Alicia I love this movie so much

NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

BA_Harrison Jealous husband Alex (Klaus Kinski) moves into his late father-in-law's villa with his estranged wife Anijeska (Katia Christine). While investigating the property, Alex discovers a hidden laboratory and begins to restore the equipment, activating machinery that frees his inner monster—his insane jealousy—turning him into an uncontrollable killer.Written and directed by Sergio Garrone, the man responsible for sleazy Nazisploitation classics SS Experiment Camp and SS Camp 5: Women's Hell, with crazy cult actor Klaus Kinski in the lead role, Lover of the Monster sounds like a guaranteed good time for fans of trashy 70's Euro horror, its lurid title suggesting all manner of debauched sexual behaviour between man (or woman) and beast.Unfortunately, those expecting a delightfully deviant tale of tawdry sex with oodles of gore will more than likely be disappointed, the film being a relatively tame affair on all counts: the 'monster' is extremely lame, with the transformed Kinski simply looking like the actor has had a few late nights; the killings are virtually bloodless (the grisliest scene involves the dissection of a dead dog); and the gratuitous female nudity is remarkably reserved when compared to many other Euro horrors from the same era.Avid Euro horror fans might glean a little fun from a couple of in-jokes—a grave bears the name of actor Ivan Rassimov, while one character is called Polanski—and the ending is surprisingly harsh, with an innocent vagabond paying the price for Alex's crimes, but on the whole this is a fairly unremarkable and ultimately rather dull example of European Gothic horror.

Sandy Petersen Lover of the Monster wants to be a Gothic horror film, with a touch of the mad scientist, but fails so abysmally that one wonders if there was a serious disconnect between the scriptwriter and the director. In fact, the credits at least on IMDb don't list a writer, and it's no surprise.The plot, as described, makes no sense. A wife (an attractive Dutch actress) and her new husband (Kinski) are moving back to the wife's old family home. The doctor in town is kind of still in love with the wife, and the married couple seems a bit estranged, so I expect jealous shenanigans. Do I get them? No. The wife goes on chaste walks and takes tea with the doctor, and that's all. Kinski's envious "rages" consist of minor piques and a few semi-harsh words. For this, the wife accused him of monstrous jealousy. On the other hand, if my wife spent lots of time, even chastely with a former lover, perhaps there is reason for a bit of pique.Kinski, rather than make up with his wife, though this is what they're ostensibly at the manor for, goes into the basement and looks up what his deceased father-in-law was doing. Apparently he was interested in the reanimation of the dead, and all kinds of monstrous evil works. So ... I think. I now expect some cool mad science deeds. Do I get them? No. Kinsky goes into the basement, and gets shocked by some of the electric equipment. And that's all.Then Kinski goes on occasional rampages into the countryside and kills people. At last hope springs. Perhaps the electric shock in the basement has turned Kinsky into some kind of monster? Well, all too soon we see Kinski-as-monster, and it is identical to Kinsky-as-man. A little white powder and that's it, though he does manage to pop his eyes out a bit.Is there gore? No. We get a little bit of blood dribbled on the dead people, who apparently die of fear, because there are no wounds visible.Do we at least get to see lots of luscious wenches nude for the asking? Again, no. We do see the Dutch actress semi-naked in the film's last scene, but it's too little, too late.How about artsy psychodrama? Well, personally I detest artsy psychodrama, but I don't even get THAT in this stinker, unless seeing Kinsky and the Dutch woman whine at each other while staring in opposite directions counts. Ecch.The movie does not provide ANY of the elements necessary for exploitation (no sex, gore, horror, or action). It does not provide any of the elements needed for a normal movie (no plot, crappy dialog, and few good scenes). It is very disappointing. There are a couple of kind-of interesting subplots, if you're concerned about the fate of a raggedy hobo thief or whether the wife finally goes off with her ever-patient doctor admirer.But I gave up all hope, and watched the film glumly. I stuck it out only because I am a Kinski and Italian cinema completist. The act gave me no joy. Not recommended. It's not a giallo. It's not a Gothic horror, really, though it is a period piece. It has no mad science. It has no artsy psychodrama. It has no romance. It has nothing. Kinski does bug out his eyes really good in the snail-paced "action" scenes though.

The_Void What we have here is a concoction obviously based on the classic Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde story and taking a bit of influence from Frankenstein. It actually reminded me a lot of the modern horror classic Re-Animator; although anyone expecting anything as gory/entertaining as that film will likely be very disappointed after seeing this one! Lover of the Monster is the second 1974 film directed by Sergio Garrone and starring Klaus Kinski- the first being The Hand That Feeds the Dead, and the two are apparently often confused. The plot here focuses on a doctor and his wife who go to stay at the wife's childhood home despite having some marital problems. The doctor begins snooping around the house and comes across some work investigating life and death. Naturally the doctor wants to investigate this himself, but things go wrong and he ends up with a murderous alter-ego and goes round the countryside murdering people, only for a poor innocent tramp to get the blame for the killings.Sergio Garrone was responsible for one of the most notorious (and one of the very worst) Video Nasties with SS Experiment Camp in 1976; so it's surprising just how tame Lover of the Monster is. The film is very slow indeed and features practically no bloodshed whatsoever; which is fairly surprising considering that there are more than a handful of murders on display. All the murders are committed through the eyes of the killer; and it's really rather dull and pointless since we always know exactly who the murderer is and thus it may as well be shown. The film takes on a period setting; which doesn't do it any favours either, aside from the fact that Klaus Kinski looks right at home. The film runs for less than ninety minutes but somehow it still manages to outstay its welcome and my interest in the film waned further as the film went on, and unfortunately there was nothing at the end to reignite it. Lover of the Monster is a rather rare film; and I'm sure it will stay that way as there's no good reason to dig it up!

John Seal One of the better films from director Sergio Garrone, Le Amanti del Mostro benefits from star Klaus Kinski, who delivers a surprisingly subtle and nuanced performance as Alex Nijinksi, a doctor who stumbles upon a secret experimental laboratory when he returns to his wife's ancestral homestead. Work in the lab turns the curious Kinski into a Jekyll and Hyde split personality, with the evil alter ago going on a killing rampage blamed on a pair of tramps--one of whom bears the name Polanski. Whether this is a tribute to the great director or a commentary on 19th century anti-Semitism isn't made clear, but the film DOES feature an amusing cinema in joke in the early going, when co-star Katia Christine (the Nicole Kidman lookout playing Kinski's wife) visits her father's grave, which bears the name Ivan Rassimov! A surprisingly bloodless late period example of Italian Gothic cinema, Le Amanti del Mostro is available on a grey area Shoarma DVD which also features a generous stills gallery of Kinski performances, and the crown jewel: a 1985 German television interview featuring a reticent Kinski and some amusing outtakes from his then current production, Commando Leopard.