Product Details

• Actors: Casey Adams, Marian Carr, Jr. Lon Chaney, Ross Elliott, Joe Flynn
• Directors: Jack Pollexfen
• Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Alpha Video
• DVD Release Date: August 27, 2002
• Run Time: 70 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00006II5C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #202,513 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

From the Studio

Director Jack Pollexfen began his professional life in the newspaper business, working his way up from copyboy at the 'Los Angeles Express’ to reporter on several other dailies. After four years in the Air Force writing training films and manuals during World War II, he got back on track with a series of screenplays for adventure pictures like 'Treasure of Monte Cristo’ and 'The Desert Hawk’. With ‘Indestructible Man A2ZCDS brings you the third movie Pollexfen produced and the second he directed.. A2ZCDS have brought this old Hollywood Classic feature films on DVD.

THE PLOT: Charles ‘Butcher’ Benton (Lon Chaney Jr.), a convict who is executed in the gas chamber, is given a second lease on life when a scientist inadvertently brings him back to life. The resurrected Butcher leaves a trail of corpses behind him as he heads for Los Angeles in search of his old mates who had double-crossed him. Lieutenant Richard Chasen (Max Showalter) of the Los Angeles Police Department deduces that Paul Lowe (Ross Elliot), the Butcher’s lawyer, is the next on the hit list. The Butcher has to be stopped before he claims another life!

About the Actor

American character actor whose career was influenced (and often overshadowed) by that of his father, silent film star Lon Chaney. The younger Chaney was born while his parents were on a theatrical tour, and he joined them onstage for the first time at the age of six months. However, as a young man, even during the time of his father's growing fame, Creighton Chaney worked menial jobs to support himself without calling upon his father. He was at various times a plumber, a meatcutter's apprentice, a metal worker, and a farm worker. Always, however, there was the desire to follow in his father's footsteps. He studied makeup at his father's side, learning many of the techniques that had made his father famous. And he took stage roles in stock companies. It was not until after his father's death in 1930 that Chaney went to work in films. His first appearances were under his real name (he had been named for his mother, singer Cleva Creighton). He played number of supporting parts before a producer in 1935 insisted on changing his name to Lon Chaney Jr. as a marketing ploy. Chaney was uncomfortable with the ploy and always hated the "Jr". addendum. But he was also aware that the famous name could help his career, and so he kept it. Most of the parts he played were unmemorable, often bits, until 1939 when he was given the role of the simple-minded Lennie in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1939). Chaney's performance was spectacularly touching; indeed, it became one of the two roles for which he would always be best remembered. The other came within the next year, when Universal, in hopes of reviving their horror film franchise as well as memories of their great silent star, Chaney Sr., cast Chaney as the tortured Lawrence Talbot in The Wolf Man (1941). With this film and the slew of horror films that followed it, Chaney achieved a kind of stardom, though he was never able to achieve his goal of surpassing his father. By the 1950s, he was established as a star in low-budget horror films and as a reliable character actor in more prestigious, big-budget films such as High Noon (1952). Never as versatile as his father, he fell more and more into cheap and mundane productions which traded primarily on his name and those of other fading horror stars. His later years were bedeviled by illness and problems with alcohol. When he died from a variety of causes in 1973, it was as an actor who had spent his life chasing the fame of his father, but who was much beloved by a generation of filmgoers who had never seen his father. IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Silent, But Deadly.., July 22, 2003

By 

Bindy Sue Frønkünschtein "bigfootsalienbaby" (under the rubble) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Indestructible Man (DVD)

Lon Chaney jr. is great as Charles "Butcher" Benton, in this enjoyable shlock-fest. Sitting on death row, he swears revenge against his former partners in crime, including his sleazoid lawyer who got him put away in the first place. Benton is executed the next day. His body is sold to a scientist who inadvertently brings him back to life during an experiment. Not only that, but Benton is now an indestructible maniac, impervious to bullets! Benton is also unable to speak, as his vocal cords have been destroyed by the 300,000 volts of electricity used on him. He kills the scientist and his assistant (played by the ever goofy Joe Flynn), then shambles forth to continue his rampage. This is a pretty good revenge flick. Both cops and innocent bystanders are wiped out for getting in his way! Benton stalks and eventually catches up with his ex-cronies, dispatching them in quick fashion. I was surprised at the body-count, seeing as this did come out in 1956. If you like murder, mayhem and back-from-the-grave horror, this is a must! ...

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Low-budget gem...a surprise..., July 28, 2003

By 

R. Gawlitta "Coolmoan" (Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Indestructible Man (DVD)

This film really isn't so bad if you consider a few things. An encouraged guy named Jack Pollexfen (not unlike Ed Wood) had an idea (not unlike Ed Wood) and cast a great actor from the past (not unlike Ed Wood). The difference is that this is a take on "noir", though without the finesse of those earlier films (sorta like Ed Wood). Production values, as in any independent film with a somewhat believable plot, are low. ("Blair Witch Project", though innovative, was not much different). My idea is not to criticize it for its tackiness, but for its idea. The acting isn't that bad. Marian Carr is actually quite effective as the only female lead. Casey Adams was good as he could be; made a big mark on TV in "Green Acres"; it's almost a take on "Dragnet", the hit TV series at the time (though Adams has more life than Jack Webb ever did...). Then there's Lon Chaney, Jr., relegated to idiotic roles because Hollywood never knew what to do with him; with the studio collapse of the early 50's, no one remembered his touching performance as "The Wolf Man" (1941) or his most remarkable performance (as Lenny) in "Of Mice and Men" (1939, directed by Lewis Milestone). Whaddya do with a guy like this? Perhaps he knew that he was "hard to cast", but I beg anyone to say that his heart wasn't in it. Today's wave of independent film is suddenly recognized as a force to be reckoned with; budgets as they are, I think some of the "lousy" films of the 50's tried to do the same thing. They didn't have Miramax to back them...NO ONE, for that matter. Still, I was a part of the Drive-In crowd back then, and I still appreciate this kind of film fare. Even bad independent film should be respected, to a point. The really trashy films will be just that; small moments of ingenuity should be respected. I have the VHS version, and now the DVD. Both are of low quality, but I find both equally entertaining. This film has been written off as junk by the studios who've produced it. Despite the bad VHS/DVD transfers, the film held my interest. Decide for yourself. ADD'L COMMENT: I just got the DVD of the "Inner Sanctum" series, all starring Lon Chaney, Jr. They're 6 short B-movies from the mid-40's, and fun. Excellent picture transfer.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Classic Horror Film, July 25, 2006

By 

Ejaz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Indestructible Man (1956) [Remastered Edition] (DVD)

I remember seeing this film when I was a kid on one of those television monster marathons and thought that I'd never see it again because it is such an example of 1950s B horror movies. Therefore I was pleased when I noticed it on Amazon. I ordered it and was very happy. It's campy and funny and not really scary, but it has Lon Cheny as a murderous zombie and that's all I really wanted from the film. Five Stars.