[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_mad_monster_8599.jpg]]

''The Mad Monster'' is a 1942 SciFiHorror BMovie produced and distributed by Producers Releasing Corporation.

Dr. Lorenzo Cameron is a discredited -- and quite mad -- medico who has discovered a way to turn his gardener, Petro, into a wolf man. The lycanthropic experiments succeed only too well, and although Dr. Cameron spouts plans of turning his discovery into a weapon in defense of the civilized world, he instead unleashes his creation on those fellow scientists who had engineered his ouster from academia in the first place.

Before long, however, the good doctor is unable to control the wolf man, who threatens to kill everything in his path. Only newspaper reporter Tom Gregory and Lenora, Cameron's innocent daughter, may be able to stop the monster.

For the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' version, please go to the [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S01E03TheMadMonster episode recap page]].
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!!Tropes:
* BigBad: Dr. Lorenzo Cameron, our lycanthrope-controlling VillainProtagonist.
* DeathOfAChild: Thankfully off screen; we only hear words to this effect afterward.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Averted. Dr. Cameron wants to turn his already hulking gardener into a murderous monster; how are you going to control it? Simple; the doc has the antidote at hand.
* ForScience: In step with other "monster/mad scientist" films of this vintage.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: MadScientist Dr. Cameron creates a monster. By the end of the film, he can no longer control the beast, resulting in his downfall.
* ImmuneToBullets: Cameron's werewolf serum somehow gives Petro some tough skin armor.
* IntrepidReporter: Young reporter Tom Gregory is able to connect the deaths, and realizes they are related to Dr. Cameron, even though nearly everyone he talks to denies that they can be connected.
* KillItWithFire: A [[ContrivedCoincidence very handy]] lightning strike does the work for us.
* KindheartedSimpleton: Petro really wouldn't hurt a fly... except under the influence of Dr. Cameron's lycanthropy cocktail, which he remembers only as a bad dream. And then the violent feelings begin affecting him even when he's "normal"...
* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: Dr. Cameron's daughter Lenora lives with him, though she doesn't have any inclination for scientific pursuits. Her boyfriend the IntrepidReporter manages to solve the case, while Lenora contributes little to the plot.
* TheMockbuster: Following hot on the heels of the previous year's ''Film/TheWolfMan1941'' from [[Franchise/UniversalHorror Universal Studios]].
* [[NotUsingTheZWord Not Using the "W" Word]]: Only the superstitious old woman in the cabin uses the term "werewolf", although Cameron does call Petro a "wolf man".
* RedHerring: The superstitious old woman keeps telling everyone within earshot that you can kill a werewolf only with a SilverBullet. This never comes into play, though mainly because no one believes it's a real werewolf (and, in most respects, it isn't).
* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Played With. Dr. Cameron does mention that the military could create nigh-unstoppable werewolf armies with his lycanthropy formula (and control said armies with the antidote), but right now he's just using it as a tool of revenge.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Dr. Cameron's motive throughout the film is to seek revenge on the scientists who slighted him in the past. He succeeds in killing some of them.
* ShadowDiscretionShot: Dr. Cameron's ultimate demise by werewolf is depicted thusly.
* SickbedSlaying: Professor Fitzgerald is seriously mauled by the werewolf, but manages to barely cling on to life though he is left in an unconscious state. A doctor is called, but Dr. Cameron finishes him off in an unguarded moment to prevent him from talking.
* TheSociopath: Dr. Lorenzo Cameron, a MadScientist who considers the werewolf he created murdering a child to be a success, and intends to butcher the scientists who mocked his ideas. He even only describes his "love" for his daughter in terms of its benefit to him.
* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: Academia's reason for Dr. Cameron's ouster.
* TheyCalledMeMad: Gee, Doc, and your [[EvilLaugh maniacal cackling]] and tendency to talk aloud to figments of your imagination did '''nothing''' to convince them otherwise? Really.
* UnwittingPawn: Dr. Cameron transforms the simple-minded and gentle Petro into a beast, with the intention of using Petro to kill Cameron's enemies. Petro himself doesn't even know what is happening, since he is drugged during the experiments. Petro only has vague nightmarish memories after reverting to human form.
* VillainProtagonist: Dr. Lorenzo Cameron, a MadScientist setting his werewolf creation on academic rivals who mocked his theories.
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