‘The screen’s 300,000 volt shocker!’
Indestructible Man is a 1955 American science fiction horror film produced and directed by Jack Pollexfen (The Neanderthal Man; Captive Women; The Man from Planet X) from a screenplay by Vy Russell and Sue Dwiggins. It stars Lon Chaney, Jr., Marian Carr and Casey Adams.
The picture was produced independently by C.G.K. Productions. It was distributed theatrically in the United States by Allied Artists Pictures from 18 March 1956 on a double-bill with World Without End.
Police detective Dick Chasen (Max Showalter) narrates a bizarre story that concerns a 72-hour period of horror for the city of Los Angeles.
Charles “Butcher” Benton (Chaney) is a double-crossed convicted robber and murderer who was executed in the gas chamber. His body is unlawfully sold to a scientist (Robert Shayne) who plans to move his experiments into the cause and cure of cancer to human subjects. Benton’s corpse is subjected to chemical injection and massive jolts of high-voltage electricity in order to study the effect on human tissues.
However, Benton’s heart is restimulated and he completely revives (though rendered mute due to electrical damage to his vocal cords), immensely strong and with skin virtually impervious to scalpels, police bullets, even to bazooka shells…
Reviews:
“It is a rather lame story that seems more like a plot of an episode of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits than a feature film (maybe that is why it is only 70 minutes long). The movie isn’t very good and it isn’t very fun… there is a reason it is often a bargain B-Movie.” JP Roscoe, Basement Rejects
“There are many moments of lunacy: the map to the stolen money has no landmarks or writing on it, save for a big “X”; the professor’s assistant apparently drives Chaney’s freshly-executed corpse home in the back of his car; Chaney’s stripper girlfriend eagerly agrees to go out with the lieutenant tracking him down when the detective reveals his first name is “Dick” (!).” Graeme Clark, The Spinning Image
“The worst of it is that Chaney doesn’t even get much chance to do what little acting he was capable of; his only dialogue is in the opening scene between Benton and Lowe, and after that he pretty much just stumbles around looking angry in between extended extreme close-ups on his puffy eyes and bulbous, alcohol-ravaged nose.” Scott Ashlin, 1,000 Misspent Hours and Counting
” …quite a good piece of film noir; dialogue, structure and cinematography all make it quite clear where the movie’s allegiances lie. It owes debts, too, to the horror genre, not only in the person of its star but also in some later moments of grue and in particular in its frequent default to creepily lit close-ups of the Butcher’s crazed eyes.” John Grant, Noirish
Cast and characters:
- Lon Chaney, Jr. as Charles “Butcher” Benton
- Casey Adams as Lt. Richard “Dick” Chasen – The Giant Claw; The Face of Marble
- Marian Carr as Eva Martin, a burlesque artiste
- Ross Elliott as Paul Lowe
- Stuart Randall as Captain John Lauder
- Marvin Press as Henchman “Squeamy” Ellis
- Ken Terrell as Henchman Joe Marcelli
- Roy Engel as The Desk Sergeant
- Robert Foulk as Harry the Bartender
- Robert Shayne as Dr. Bradshaw – The Monster that Challenged the World
- Joe Flynn as Bradshaw’s Assistant
- Peggy Maley as Francine, a burlesque artiste
- Marjorie Bennett as Floozie at Bar
Choice dialogue:
Dr. Bradshaw: “No, no, it’s too late for the amyl nitrate.”
Captain John Lauder: “These reports sound like they come from a bunch of loonies!”
Film locations:
Angels Flight, Los Angeles, California, USA
Bradbury Building, Los Angeles, California, USA
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