The Indestructible Man (DVD)

...ongoing deadpan voiceover narration throughout the film by Police Lieutenant Richard Chasen which seems to have been very much inspired by then-current popular police TV series 'Dragnet'.

In San Quentin prison, notorious 'Butcher' Benton has been locked up for robbery and murder. His lawyer, Paul Lowe, is berating him for double-crossing fellow thugs Joe and Squeamy by having taken all of a large sum of stolen money for himself and ...
...is about to go to the gas chamber. During their conversation it is revealed that Lowe the lawyer is crooked - he planned the heist and hired Butcher and his 'associates' to carry it out, and then stitched Butcher up and made him the fall guy. 'I'll have the satisfaction of knowin' that none'a you three crumbs is gonna spend it,' says Butcher, and continues 'I'm gonna kill you, Squeamy and Joe.' Lowe reminds him of his date with the gas chamber the ... more

Starring:
Lon Chaney Jr. as. Charles 'Butcher' Benton
Casey Adams as Police Lt. Richard Chasen
Marian Carr as Eva Martin
Ross Elliott as Paul Lowe

This good old 1956 B-movie from 'The Wolfman' Lon Chaney Jr's later years is an interesting and unusual sort of blend of cop drama, horror and sci-fi. It has a 'police procedural' feel about it, with an ongoing deadpan voiceover narration throughout the film by Police Lieutenant Richard Chasen which seems to have been very much inspired by then-current popular police TV series 'Dragnet'.

In San Quentin prison, notorious 'Butcher' Benton has been locked up for robbery and murder. His lawyer, Paul Lowe, is berating him for double-crossing fellow thugs Joe and Squeamy by having taken all of a large sum of stolen money for himself and hiding it, so they turned State's evidence against him and now he is about to go to the gas chamber. During their conversation it is revealed that Lowe the lawyer is crooked - he planned the heist and hired Butcher and his 'associates' to carry it out, and then stitched Butcher up and made him the fall guy. 'I'll have the satisfaction of knowin' that none'a you three crumbs is gonna spend it,' says Butcher, and continues 'I'm gonna kill you, Squeamy and Joe.' Lowe reminds him of his date with the gas chamber the next day. Butcher looks at him ominously and replies 'Remember what I said. I'm gonna getcha. All three of ya.'

Well, we would guess that wasn't really much of an option, what with his execution and all. And we hear on the radio news the next day that Butcher has indeed been made to pay the ultimate price for his crimes. So that should be the end of the movie, yes? But no, we have an hour and a quarter to go, so there must be something more to this story. We next see the laboratory of a doctor who is working on a cure for cancer and needs bodies to experiment on. A body is wheeled in on a gurney, and it's our unfortunate pal Butcher. 'You mean you're gonna give him 287,000 volts?' the doctor's nerdy assistant asks. 'Yes, yes,' the doctor says impatiently, 'I'll get the fluoroscope set up.' To Butcher he says, with now a bit too much of a 'mad scientist' gleam in his eye, 'There you are, old boy - if you respond properly and my theory is sound, you'll be more famous dead than alive!'

After much buzzing and flashing of lights, the doctor and his assistant find that Butcher's heart has started beating. Butcher opens his eyes and looks bewildered. He gets up from the table against the doctor's advice, and the doctor finds that his treatments have given Butcher inhuman strength. He also finds that Butcher's skin has become so tough, like iron, that he is unable to take a blood test; Butcher's skin causes the needle to bend without penetrating. We learn via voiceover narration that the electrical voltage has burned out his vocal cords and he is unable to speak, but his brain is OK (such as it is): 'He knew who he was. And he knew who he hated.' After knocking out the doctor and his nerd, off on his journey of doom goes Butcher, an indestructible mute brute who is 'dead'-set on wreaking the revenge he promised.

Believe it or not, despite it being a bit of a silly concept and looking pretty cheap all round, this is actually quite worth a watch. It works well as a detective story of an implausible, Sci-Fi kind. The story is interesting and engrossing, and you do want to see how it will pan out.

The cinematography and direction are very much bog-standard B movie fare, workmanlike and effective enough with nothing notable about it. Special effects just consist of a few electrical arcs and lightning-like effects and 'bzzzt' sounds in the lab where Butcher is revived and at another point later in the film, and depictions of superhuman feats of strength on the part of Butcher such as throwing cars around and quickly and easily despatching people with his bare hands. The film revolved more around Butcher's dishevelled, lumbering appearance and his super-strength and invulnerability, than glitzy effects.

Acting is adequate but nothing special in all but the two main characters, Butcher Benson (Lon Chaney Jr) and Lt Chasen (Casey Adams), who stand out from the rest. I always tend to like Casey Adams (also sometimes billed as Max Showalter, his real name) in everything I see him in, always playing a sympathetic 'everyman' type of character that comes across as very genuine. Of course, the major feature here is the presence of Lon Chaney Jr who, when I was very little, was one of my favourite horror actors in his movies from the 30s and 40s, especially as The Wolfman. He's looking the worse for wear by this stage in his life, but this only helps add to the scary and mean-looking appearance of his character. He hams it up well for this part and must have had fun playing it.

You also get some great historic shots of late 50s Los Angeles including on-location ones taken in the picturesque Angel's Flight area, a steep hill in a residential area of downtown L.A.with a cable car system that ferried residents from the hill down to the main street and its shops. I lived in L.A. as a small child and lived briefly in this area and can still remember the hill and cable cars and how unusual and quaint it all was. The whole Angels Flight area was later demolished and flattened and is now an industrial concrete jungle, so it's good to have this interesting piece of history preserved at least somewhere.

My copy of this movie is from a set called 'Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack' released by Mill Creek Entertainment, 2005, hence I'm reviewing 'Film Only' rather than the individual DVD pictured on this page. This movie was also featured in Episode 409 of Mystery Science Theater 3000, of which I also have a copy, but to be honest I don't think this works well as 'The Indestructible Man' really isn't bad enough or funny enough to be a worthy MST3K victim.

Also on ciao.com as EsmeraldaDragon and dooyoo as thereddragon. 

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