AN ANCIENT FISH TURNS A MAN INTO A BEAST
★★☆☆☆ (Don't Bother)
Director: Jack Arnold
1958
Most options at the drive-ins during the 1950s and 1960s had something to do with the elephant in the room. Children were taught to hide under desks in case of an atomic bomb, no one knew the repercussions of nuclear fallout. This was a populace who had lived through two world wars and seen what humans are capable of through photographs on the fronts of newspapers. Imagine the trauma these generations went through and then you can understand why almost every horror movie had an atomic angle to it. That being said, The Monster on Campus is typical for its time, and nothing special. Though well-directed, with seasoned actors, the story of a scientist turned into Jekyll by man’s modern mistakes won’t give you anything new.
Dr. Donald Blake (Arthur Franz) has a charmed life. He’s a respected professor of science at Dunsford University, and is dating the dean’s beautiful daughter, Madeline (Joanna Moore). Dr. Blake is also a guy dedicated to his profession, with an interest in human evolution; so much so, he collects the faces of mankind from our earliest ancestors to now. As he shows these off, his comments are subtle hints to the suburbs most terrifying problem in the 1950s: juvenile delinquency. Dr. Black wonders out loud, “Is man is evolving or devolving?” Translated, this means, “Will kids and their rock n’ roll be the downfall of society?” We can tell the doctor is conservative, overly curious, overly opinionated, and determined to solve any problem, obstacles be damned. These personality traits will be his downfall when a monster fish arrives on campus.
This fish isn’t our Big Bad. The deceased coelacanth (get used to that word) was ordered by Dr. Blake from Madagascar to be dissected in class, but on the first day, the professor scrapes his hand on the prehistoric monster’s teeth. Because the people who packed the fish used a new technology for preservation— gamma rays—this causes a horrifying reaction in our hero, and not one you would expect. When you learn details about The Monster on Campus, you assume a Humanoids from the Deep situation (radioactive fish-man) or a Zaat situation (man wants to be fish, man becomes fish), but instead of growing gills and fins, Dr. Blake becomes a prehistoric Neanderthal. The movie does a decent job selling us on the reasons for this transformation, but that doesn’t make these creative choices any less silly. Despite the man-turned-violent-by-fish-scratch premise, the movie is played straight, so when we finally see the caveman costume at the end, it’s a funny reveal. Little tuffs of hair come out of the shirt at the shoulders, and there’s a mask without an articulated mouth. It’s amateurish considering the restored film looks really good.
“DESPITE THE MAN-TURNED-VIOLENT-BY-FISH-SCRATCH PREMISE, THE MOVIE IS PLAYED STRAIGHT, SO WHEN WE FINALLY SEE THE CAVEMAN COSTUME AT THE END, IT’S A FUNNY REVEAL.”
The Monster on Campus has a curiosity killed the cat lesson. The stuffy professor who can’t stop, won’t stop, is a great contrast with the wild creature he becomes. All the beats are here, including the damsel in distress; an obvious choice in Madeline, who may be the only person who can tame the savage beast. You, yourself, could write the ending to this movie, but I can’t be angry at it because of the talent behind the camera. The Monster on Campus gives you what you want if you’re looking for vintage “beware of teens” and “human vs nature” themes. The most dangerous animal has always been man, and whether the filmmakers did it purposefully or not, that’s exactly who they put the blame on here.
GENRES: Monster/Creature, Teens in Peril
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