The Manster
| The Manster | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by |
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| Produced by | George P. Breakston |
| Screenplay by | Walter J. Sheldon |
| Story by | George P. Breakston |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Hiroki Ogawa |
| Cinematography | David Mason |
| Edited by | Kenneth G. Crane |
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Production
company |
Shaw-Breakston Enterprises
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Release date
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Running time
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72 minutes |
| Country | United States |
The Manster (双頭の殺人鬼?, Sôtô no Satsujinki) is a 1962 American science-fiction horror film.
It was produced by George P. Breakston, and directed by Breakston and Kenneth G. Crane from a screenplay by Walter J. Sheldon based on Breakston's story. It starred Peter Dyneley as a foreign correspondent in Japan who is given an experimental drug which causes a second head to grow on his shoulder.
American foreign news correspondent Larry Stanford (Dyneley) has been working out of Japan for the last few years, to the detriment of his marriage. His last assignment before returning to his wife in the United States is an interview with the renowned but reclusive scientist Dr. Robert Suzuki (Tetsu Nakamura), who lives atop a volcanic mountain.
During the brief interview, Dr. Suzuki amiably discusses his work on evolution caused by sporadic cosmic rays in the atmosphere, and professes that he has discovered a method for producing evolutionary change by chemical means.
Suzuki serves Larry a drugged libation, causing him to fall into a deep sleep. Announcing to Tara (Terri Zimmern), his voluptuous assistant, that Larry is the perfect candidate for his latest evolutionary experiments, he injects an unknown substance into Larry's shoulder.
Upon waking, Larry is oblivious to the true situation and accepts Suzuki's invitation to spend the next week vacationing with him around Japan. Over the next few days, Suzuki uses Tara as a beguiling distraction while conditioning Larry with mineral baths and copious amounts of alcohol, exacerbating the pain in Larry's shoulder.
Meanwhile, Larry's estranged wife (played by Dyneley's actual spouse, Jane Hylton) has traveled to Japan to bring him back home with her. When confronted, Larry refuses to leave his new life of women and carousing. After a few drinks that night, Larry examines his painful shoulder to discover that a large eyeball has grown at the spot of Dr. Suzuki's injection.
Becoming aloof and solitary, Larry wanders Tokyo late at night. He murders a woman on the street, a Buddhist monk and a psychiatrist, while slowly changing form, culminating in his growing a second head. Seeking a cure, Larry climbs the volcano to Dr. Suzuki's laboratory where Suzuki has just informed Tara that Larry has become "an entirely new species" and beyond remedy.
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Wikipedia