Bride of the Monster is a 1955 American independent science fiction horror film co-written, produced, and directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. The story follows Dr. Erich Vornoff (portrayed by Bela Lugosi in his final speaking role), a fugitive scientist conducting experiments with atomic radiation to create enhanced supermen at a secluded island laboratory. Supporting roles include Tor Johnson as Vornoff's mute assistant Lobo, Tony McCoy as investigative reporter Dick Craig, and Loretta King as Craig's fiancée Janet Lawton.
The film is considered to have Wood's biggest budget at $70,000. Production commenced in 1954 but, due to funding shortages, was not completed until 1955. It was released in May 1955 under the original title Bride of the Atom, initially on a double bill with Macumba.Weldon, Michael (1983). "The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film". Ballantine Books. . Page 89 In February 1956, it played (retitled Bride of the Monster) at drive-ins on a double feature with The Beast with a Million Eyes.Bill Warren, Keep Watching The Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the 1950s, Vol. 1 (New York: McFarland & Co, 1986), pg 411.
Plot In a stretch of woods, two hunters are caught in a thunderstorm. They decide to seek refuge in Willows House, supposedly abandoned and haunted. They find Willows House occupied, and the current owner, scientist Dr. Eric Vornoff, denies them hospitality. They attempt to force their entry into the house, but are then scared off by Vornoff's mute assistant Lobo. With the hunters on the run, Vornoff heads to his laboratory through a secret tunnel behind a fireplace and releases a giant octopus from its tank to send it after the hunters. The octopus kills one of them, while Lobo captures the other as he tries to save his friend from the octopus. Vornoff experiments on the unwilling hunter, who dies on the operating table.
There are now twelve missing victims. Reporter Janet Lawton vows to go to Lake Marsh to investigate. Officer Tom Robbins and Lieutenant Dick Craig, Janet's fiancé, talk to Professor Vladimir Strowski, an intellectual from Europe who agrees to assist in investigating the Marsh but not at night. That night, another storm begins. Janet drives alone to Lake Marsh, but visibility is poor, and she drives off the road and into a ravine. Lobo rescues her.
Janet awakens to find herself a prisoner of Vornoff, who uses hypnosis to put her back to sleep. The following day, Craig and Robbins drive to the area around Lake Marsh, a swamp. The partners discuss the strange weather and mention that the newspapers could be right about "the atom bomb explosions distorting the atmosphere". The duo eventually discovers Janet's abandoned car; she becomes the thirteenth missing victim. They leave the swamp while Strowski drives a rented car to the swamp.
Janet awakens at Willows House. Vornoff assures her that Lobo is harmless, but the giant seems fascinated with Janet. Lobo is human, and Vornoff found him in the "wilderness of Tibet". Vornoff hypnotically places Janet back to sleep. He orders Lobo to transport her to Vornoff's private quarters.
Meanwhile, Strowski approaches Willows House and enters through the unlocked front door. While Strowski searches the house, Vornoff arrives to greet him. Their country of origin is interested in Vornoff's experiments with atomic energy and wants to recruit him. Two decades prior, Vornoff had suggested using experiments with nuclear power, which could create superhumans of great strength and size. In response, he was branded a madman and exiled by his country. Strowski dreams of conquest in their country's name, while Vornoff dreams of his creations conquering in his own name. Disappointed that Vornoff has no intention of returning home to their country, Strowski threatens him with a gun but is then attacked by Lobo, dragged to the lab and forced into the octopus's tank, where it kills him. Meanwhile, Craig and Robbins return to the swamp and discover Strowski's abandoned car. The partners split up to search the area, Craig heading towards Willows House. In the secret laboratory, Vornoff uses a wave of his hand to telepathically summon Janet to his current location. She arrives dressed as a bride. Vornoff has decided to use her as the next subject of his experiments. Lobo is reluctant to participate in this experiment, and Vornoff uses a whip to re-assert his control over him. Meanwhile, Craig enters the house and accidentally discovers the secret passage to the lab. He is himself captured by Vornoff and Lobo.
As the experiment is about to begin, Lobo is distressed. He decides to rebel and knocks Vornoff out. Lobo then releases Janet and transports the unconscious Vornoff to the operating table. Vornoff becomes the subject of his own human experiment. This time the experiment works and Vornoff transforms into an atomic-powered superhuman being. He and Lobo physically struggle, and their fight destroys the laboratory and starts a fire. Lobo is electrocuted when Vornoff shoves him into a control panel. Vornoff grabs Janet and escapes from the flames. Robbins and other officers arrive to help Craig. The police pursue Vornoff through the woods. There is another thunderstorm, and a lightning strike further destroys Willows House. With his home and equipment destroyed, a distressed Vornoff abandons Janet and attempts to escape. Craig rolls a rock at him and lands him in the water with the octopus. They struggle until a nuclear explosion obliterates both combatants. Apparently, the end result of the chain reaction started at the destroyed laboratory. Robbins says of Vornoff "he tampered in God's domain".
Cast
Bela Lugosi as Dr. Eric Vornoff Tor Johnson as Lobo Tony McCoy as Lt. Dick Craig Loretta King as Janet Lawton Harvey B. Dunn as Captain Robbins George Becwar as Professor Strowski Paul Marco as Officer Kelton Don Nagel as Martin Bud Osborne as Mac John Warren as Jake Ann Wilner as Tillie Dolores Fuller as Margie William "Billy" Benedict as Newsboy Ben Frommer as Drunk
Production and release
The first incarnation of the film was a 1953 script by Alex Gordon titled The Atomic Monster, but a lack of financing prevented any production. Later Ed Wood revived the project as The Monster of the Marshes. Actual shooting began in October 1954 at the Ted Allan Studios, but further money problems quickly halted the production. The required funds were supplied by a meat packing plant owner named Donald McCoy, who became credited as the film's producer on the condition that his son Tony was to star as the film's hero. According to screenwriter Dennis Rodriguez, casting the younger McCoy as a protagonist was one of two terms Donald imposed on Wood. The other term was to include an atomic explosion at the film's finale.Craig (2009), p. 293-294 Production resumed in 1955 at Centaur Studios.Rhodes (2006), p. 142-143
Actor George Becwar, who played the bearded Russian agent Strowski, after getting paid for his one day of work on the film, complained to the Screen Actors Guild that he had been underpaid and caused the production to be temporarily shut down for an investigation. Wood as a result had to raise more money from backers and lost another piece of the ownership of the film as a result. An actor friend of Wood's, John Andrews, said in an interview: "Eddie hated, loathed, despised, wanted murdered, George Becwar ....I'm not overdoin' it man, I'm telling you straight. He hated George Becwar to the day he deceased, and I mean with a passion!"Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992). pg. 69. .
The film premiered at Hollywood's Paramount theater on May 11, 1955, under the title Bride of the Atom. Wood related the story of how, after the film played, he asked the theater's manager what he thought of the picture, to which the manager replied "Stinks". Wood took scissors and physically cut the man out of an 8 X 10 group shot that was taken that night after the premiere as a publicity photo. When asked "Who was that you cut out?", Wood replied "Well, he's not there any more, so it doesn't matter".Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992). pg.69. .
The film was officially released in February 1956 under the "Bride of the Monster" title, on a double feature with The Beast with a Million Eyes.Bill Warren, Keep Watching The Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the 1950s, Vol. 1 (New York: McFarland & Co, 1986), pg 411. The film was reportedly completed and released through a deal with attorney Samuel Z. Arkoff. Arkoff profited from the film more than Wood, and his earnings contributed to the funding of his American International Pictures. Wood had oversold shares in the picture and wound up owning none of it himself.Craig (2009), p. 83–103 The ending credits identify the copyright holder of the film as "Filmakers Releasing Organization".Reid (2007), p. 26–27 Distribution rights were held by Banner Films in the United States, and by Exclusive in the United Kingdom.
Analysis Genre and background The film combines elements of science fiction and horror fiction, genres which were frequently combined in films of the 1950s. Like many of these contemporaries, Bride serves in part as a Cold War propaganda film. The country of origin for Vornoff and Strowski is left unnamed. The only clues is that it is European and has its own dreams of conquest. By implication, the country which exiled Vornoff in the 1930s could be Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Their role as villains for the American cinema had already been solidified by the 1950s, and Wood could be alluding to both of them. Strowski uses the term master race, which is a key concept in Nazism.
Both the working title "Bride of the Atom" and the final title Bride of the Monster allude to the film Bride of Frankenstein (1935). The film otherwise follows the template of the Poverty Row horror films of the 1940s. The Atomic Age influences the film in its ominous implications concerning nuclear weapons and the threat they posed towards human civilization.
Content This was Bela Lugosi's last speaking role in a feature film. Lugosi subsequently played a silent part in The Black Sleep (1956). Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) uses silent archive footage of Lugosi, since he died prior to the creation of its script.Rhodes (2006), p. 143–145 Lock Up Your Daughters (1959) recycled footage from Lugosi's earlier films, possibly mixed with some new material.
According to Rob Craig, in Bride, Lugosi for the last time plays "a charismatic villain whose megalomania leads to downfall and destruction". Craig considers this to be one of Lugosi's finest roles, citing the surprisingly energetic performance of the aging actor. The scenes involving hypnosis contain close-ups of Lugosi's eyes. Wood was probably trying to recreate similar scenes from an older film of Lugosi's, White Zombie (1932). Lugosi did not actually play Vornoff in the scenes demanding physicality. The film made use of body doubles for Lugosi: Eddie Parker and Red Reagan. Parker was also the body-double of Lugosi in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943). Lugosi's fee for the film is estimated to have been $1,000.00.