The Movie: Bride of the Monster (1955)
What Is It?: Janet Lawton (Loretta King) investigates reports of monster-related
deaths only to find herself strapped to mad-doctor Bela Lugosi’s
operating table. There’s much hulking around by the hulking Tor Johnson,
a stock footage octopus, the endlessly screaming victims of an immobile
prop octopus, and boobish police investigators, plus all the bad
acting, dialogue, props, sets, editing, continuity, stunt work, and
cinematography that was Ed Wood’s hallmark. However, there is an unmissable charm in all this and genius surrealism in Wood’s syntax-challenged dialogue.
Why Today?: On this day in 1903, Tor Johnson is
born. Since tomorrow is Bela Lugosi's birthday, I wonder if the guys celebrated together in 1955.
