That was an excellent one.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

"Dynamo Dan, the Electric Man" (Lon Chaney, Jr.) survives being electrocuted and attracts the interest of two scientists. The first is genial Dr. John Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds), who wants to study Dan to see if there's anything about his physiology that would allow him to survive what others couldn't. The second is nefarious Dr. Paul Rigas (Lionel Atwill), who wants to turn Dan into a sort of electro-zombie. Given this is a horror movie, guess which one wins out? Lon Chaney Jr.'s first horror film. He plays a sympathetic character, as he would so often. Samuel S. Hinds and Anne Nagel offer fine support. Jack Albertson is a little irritating but it's a poor part only included in the movie to fulfill the prerequisite for a romantic subplot most of these films had. The true star of the picture is the great Lionel Atwill as the mad scientist. Atwill is a horror legend and hams it up with glee, particularly in his confrontation with Nagel towards the end. This is a good little B sci-fi/horror movie from Universal. Fans of Chaney, Atwill, or Universal horror films in general will undoubtedly like it more than most.

1941's "Man Made Monster" is noteworthy for a number of reasons, chiefly that this was the Universal feature debut for Lon Chaney Jr. (previously used only in a couple of serials). Having scored an acting triumph just twelve months earlier in "Of Mice and Men," the Chaney name had become a bankable one for a studio hoping to replace the departed Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi never even considered. Intended to be a Karloff-Lugosi followup to "The Invisible Ray" (John P. Fulton's glowing effects retained from that film), Chaney plays the sympathetic role earmarked for Boris, but tailored more to Lon's strengths, while top billing was accorded to Lionel Atwill, essaying Lugosi's role, in what Forrest J. Ackerman astutely described as 'the maddest doctor of them all.' So frequently shunted aside in supporting parts thereafter, Atwill truly revels in some ace scenery chewing; in one scene, Lon asks about the now missing test rabbit: "oh, he worked yesterday!" It would be difficult to imagine Boris Karloff as an ordinary Joe performing electrical tricks for 'yokel shockers,' so completely does Chaney inhabit this good natured, unsuspecting dupe, Dan McCormick, having survived an accident that left all other passengers dead, now utilized as the perfect guinea pig for the power hungry experiments conducted by Atwill's Dr. Paul Rigas. This would be the last time Atwill enjoyed top billing in any Hollywood picture, and though he did future mad doctors in "The Mad Doctor of Market Street," "The Ghost of Frankenstein," and "Pardon My Sarong," he never again showed such a devious glint in his eyes. Perfectly cast are lovely Anne Nagel, female lead opposite Lugosi in "Black Friday," and dependable Samuel S. Hinds, always believable no matter what the dialogue. Still, after nearly a decade in Hollywood, mostly in bit parts, this must have been a revelation for Lon Chaney, who had done only "One Million B. C." and "North West Mounted Police" since his triumph as Lennie Small; apparently studios were still unsure of his overall talent. Luckily, Universal allowed him to broaden himself as their resident horror star during the prolific WW2 years, the busiest period of his career, and one where he made many lifelong friends. Included in Universal's popular SHOCK! package of classic horror films issued to television in the late 50s, "Man Made Monster" surprisingly appeared only four times on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater- July 29 1967 (preceded by 1935's "Bride of Frankenstein"), Mar 17 1973 (followed by 1962's "The Horrible Dr. Hichcock"), July 27 1974 (preceded by 1965's "Women of the Prehistoric Planet"), and Jan 21 1978 (following 1955's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers").

Before they made THE WOLF MAN together, director George Waggner and star Lon Chaney Jr made this Universal "monster movie". Chaney's Dynamo Dan, the Electrical Man was a sideshow charlatan whose specialty for the crowds was acts involving electricity. It seems, however, that he had an actual immunity to electrical shock when Dan is lone survivor of a bus crash into a power line which kills every other passenger but him. Lionel Atwill has yet another plum part as a mad scientist obsessed with his theory that through electricity those members of the human race considered inferior, "doomed to mediocrity", could be used to form an army of "super-men" willing to obey those of superior intellect in exchange for the needed boost said electrical currents provide to exist day to day. The prize human guinea pig for Atwill's Dr. Rigas is Dan , unemployed after the carnival left town while he was "recuperating" in the hospital, accepting an offer from renowned scientist, Dr. John Lawrence(Samuel S Hinds)to work with them in their experiments in understanding "bio-electricity". Rigas takes advantage of Dan while Lawrence is away at a conference, performing electrical experiments which begin to weaken the poor lab rat until he's so dependent on the juice that he can no longer function normally without the appropriate current.When Lawrence returns from the conference, he soon discovers Rigas' diabolical dream come to fruition, and before being able to contact the police, is strangled by Dan(who is no longer in control of his own body and mind, Rigas having used so much electrical current almost all of Dan's humanity has been destroyed), John's neck broken. Dan, obeying Rigas' command, admits to killing Lawrence, and is sentenced to die in the electric chair. The voltage in the hot seat only provide Dan with the electrical power needed to break out of prison, killing anyone he touches, his entire body emanating a bright glow. A walking light bulb, Dan inadvertently terrorizes the countryside while making his way to Rigas' laboratory to get revenge.Anne Nagel is Dr. Lawrence's niece, June, who suspects Rigas when Dan begins to act strangely, zapped of the energy which endeared him to them since his hiring. Frank Albertson is newspaper reporter, Mark Adams, an eager young man with designs for June. Like June, Mark can see that something is wrong with Dan and wants only to help.Like he would do a little later for Waggner in THE WOLF MAN, Chaney elicits sympathy as a tragic victim, a monster not of his own making. Atwill could portray the mad scientist role in his sleep by this point, and is the true villain of the picture..it's because of him that Dan's condition harms others, the rudimentary cause of the heightened electrical powers created in his subject's changed physiology. Chaney's friendship with the Lawrence family dog and subsequent loss of exuberance as Rigas slowly removes Dan of his ability to interact with others are methods included in the screenplay(and through Chaney's performance)to root for him to get his eventual revenge. MAN MADE MONSTER has one of the quickest murder trials you are likely to see(Universal had became good at including trials in mad scientist movies, as was the case with Boris Karloff on several occasions). As a die hard fan of THE WOLF MAN, I owe a debt a gratitude to MAD MADE MONSTER for launching Chaney's career, one of the reasons he landed the role of Lawrence Talbot. When we first see him, Chaney is so happy-go-lucky and jovial, what happens to his Dan mirrors the Talbot tragedy not long after in THE WOLF MAN.

Plot— to control his mind, a mad scientist (is there any other kind) sends a big current of electricity through a carnival guy making him glow like a neon sign. Trouble ensues.Anyone familiar with horror pictures of the 30's and 40's knows that under no circumstance do you let Karloff, Zucco, or Atwill strap you down, especially in a laboratory. Pity poor Chaney Jr. He's really a nice guy, but after one horizontal session with Atwill, he lights up like Main St. on a Saturday night. But then he should have seen it coming— after all, Atwill's laboratory has more bells and whistles than Cape Canaveral. Chaney'll never get his old life back now that he's turned into a walking light bulb.Worse, after Atwill has fried Chaney's brain, the big guy has all the personality of a zombie. So, what does the trial court's head doctor say is wrong with him after he's murdered a guy —why, acute melancholia, of course. Sounds to me like the screenwriter has something against head doctors. But then, he doesn't much care for district attorneys either. Because a woman drops dead of fright right after the righteous DA says the public has nothing to fear. Hope the guy has a back-up job.Good slick production from a practiced Universal crew. I especially like Corky the dog, a fine canine actor, along with ingénue Anne Nagel who certainly lit up my corner of the room. All in all, I guess we have electricity to thank for these pre-war laboratory monsters and then nuclear radiation for the post-war mutant monsters. One way or the other, they're still a lot of fun, like this one.