Jack Pollexfen issues a low budget revenge thriller, noir, and horror film all rolled into one as Lon Chaney Jr. appears in yet another predominantly silent role. Unfortunately, the famed actor is the only reason to view this otherwise rote and complacent feature, and even at that, Indestructible Man is for Chaney completists only.
After having evidence submitted against him by his accomplices in crime, Charles “Butcher” Benton (Lon Chaney Jr.) is sent to the gas chamber and executed. However, a biochemist named Bradshaw (Robert Shayne) brings Benton back to life via electricity, which makes him seemingly invincible but mute. Benton uses his new omnipotence to enact revenge against those who betrayed him, Squeamy Ellis (Marvin Ellis), Paul Lowe (Ross Elliott), and Joe Marcelli (Kent Terrell). It is up to Lieutenant Dick Chasen (Max Showalter) to stop Benton’s murder spree.
It is sad that the only thing that Indestructible Man had going for it was partially taken away, that is, Chaney’s semi-competent veteran acting, as his character’s vocal cords are burned off early in the production, leaving us with Showalter’s annoying, hard-boiled noir voiceover. Ironically, we learn to love the voiceover because when Chasen does appear onscreen to speak, his overactive lips act as visual tractor beams–luckily or not considering on your perspective–distracting one from the acting (or lack thereof) taking place at the time.
The only interesting facet of the Pollexfen’s film is the sympathy the viewer begins to feel for Benton as his silence inadvertently recalls Chaney’s morose character of Lawrence Talbot in his renowned Wolf Man features. Otherwise, we are left to contend with the less-than-imaginative plot, which is derivative of not only the Frankenstein features, but mimics only the most stereotypical qualities of the noir genre. The most condemnable aspect of the work is debatable: One can either side with the chauvinistic writing, which culminates at the finale when Chasen tells Benton’s ex, Eva Martin (Marian Carr), that he has had her fired and that she will marry him, or the viewer can cite that Pollexfen’s explicit plagiarism of Bela Legosi’s consummate stare in Victor Halperin’s White Zombie, which he resurrects as we are perpetually bombarded by Chaney’s tired crow’s feet, as the cinematic tripe’s worst trait.
Obviously, Jack Pollexfen’s Indestructible Man offers little of value outside of the otherwise trite trait of housing an early departure from the abrupt ending once the antagonist has been dispatched as we return briefly to the stars as they affirm their affection for one another. I suppose it would have been too much to ask for the screenwriters to have challenged themselves with exploring the gray area in which Benton finds himself instead of casting the character as purely pitch black. Though a convicted criminal condemned to death, Benton’s agenda is justifiable revenge. Of course, to spend time with this aspect of the plot might have resulted in an entertaining storyline, thus defeating the filmmakers’ overtly lethargic agenda.
-Egregious Gurnow
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