Nora (Miroslava) is a reporter. Her editor is Gherasimos (Fernando Navarro). One evening she is complaining to Gherasimos that the newspaper business is boring and that there are no good stories anymore. Gherasimos points to an ad in the paper that sounds rather mysterious. He suggests that she investigate to find out what it is about.
Nora responds to the ad and arranges to meet the author of the advertisement. It turns out the man is a well-known scientist named Hermann Ling (Jose Maria Linares-Rivas). Ling is dressed in black and has his face covered with a mask. Ling takes Nora to his estate. The house is an old rambling monstrosity situated next to a cemetery and overlooking a rocky shore. At the house Nora meets Ling’s servant, Mischa (Alberto Mariscal). The house is filled with full size wax figures of women in various poses. Ling takes Nora to his laboratory to show her his work.
Ling tells her that he was born with a deformed face. He tells Nora that he was abandoned by his parents and shunned by everyone he met. He began wearing a mask to hide his deformity. He then became a scientist and learned how to surgically fix deformities in others. He shows her before and after wax busts of a man he transformed from being ugly to being handsome. Nora is impressed. She tells him that she wants to know more about him. She convinces him to show her his face. Nora is revolted but hides it. She tells him that she is not frightened of his appearance and kisses him on the forehead. Ling believes that she sees through his deformity and truly cares for him.
They arrange to meet again. Before the meeting he overhears Nora tell her editor that Ling is repulsive to her and she is just looking for a good story. This tips Ling’s fragile mind over the edge. He strangles a woman he believes to be Nora. Since he was trained to save lives and not take them, Ling is unable to commit more murders with his own hands. He resorts in resuscitating a young man who committed suicide by transferring the mental essence from a monster, that he keeps in the basement, into the man thereby turning him into a slave he can control mentally. He names the revived man Ariel (Carlos Navarro) and sends him off to kill random women. Ling’s hatred is revealed when he orders Ariel to kidnap Nora so he can take the ultimate revenge on her.
“The Revived Monster” AKA “Il Mostruoso Crimen” AKA “El Monstruo Resucitado” AKA “Monster” was released in 1953 and was directed by Chano Urueta. It is a Mexican horror film.
It’s usually looked at as a Frankenstein in reverse plot with a monstrous mad scientist and a handsome monster, however, instead of being made from body parts the “creature” is a reanimated dead man who is given the life essence of a monster that the mad scientist has hidden in his basement. There are lots of plot holes here, but it has a lot of quirky moments that were often inserted into Mexican horror, such as the monster in the basement that is never explained. There are also some over-the-top emotions and acting that were a little cringe worthy.
There are quite a few horror film tropes and old dark house elements here as well. The mad scientist, complete with laboratory, the old mansion surrounded by a raging sea, the only access to the house by going through a cemetery all add lots of atmosphere. Add to that an ape man and a reanimated zombie and you have all the makings of a good Mexican horror flick. If you, like me, are a fan of whacky Mexican horror, you’ll probably like this one too.