The Manster (1959)

Interesting facts

The Manster is a 1959 American science-fiction horror film directed by George P. Breakston and Kenneth G. Crane. The film stars Peter Dyneley as a foreign correspondent in Japan who is given an experimental drug which causes an eye, and eventually a second head, to grow from his shoulder. Tetsu Nakamura plays the mad scientist and Terri Zimmern his assistant, Tara. Jane Hylton also stars as Dyneley's wife.

Production

The Manster was an American production filmed in Japan, using a mostly Japanese crew and a number of Japanese actors. It was part of a series of B-movies shot in Japan for American producers by George Breakston, beginning with 1951's Tokyo File 212. Filming took place in English, and Canadian-born Tetsu Nakamura and American-born Jerry Ito were cast in key roles due to their bilingualism. Most of the financing came from United Artists.

The film was based on a story by Breakston, originally titled The Split.

Terri Zimmern was cast when the filmmakers were in Hong Kong. This was the only film she ever apppeared in.

The film had several working titles, including Nightmare and The Two-Headed Monster. The latter was used as the title for the film's Japanese release. It was photographed by David Mason and edited by Kenneth G. Crane. Shinpei Takagi handled the special effects, George Wyman played the titular monster and Hirooki Ogawa composed the soundtrack. Ryukichi Aimono and Robert Perkins were associate producers. Noboru Miyakuni was the art director.

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