Ray Charles Video:

		List Price: $7.98		Label: Alpha Video Salesrank: 93221 Released: July 30, 2002
		Our Price: $2.56
		Used Price: $0.04
		MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
A scientist's experiment goes wrong and turns him into an ape creature.
Genre: Horror
Rating: NR
Release Date: 30-JUL-2002
Media Type: DVD

The Ape Man Reviews:
WATCHABLE PRINT!!!!!
2009-05-16 - The Alpha print is not all that great. The picture is acceptable, but the soundtrack is muffled at times. It will have to do until something better comes along. The opening title reflects that this is a re-issue from Favorite Films, but the end title is intact.

Monogram Mayhem
2009-04-01 - Bela Lugosi makes the most of this Monogram Pictures mediocrity, directed by the immortal William "One Shot" Beaudine. "The Ape Man" (1943) remains a silly attempt at tragic horror, but Lugosi shines in the shabbiest of surroundings. There are worse ways to spend 64 minutes. Interestingly enough, Bela's apelike makeup is similar to the Sayer of the Law in "Island of Lost Souls" (1932).

Bela goes bananas!!!
2008-07-17 - I'm a sucker for cheap Poverty Row horror movies from the late 30s/early 40's, and this is a gem of the genre. These movies exist in a weird internal logic all their own, where it makes perfect sense for scientists to turn themselves into an ape, find out they really don't like being an ape, and then go on a reverse-serum-searching snipe hunt/murder spree, with another ape in tow. You can really see the influence these movies had on Ed Wood.
All the other fixtures of the format are here: spooky old house, wise-cracking reporter, lady sidekick who winds up falling in love with him, police commissioner who's blowing his stack because his men can't find a rampaging killer ape, even the canned music that also turns up in the East Side Kids movies.
One complaint: the print used for this DVD is pretty bad, with a muffled soundtrack that had me straining to understand the dialogue. On the other hand, this isn't a Criterion special edition of "The Magnificent Ambersons", it's THE APE MAN, for cryin' out loud!
BTW: I watched this on a double-bill with the T-REX concert movie BORN TO BOOGIE..."Bela's alright/Bela's alright/a natural born apeman/he's just outa sight!"

"15 Frightful Horror Films ... Bela Lugosi ... Passport Video"
2006-10-15 - Passport Video presents "The Bela Lugosi Box - 15 Frightful Films" (1942) --- (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Béla Lugosi was the stage name of actor Béla Ferenc Dezs Blaskó (October 20, 1882 - August 16, 1956) --- Lugosi was born in Lugos, Hungary, at the time part of Austria-Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania), the youngest of four children of a baker --- best known for his portrayal of "Dracula" in the American Broadway stage production, and subsequent film, of Bram Stoker's classic vampire story.

Late in his life, he again received star billing in movies when filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr., a fan of Lugosi, found him living in obscurity and near-poverty and offered him roles in his films, such as "GLEN OR GLENDA?" (1953) (in which his role made no more sense than the rest of the movie) and as a Dr. Frankenstein-like mad scientist in "BRIDE OF THE MONSTER" (1955), during post-production of the latter, Lugosi entered treatment for his addiction, and the premier of the film was ostensibly intended to help pay for his treatment expenses. The extras on an early DVD release of "PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE" (1959) include an impromptu interview with Lugosi upon his exit from the treatment center, which provide some rare personal insights into the man --- this was one of Lugosi's most infamous roles was released after he was dead. Ed Wood (Director) features footage of Lugosi interspersed with a double --- Wood had taken a few minutes of silent footage of Lugosi, in his Dracula cape, for a planned vampire picture but was unable to find financing for the project --- Wood later conceived of Plan 9, Wood wrote the script to incorporate the Lugosi footage and hired his wife's chiropractor to double for Lugosi in additional shots --- notice however the "double" is thinner than Lugosi, and covers the lower half of his face with his cape in every shot --- Leonard Maltin (Famous Film Critic) was quoted - "Lugosi died during production, and it shows."

Lugosi died of a heart attack on August 16, 1956 while lying in bed in his Los Angeles home. He was 73 --- Bela Lugosi was buried wearing one of the many capes from the Dracula stageplay, as per the request of his son and fifth wife, in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California --- Contrary to popular belief, Lugosi never requested to be buried in his famous cloak; Bela Lugosi, Jr. has confirmed on numerous occasions that he and his mother, Lillian, arrived at their decision independently.

BIOS:
1. Bela Lugosi (aka: Béla Ferenc Dezsõ Blaskó)
Date of birth: 20 October 1882 - Lugos, Austria-Hungary. [now Lugoj, Romania]
Date of death: 16 August 1956 - Los Angeles, California
2. Edward D. Wood Jr. (Director, Writer and Producer)
Date of birth: 10 October 1924 - Poughkeepsie, New York
Date of death: 10 December 1978 - North Hollywood, California

This collection of "The Bela Lugosi Box - 15 Frightful Films" (1942) --- still has the magic that we remember from those bygone years --- but as long as we have the labels and networks who play and show these wonderful films of yesteryear, they will never be forgotten ... Plus the half-hour tribute "100 Years of Horror: Bela Lugosi", hosted by Christopher Lee --- and a great job by Passport Video for this release --- looking forward to more of the same from the '20s and '50s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or Passport Video, stay tuned once again for more remarkable films from the vaults of classic television and Hollywood during the Golden Era of Entertaiment.

Total Time: 1034 mins on DVD ~ Passport Video #5260 ~ (9/05/2006)

Poor Bela...
2006-08-16 - Quick word association. What spings to mind when you hear "The Ape Man"? Didja think Bigfoot? The neanderthal from the Geico commercials? How about the fallen stars of Bela Lugosi and Wallace Ford on full display, preserved for posterity? Because that is exactly what the appeal of this film boils down to. See the great Count reduced to knuckledragging around in furry makeup. Squirm uncomfortably as he digs the needle into his vein. Bela has such an irrepressible *presence* that even his lesser works are worth at least a look. And a depressed sigh. The print used seems to have been run over by a cement truck. And possibly drug behind it. The sound is so lousy that about half the dialogue is unintelligable. Perhaps, dear readers, that's for the best...just mute the television and imagine your own story to go along with the images. Chances are, you'll do a better job.