How to Make a Monster (1958 film)
Encyclopedia
How to Make a Monster is a 1958 American horror film released by American International Pictures
. The film is a follow-up to both
I Was a Teenage Werewolf
and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
. Like Teenage Frankenstein, a black & white film that switched to color for the final moments, How to Make a Monster was filmed in black & white, with the entire last reel filmed in color.
Through hypnosis, Pete causes Larry in werewolf make-up to kill Nixon in the studio projection room, and later he wills the unknowing Tony to wait for Clayton in his garage at night and brutally choke him to death. Studio guard Monahan, a self-styled detective, stops in at the Make-up Room on his rounds one evening and shows Pete and Rivero—Pete's reluctant assistant and accomplice—his little black book in which he has jotted down many facts such as the late time Pete and Rivero checked out the night of the first murder. By this show of initiative he plans to get a promotion. Apprehensive, Pete, made up as a terrifying primitive monster, one of his own creations, kills Monahan in the studio commissary at a later point on his beat.
Richards, the older guard sees and hears nothing until he uncovers Monahan's body. Police investigators uncover two clues: a maid, Millie, describes the Monster Frankenstein (Tony, in make-up) who struck her down as he fled from Clayton's murder, and the Police Laboratory Technician discovers a peculiar ingredient in the make-up left on Clayton's fingers from his death struggle with Tony. The formula matches bits found in Pete's old Make-up Room, and the police head for Pete's house—where Pete has taken Rivero, Tony and Larry for a grim farewell party to his home which is a museum of all the monsters that he has created in the 25 years in the studio. (As Pete lights the candles for the party, the movie switches from black and white to color.) Pete has stabbed Rivero to death secretly in the kitchen and hidden his body. Finding Tony and Larry trying to escape the locked living room, he attacks them with a knife, but Larry knocks over a candelabra, setting the living room on fire and Pete is burned to death trying to save the lifelike heads of his monster "children" mounted on the wall. The police break through the door before the flames reach the boys.
's 1998 debut solo album, Hellbilly Deluxe
; for a TV movie in 2001
; for the name of the 2004 album
by The Cramps
; for a documentary on special make-up effects applications in 2005; and for an 8-minute short film in 2011.
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
. The film is a follow-up to both
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
I Was a Teenage Werewolf
I Was a Teenage Werewolf
I Was a Teenage Werewolf is a 1957 horror film starring Michael Landon as a troubled teenager and Whit Bissell as the primary adult. It was co-written and produced by cult film producer Herman Cohen, and was one of the most successful films released by American International Pictures...
and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein is a film starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates and Gary Conway released by American International Pictures in November 1957. It is the follow-up to AIP's box-office hit I Was a Teenage Werewolf released less than five months earlier...
. Like Teenage Frankenstein, a black & white film that switched to color for the final moments, How to Make a Monster was filmed in black & white, with the entire last reel filmed in color.
Plot
Pete Dumond, Chief Make-up Artist for 25 years at "American International Studios," is pink-slipped by the new management from the East, Jeffrey Clayton and John Nixon, who plan to make musicals and comedies instead of the horror pictures for which Pete has created his remarkable monster make-ups and made the studio famous. In retaliaton, Pete vows to use the very monsters these men have rejected to destroy them. By mixing a numbing ingredient into his foundation cream and persuading the young actors that their careers are through unless they place themselves in his power, he hypnotizes both Larry Drake and Tony Mantell, who are playing the characters Teenage Werewolf and Teenage Frankenstein in the picture Werewolf Meets Frankenstein currently shooting on the lot.Through hypnosis, Pete causes Larry in werewolf make-up to kill Nixon in the studio projection room, and later he wills the unknowing Tony to wait for Clayton in his garage at night and brutally choke him to death. Studio guard Monahan, a self-styled detective, stops in at the Make-up Room on his rounds one evening and shows Pete and Rivero—Pete's reluctant assistant and accomplice—his little black book in which he has jotted down many facts such as the late time Pete and Rivero checked out the night of the first murder. By this show of initiative he plans to get a promotion. Apprehensive, Pete, made up as a terrifying primitive monster, one of his own creations, kills Monahan in the studio commissary at a later point on his beat.
Richards, the older guard sees and hears nothing until he uncovers Monahan's body. Police investigators uncover two clues: a maid, Millie, describes the Monster Frankenstein (Tony, in make-up) who struck her down as he fled from Clayton's murder, and the Police Laboratory Technician discovers a peculiar ingredient in the make-up left on Clayton's fingers from his death struggle with Tony. The formula matches bits found in Pete's old Make-up Room, and the police head for Pete's house—where Pete has taken Rivero, Tony and Larry for a grim farewell party to his home which is a museum of all the monsters that he has created in the 25 years in the studio. (As Pete lights the candles for the party, the movie switches from black and white to color.) Pete has stabbed Rivero to death secretly in the kitchen and hidden his body. Finding Tony and Larry trying to escape the locked living room, he attacks them with a knife, but Larry knocks over a candelabra, setting the living room on fire and Pete is burned to death trying to save the lifelike heads of his monster "children" mounted on the wall. The police break through the door before the flames reach the boys.
Production notes
Many of Pete Dumond's "children" destroyed in the fire were props originally created by Paul Blaisdell for earlier AIP films.Legacy
In recent years, the title has been re-discovered and used several times: for a song on Rob ZombieRob Zombie
Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
's 1998 debut solo album, Hellbilly Deluxe
Hellbilly Deluxe
* Danny Lohner - Additional Guitar on Meet the Creeper.* Tommy Lee - Drums on Meet the Creeper.-Chart positions:AlbumSingles...
; for a TV movie in 2001
How to Make a Monster (2001 film)
How To Make A Monster is a 2001 film starring Clea DuVall, Steven Culp, Jason Marsden and Tyler Mane. It is the third release in the Creature Features series of film remakes produced by Stan Winston. Julie Strain made a cameo appearance in the film as herself. How To Make A Monster debuted on...
; for the name of the 2004 album
How to Make a Monster (The Cramps album)
How To Make A Monster is the third compilation by the American garage punk band The Cramps. Comprising rare, previously-unreleased tracks, the release is a 2-CD set that includes a 28-page book with extensive liner notes by Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, as well as rare and unseen photos and flyers...
by The Cramps
The Cramps
The Cramps were an American rock band, formed in 1976 and active until 2009. The band split after the death of lead singer Lux Interior. Their line-up rotated much over their existence, with the husband and wife duo of Interior and lead guitarist Poison Ivy the only permanent members...
; for a documentary on special make-up effects applications in 2005; and for an 8-minute short film in 2011.