How many times in Boris Karloff’s career did he roll his eyes over yet another script in which he was set to play a well-intentioned mad scientist? I have no idea. Maybe a dozen times, maybe never. His reliably strong performances give away nothing. He’s one of the movies’ finest wounded monsters. In these films, he typically tries to do something good—such as cure a disease—BUT his experiments require a few people to die, which doesn’t sit well with the police and Boris’s neighbors. His best movies in that formula are directed by Nick Grinde. Unfortunately, The Ape is NOT one of those (B-movie journeyman William Nigh did this one), but it DOES have a killer ape on the loose in a small town and some cool low-budget circus footage, which makes up for the lumpy pacing.