Indestructible Man (1956)
Executed for a robbery whose loot he never revealed, brutal killer "Butcher" Benton is brought back to life by a scientist's experiment that leaves him mute, superhumanly strong, and impervious to bullets. He stalks Los Angeles to take revenge on the crooked lawyer and the henchmen who betrayed him to the gas chamber.
A late entry in Lon Chaney Jr.’s monster career, Indestructible Man recycles the vengeful-brute premise of his 1940s work on a threadbare budget, padding its running time with Los Angeles location footage and hard-boiled voice-over narration. It survives mainly as a drive-in curio and was later revived as a Mystery Science Theater 3000 target.
Background
Indestructible Man was a low-budget independent production directed by Jack Pollexfen, and it gave Lon Chaney Jr. the lead as a murderous criminal revived by a scientist’s experiment. By 1956 Chaney had played many monster roles, and this is one of the late entries in that part of his career. Max Showalter, Marian Carr and Ross Elliott support him. The film was made on a tight budget and makes heavy use of Los Angeles location footage and narration to fill its running time.
What to watch for
Chaney’s performance relies on physical menace, since his character is left mute and rebuilt with superhuman strength and resistance to bullets. The revenge story follows him as he stalks Los Angeles toward the crooked lawyer and the men who betrayed him to the gas chamber. Watch how the hard-boiled narration and city settings carry much of the story, giving the film a crime-drama texture that sits uneasily beside its monster premise. It is of most interest today as a late example of the 1950s drive-in monster picture.
