thejcowboy22 Watched this movie as a child and enjoyed the ride from start to finish. American reporter visits Japanese Mad Scientist with lovely assistant. Mutated Wife is Locked in a cage the way all good marriages should be. Brother-in-Law shows up looking like a polar bear. Great set-up for a sci- FY movie. With Japan as the backdrop this epic will hold your interest for the remainder of the film.Watching our leading man alter into two leading men is disturbing yet unique.Watching the transformation scenes will shake your imagination. The separation scene was done with taste but my only question was how Larry's clothes stay on his body and not tatter to the ground? The censors made sure that the blood soaked trousers stay on!.Long before the film LOST IN TRANSLATION was made this film has a horror twist that keeps you interested for more. A must see classic that never gets old. I rate and give this movie 3 Sushi rolls.

meddlecore A Japanese scientist named Dr. Suzuki is doing human experiments on "volunteers"- mostly from his family- in attempt to chemically recreate the conditions that will precipitate an evolutionary mutation...then keeps them locked up in his lab when they become mutant freaks or monsters. He even kills and burns his own brother- a yeti looking thing- after he escapes one night.When Larry, an American foreign correspondent, comes to investigate the Doctor's work, he gets drugged. While he is passed out, the Doctor injects him with an enzyme that will cause him to mutate, both physically and psychologically- changing him into a psychopathic "manster".His hand first turns into a monster hand, and he starts to get the overwhelming urge to kill people.After murdering a monk, Larry starts to go crazy. He leaves his wife, stops working and starts acting all erratic. This makes his editor suspicious- especially after he sees Larry with a set of Buddhist prayer beads.After randomly murdering a few more people, things get progressively worse for Larry. An eye starts to form on his shoulder. And this soon sprouts into a second beastial head.Monster Larry is now forced to go on the lam, with the cops chasing him- and that's pretty much how the rest of the movie goes. The film inevitably concludes with a final rager and showdown, with a slight twist.In the end, I was personally left with one question: how come every mother*cker in Tokyo- other than whores and beat cops- is f*cking white!? You'd think Japan was an American imperialized colony based on watching this film!!! The film is nicely shot- particularly that last scene with the volcano smoking in the background- and it does touch upon a few interesting concepts. But overall it's a pretty mediocre film (ruined slightly by it's moralistic explanatory endnote). I mean, the whole thing makes the Japanese look like monsters or idiots worthy of death. While the Americans act like they are their saviours- taking a position of moral authority (both thematically, and in the work-related positions they hold), and using that to dominate their Japanese inferiors.This film is most notable for the homage it receives from Sam Raimi in Army of Darkness- when Ash gets an eye on his shoulder; Evil Ash's head pops out and the two eventually split apart. 4 out of 10.

Red-Barracuda I think it would only be fair to say that The Manster is something of a cult item. It isn't especially well known but when you see it you'll probably remember it. For one thing, it's a US/Japanese co-production which wasn't exactly common in the 50's, especially given the proximity to the end of the Second World War and the atomic bomb. As it is, this one is set in Japan but with an American lead. It's about a mad scientist who experiments with mutations; he injects an American journalist with a serum which results in the man turning into....the Manster! Perhaps unsurprisingly, this creature is half man, half monster.There's nothing very original in any of this when you describe it of course but that's only telling half the story. The transformation of the Manster is somewhat memorable. At first the poor journalist develops a hairy hand but soon after things begin to go into hyper-drive. An ominous eye appears on his shoulder, which in turn soon sprouts a second head! This climaxes in him splitting apart into a man and a monster (this scene was paid homage to by Sam Raimi in Army of Darkness, no less). All this stuff is really great. It's kind of silly but I guess it more than likely freaked a few folks out back in the day. But there is more to this one that an interesting monster – there are also two interesting women. Firstly there is the mad scientist's wife who is kept in a cage; the woman is a disturbing mutant as a result of one of his insane experiments. Secondly there is Tara his assistant, played by the gorgeous Terri Zimmern who doesn't seem to have acted in anything else; something of a shame considering that she is the best actor on show.This is one of those 50's sci-fi horror flicks that does kind of deliver on its promise. It's a very campy movie of course and it hardly could be accused of taking itself too seriously. On the other hand it does work as a horror film in that it has some pretty striking and memorable imagery; as well as the Manster and the mutant wife, we also have a fairly explosive finale on top an erupting volcano. I think for sure the combination of an American sensibility with Japanese influence is a big part of the reason that the Manster turned out so distinctive. But whatever the case this one is a bit of a blast.

gavin6942 An American reporter in Japan is sent to interview an eccentric Japanese scientist working on bizarre experiments in his mountain laboratory.I thought I had seen this film before, but after watching it tonight I know I never did. This is the kind of film you remember. Why did I not see it? I am fairly confident I own it in one of those cheap boxes of 50 horror flicks that fell into public domain. Oh, well. Better late than never.There is an alleged "Army of Darkness" connection here, with the claim that Sam Raimi had Evil Ash emerge from Ash in the same way as the Manster emerges here. I can see it, but I refuse to accept this as fact until I see the source... (of course, it would not be odd of Raimi to find influence in b-movies).We could talk about adultery in this film, the idea that the protagonist says he "has been a good boy" with regards to his wife. He soon stops being the good boy. Is this the fault of the serum or his own weak morals? One suspects the serum, but he slips pretty quickly during a time that is supposed to be still him having majority control...We could also talk about the use of science derived from evil sources. There is a moral issue there. Say that a Nazi doctor does heinous experiments and finds out something useful. Are we to use that information despite it being discovered from a diabolical method? The answer might seem obviously yes, but then it almost justifies the method. The same can be said here -- the scientist says he has left his journal for scientists to learn from. But does his gift therefore make his experiments a good thing?