The Ape Man (1943)

Starring Bela Lugosi, Louise Currie, Wallace Ford, Henry Hall, Minerva Urecal
Directed by William Beaudine
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After a scientific experiment results in giving him the appearance and mannerisms of an ape, Dr. James Brewster is ready to resort to murder to find a cure.

One of Lugosi's nine films for low-rent Monogram Pictures, this is probably his least dignified role among all of them, playing the mad scientist/ape who's covered with fur and bent over like a chimpanzee.  And yet he remains absolutely watchable, playing the role seriously and with a grim malaise as he mourns his condition, becoming excited only at the prospect of killing others to save himself by obtaining their spinal fluid.  Letting his arms sway at his sides like a real primate, we believe him in the part despite the low-budget trappings, and he becomes a true menace when stalking Currie in the film's lively climax.  Currie was one of the more beautiful actresses to appear in a Monogram movie, and although her scenes with Ford mine tired gender humor we've seen a thousand times before, they have decent chemistry and make their characters appealing.  The story's pretty lightweight and Beaudine's direction nothing special, but I enjoyed the music, and above all, Lugosi makes it worth watching.

Pilot X (1936)

Starring Lona Andre, John Carroll, Leon Ames, Henry Hall, Hans Joby
Directed by Elmer Clifton
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The mysterious disappearances of a number of aircraft lead to the discovery that a modern-day enemy ace is shooting down innocent victims, and a scientist aims to track down the man responsible.

Serial veteran Clifton delivers a pretty good little mystery with some nice aerial footage and a good assemblage of war pilot suspects.  Leading lady Lona Andre seems to be around just for eye candy (she's an absolute knockout), as although the script figures her in a love triangle, she ignores the man she was "almost engaged to" at the start of the picture for the bulk of the film.  Although the identity of the murderer doesn't come as a big surprise, I enjoyed this film as a nice mixture of aerial action with a murder mystery.

Haunted House (1940)

Starring Jackie Moran, Marcia Mae Jones, George Cleveland, Christian Rub, Henry Hall
Directed by Robert F. McGowan
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A pair of teenagers try to find evidence to clear a kindly handyman convicted of murder, but their efforts keep getting them into trouble.

Earnest performances from Moran and Jones are the best asset of this small-town murder mystery from low-budget Monogram Pictures, which despite its title, does not actually feature a haunted house.   The young leads are cute together, and surrounded by a good cast of character actors, but one actor's performance as a Chinese restaurant owner comes off as an offensive stereotype.  Nevertheless, there's enough good-natured fun here to make this an amiable time-passer, and I'd therefore rank this film as one of Monogram's better productions.