seek Markoff' help is curing her father. Suffice it to say everything comes out all right at the end, and Markoff gets his.

The acting and the chemistry (no pun intended) between the stars save the movie. The make up for Ralph Morgan by Maurice Seiderman is excellent. (Seiderman also did the makeup for "Citizen Kane, but not to worry, he later redeemed himself by being the makeup artist for "Bride of the Monster.") The video picture is clear and the sound quality is passable. All in all, worth your time, especially if you are a horror fan.

Weird Science...
Mad scientist, Dr. Markoff (J. Carrol Naish) becomes obsessed with a beautiful young girl who resembles his dead daughter. The girl's dad gets in the way, so Markoff bonks him in the noggin and injects him with acromegaly (hyper-growth of the extremities disease) serum. Along the way, we learn the sinister secrets of Markoff's past. MM was much better than I thought it would be. Definitely one of PRC's finer moments! You even get Glenn Strange as Markoff's henchman! Worth a watch...