Indestructible Man (1956)

A man on death row vows revenge on the men who have set him up and vows vengeance from beyond the grave. Fortunately after he is executed a scientist obtains his corpse (somehow) and pumps him full of electricity and he comes back to life to wreak his avowed mission of death as the Indestructible Man. So he kills some people before being fried in a power plant after dodging the police and being shot a lot of times. The Indestructible Man is played by Lon Chaney Jnr. who I would like to say gives an electric performance but no, he is rather flat, lumbering around and throwing his victims off high places.One of those places is the much filmed Bradbury Building in Los Angeles. The location shooting around Los Angeles is probably the best thing about the film as otherwise the story, acting and direction are mundane. After being revived Lon has no dialogue as his vocal chords have been zapped during the process (!) which doesn't matter as from the start of the film the story is related (in hilarious detail) continually in voice-over by Lt. Dick Chasen of the police force.Marian Carr is very cute and mention must go to Marjorie Stapp who plays 'Hysterical Young Woman' and Madge Cleveland who plays 'Screaming Woman.' Indeed the film is billed as "The scream that shocks the screen with 300,000 volts of horror! Inhuman! Invincible! Inescapable!" That's incorrect,

Very low budget B picture with Lon Chaney Jr. Filmed not so much like a horror film, but as a film noir with a twist.It's actually a decent story and is rather well played out, considering the budget.Chaney over acts and does some crazy mugging and sometimes the closeups don't match up.It's almost like an ED direction.Still, it's easy to forgive because you can get into the story.Here's the plot"Butcher" Benton goes to his death in the state prison, cursing the three men who double-crossed him following an armored-car hold-up; "Squeamy" Ellis, Joe Marcelli and Paul Lowe, his attorney and leader of the gang. He vows to return and kill them and dies without revealing the location of the stolen money. Detective Chasen is determined to keep working on the case until the stolen loot is recovered. Benton's body is taken to Professor Bradshaw and his assistant for experimentation, and they manage to restore him to life, making him practically indestructible in the process. He takes off after the three men, getting rid of everybody who stands in his way. He is impervious to police bullets. He kills Ellis and Marcelli, while Lowe seeks police protection. Benton takes to the sewers to recover the hidden loot and the police are powerless to stop him.

Someone somewhere must've had tongue tucked into cheek: INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN, a rehash of Chaney's MAN MADE MONSTER, is chock full of names like "Dick Chasen," "Captain Lauder," and a lawyer named "Lowe." (Here's an oxymoron for ya: "honest lawyer.") Funniest of all, though, has to be Wally Cox as a lab assistant: it was Cox who provided the unforgettable voice of one of my all-time favorite cartoon superheroes, UNDERDOG. The print of INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN that I saw seemed to have been cut: almost every single time there's a death, it takes place off screen (though the aftermath is clearly shown). It's not badly done, it's just not by any means exceptional; even Chaney's normally sympathetic portrayal is slightly off (as one might expect, seeing as how he's playing an executed murderer). If the storyline sounds familiar to comic book fans, it should: Marvel's Luke CAGE, HERO FOR HIRE, was probably inspired by it (the same way DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, FRANKENSTEIN, and THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS inspired THE HULK).

I think I've seen this first time on the "Chiller Theater" in New york. As a kid I didn't understand the plot of this movie, but Lon Chaney's acting caught my attention. Now I look at this picture and I see the "adult" theme in this with sexy burlesque girl as his girlfriend. The picture is great. It's low budget, but acting is pretty good, and the plot is also good and original.Charles "Butcher" Benton (Lon Chaney Jr.) is a convicted killer, and is executed, but a scientist brings him back to life using high voltage. His body becomes indestructible in the process, but burns his vocal chord and makes him mute. He travels back to Los Angeles to have revenge on his former colleagues who's trying to steal the money he's hidden.This movie gets low ratings for production, but high ratings for its entertainment value as many '50s sci-fi movies do. This to me is one of Lon Chaney's best movies.Good '50s classic with interesting and original plot.