the monster looked ...........


ridiculous

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Indeed. Kind of dragged the movie down a bit. If I recall correctly, they never did explain why the monster here looks like a hairy ape creature despite coming from human body parts.

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Yes, they do explain. Victor said he was using the hulking, Neolithic body of Herr Schneider, a homicidal inmate who committed suicide, but Victor kept the body alive for his experiments, adding the hands of a sculptor and the brain of someone else. Yet the body starts to reject the brain or perhaps just needs to get used to it, as Victor & his apprentice theorize.

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I know that. But why exactly does Herr Schneider resemble a hairy ape? That’s what I meant. No human looks like that.

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There are plenty of men who look like brutish Neanderthals out there. They may be far from the norm, but they exist. Andre the Giant is a good example and even facially resembles the creature in the movie somewhat. Ron Pearlman and Richard Kiel are others. As for hairiness, there are plenty of men with serious hirsutism. I knew one in high school; he was like a walking ape.

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I see. That’s a fair point about Andre, Perlman, and Kiel. Not really hairy per se, but definitely large, hulking, and with brutish features. And I suppose it is certainly possible that someone could be that humongous and also suffer from that condition that causes a ton of bodily hair all over. I still think the monster in this one looks pretty goofy though.

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From a distance he definitely looks fierce & formidable while close-ups reveal blow-up biceps, which hampers the illusion. I was able to roll with it and appreciate the movie to a degree, but it's the least of the series (for me anyway).

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Yeah I agree.

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I think the monster was played by Dave 'Darth Vader' Prowse - maybe with a bit of Chewbacca DNA thrown in!

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Yeah that was, indeed, David Prowse, who also played the monster in Horror of Frankenstein.

And yeah, I think you’re right about the Chewbacca DNA. That would certainly explain a lot!

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