Awwwwww, kitty!
Seriously, the best thing about the 1964 film, Monstrosity, is that it features a black cat named Xerxes. Xerxes is not only a cute little kitty (and, seriously, who doesn’t love a black cat?) but Xerxes is also the best actor to be found in the entire film. While everyone else is struggling to deliver their lines and not wander out of the shot, the cat delivers its meows with the skill of a pro and always hits the right mark. If there was an Oscar category for best animal actor, Xerxes definitely would have been the one accepting the Oscar from the Breakfast at Tiffany’s cat. Seriously, I hope Xerxes was paid well for this role. I hope it opened up a lot of doors for Xerxes. When animal actors get together, I hope that they take a few minutes to raise a toast and to praise a true trailblazer and a wonder performer, Xerxes the Cat!
Unfortunately, the rest of the film doesn’t really live up to Xerxes’s work. Xerxes was obviously doing the best that a cat could do to save this film but there is only so much that a cat can do. At some point, the humans have to step up and make a little bit of effort as well.
Monstrosity, which is also known as The Atomic Bomb, tells the story of Mrs. Hettie March (Marjorie Eaton), a thoroughly unpleasant but very wealthy woman who lives in an isolated mansion. Working in her basement is Dr. Otto Frank (Frank Gerstle), a mad scientist whose work in the field of brain transplantation has led to a lot of strange things happening at the house. For instance, there’s a guy who has the brain of a bulldog. There’s also a woman who wanders around the laboratory with a blank look on her face. Still, Mrs. March is convinced that Dr. Frank will eventually be able to take her brain and transplant it into a younger and more attractive woman.
An ad is put in the classifieds, asking for a young woman to come work as a housekeeper at Mrs. March’s mansion. Three women show up for the job, not realizing that they are actually being set up as candidates to become Mrs. March’s new body. Nina Rhodes (Erika Peters) is from Austria and is the most level-headed. Bea Mullins (Judy Bamber) is from the United Kingdom and speaks with such a thick accent that the viewer will automatically know that she’s not actually British. Anita Gonzalez (Lisa Lang) is from Mexico and rarely speaks. The women arrive at the mansion and soon find themselves at the mercy of the rich old woman, the mad doctor, and all of the failed experiments.
Monstrosity is pretty dumb and remarkably poorly acted, with Lisa Lang’s performance as Anita being the main offender. (Bradford Dillman, who would go on to become a very busy character actor, provided the film’s narration.) That said, Xerxes was a true star. All hail Xerxes!
Through the Shattered Lens 