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Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, Tony McCoy, Loretta King, Harvey B. Dunn ... see more see more... , Bud Osborne , John Warren , Dolores Fuller , William Benedict , Ben Frommer , Paul Marco , George Becwar

To most outside observers, Bride of the Monster probably seems like a ridiculously inept horror film, and in many ways it is just that. To connoisseurs of the work of director Edward D. Wood Jr., howe... read more read more...ver, it is the biggest budgeted film in his entire output, made with the resources of a normal B-movie (as opposed to his usual totally emaciated finances) and the most easily accessible of his three horror films. Bela Lugosi, in his final complete performance, portrays Dr. Eric Vornoff, a renegade Eastern European scientist with a plan to create a race of atomic supermen, giants charged with radioactivity. The problem is that the hapless hunters and other passersby at Lake Marsh, where he has set up shop with his hulking, mute assistant Lobo (Tor Johnson), whom the pair waylay, keep dying when he straps them in and switches on his atomic ray machine (which is a not-at-all disguised photographic enlarger). A dozen victims later, reporter Janet Lawson (Loretta King) goes out to investigate the disappearances -- attributed to a monster -- and falls into Vornoff's hands, with her police detective fiance Dick Craig (Tony McCoy) hot on her trail, and a devious spy (George Becwar) from Vornoff's former nation also nosing his way around the swamp and the old house. Vornoff dresses Lawson in a wedding gown and plans to irradiate her but Lobo refuses to allow it, straps Vornoff into the machine, and turns him into a radioactive giant (and into stuntman Eddie Parker, totally unconvincing in his doubling for Lugosi). ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Flixster Users

32% liked it

5,903 ratings

Critics

44% liked it

9 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 10 min.

Directed by: Edward Wood Jr

Release Date: January 1, 1955

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DVD Release Date: February 15, 2000

Stats: 320 reviews

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Bride of the Monster Loretta King and Tor Johnson Bela Lugosi BELA! Bela Lugosi!
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Flixster Reviews (320)

  • FrizzDrop
    September 20, 2011
    FrizzDrop
    I feel jipped. No really, it's like I've been bamboozled here! Where is the true travesty of an Ed Wood production? I was expecting some serious miscare, intent to harm when it came to the work of the "worst director of all time" as purported by the Golden Turkey Awards of the ea... read morerly eighties. This, Wood's largest budgeted film, has the same capacities as any other 50's sci-fi horror film, certainly not as awful as repeatedly reported. Sure, it blatantly shows flaws in the lack of passable special effects, stock footage of a crocodile and a giant octopus from previous films of the studio, and the horrific acting that comes from shooting every scene once, whether it be a simple exchange or the climax of the film. Still, much of this felt nostalgic and easy to follow, like the horror classics that proceeded it, but there's always something just a bit off with the acting, especially the relationship between the Monster and his creator. The doctor is portrayed by the aged Bela Lugosi, by then a morphine addict and faded star compared to Boris Karloff. He brings the same insanity and chaotic charisma of his Dracula persona to the Hungarian accent tinged character of Dr. Eric Vornoff, a ruthless man attempting to breed atomic men to rule the world. He is aided by a monster, played by wrestler Tor Johnson. Tor, I am sorry, but you cannot act. I say this with utmost sympathy, because the way you portray that gentle giant is petulant and ignorant to the craft that is acting, or the species that is human. Loretta King, a backer of the film, is strikingly stiff, and the cameo by Dolores Fuller feels bland and porous. Most of the beginning is simple dialogue and this makes the rush of information near the end a bit auto-climactic. Still, it's an Ed Wood, so at least you're enjoying the hilarity involved.
  • ajv2688
    November 10, 2010
    ajv2688
    If you're interested in Wood's work, you should see this one too, it has Lugosi and the giant octopus. The plot isn't great, but it's still a fun movie in Wood's "b-movie" style.
  • phubbs1
    July 27, 2010
    phubbs1
    The best bit about this film are the superb 'death' sequences and fabulous acting haha the plastic octopus cut with real footage is classic and Lugosi is quite memorable with his speeches of evil hehe
    The plot is rather basic and the effects are even more pathetic than 'Plan 9' b... read moreut its still really enjoyable to watch, Bela is the main attraction here for sure, its all based around him, his dialog is actually good in places as he over acts with great enthusiasm and heart, the look of his lab and old creaky house isn't too bad either...it just adds to the old black n white horror feel :)

    This is probably second best behind 'Plan 9' with its kooky feel and mad scientist character, the film isn't as badly edited as 'Plan 9' but there's still some genius directing going on, love the old house in the stormy pouring rain.
  • webalina
    July 6, 2009
    webalina
    Hard to rate this one. It's terrible...after all it's directed by Ed Wood. But it's also so campy and lame that it's hysterical...because it's directed by Ed Wood. OK, I'll split the difference.
  • flixsterman
    January 13, 2009
    flixsterman
    How does one rate a movie that is sooooo bad that it's good?
  • nuheart
    January 6, 2007
    nuheart
    Rates a 3 on the ED WOOD SCALE, which falls somewhere between 0 and 2 in the real world. You really just have to know what you're in for when you sit down for an evening of Ed Wood.
  • mjgildea
    November 15, 2006
    mjgildea
    Horrible but grossly entertaining.
  • fb1142797643
    September 7, 2008
    fb1142797643
    I just saw this film on TCM, and didn't find it as much of a "howler" as I expected. Surprised that it was made before "Plan 9," because it seemed much better made. The main two laughable elements are Tor Johnson's ridiculous zombie routine and the totally unconvincing rubber oct... read moreopus (why didn't Wood just order a few fake tentacles capable of being curled into shapes, and then combine the stock underwater footage with surface shots of the tentacles dragging someone under?), but the direction and scoring are reasonably competent. And Lugosi gets a few good moments, such as his big "I haff no hooome" speech and the hypnotism scenes. Is this really so much worse than countless other no-budget horror/monster films of the era?

    In the "knocked-over tombstone" category, watch for the fight scene in the lab where Johnson blocks himself from being pushed through a doorway, and the flimsy set walls shake around him.
  • staindslaved
    December 31, 2011
    staindslaved
    There are bad movies and then there are great bad movies. Ed Wood was the king of making great bad movies. Many people say that the secret ingredient in Ed Wood's films was the love and devotion that he put into them. That may be true but what really makes a bad movie great is... read more when you can watch it and be completely excited to watch it scene for scene and line for line. Bride of the Monster is awesomely bad and a real delight of bad cinema its every bit as good/bad as Plan Nine From Outer Space just not as famous. Bela Legosi's octopus fight sequence and his atomic supermen speak highlight this quintessential film for bad movie fans.
  • HenrikSchunk
    May 22, 2009
    HenrikSchunk
    I have seen this at some point and remember it being awful, not even in a good way. Lugosi really managed to take a class plunge in his late films.

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Critic Reviews

Rob Humanick
October 5, 2011
Rob Humanick, Suite101.com

The many flawed details of the film are embarrassing, but the film entire suggests a cry from the heart of a crippled poet. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
October 31, 2008
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

It quickly descends into [Wood's] signature style: few -- if any -- of the shots match, the acting is atrocious and the dialogue sings with its own unique rhythms of awfulness. Full Review

Stefan Birgir Stefansson
October 26, 2006
Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is

Bela was such a bad actor...

Dennis Schwartz
December 19, 2003
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

More fun than its ridiculous story and brutal acting and incompetently designed sets would indicate. Full Review

Alex Sandell
April 11, 2003
Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum

Ed Wood sucked. He didn't suck so bad he was good, he just sucked.

Ken Hanke
December 1, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Even taking his nonexistent budgets into account, there's no getting around the fact that Wood was simply magnificently untalented -- albeit in a glorious way. Full Review

Scott Weinberg
July 26, 2002
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Bad, bad, bad. Have you not yet been introduced to Ed Wood?

Emanuel Levy
August 1, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Carol Cling
April 16, 2004
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Bride of the Monster Trivia

  • He directed a film called "bride of the atom" which he later changed to "bride of the monster" Who is he? (hint. You're gonna need his WHOLE name)  Answer »
  • What amazingly-cheap movie began with two murders out near the old Willow place, both of which were attributed in the press to the monster of Lake Marsh?  Answer »
  • Who played Septimus Pretorious, the sinister doctor who promised Frankenstein's Monster a mate, in "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935)?   Answer »
  • Who portrays Frankenstein the monster in Bride Of Frankenstein ?   Answer »
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