Bride of the Monster
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Originally known as Bride of the Atom, Bride of the Monster is a 1955 film starring Bela Lugosi in the typical evil mad scientist role, and was directed by Ed Wood, a name synonymous with bad low-budget filmmaking.
Lugosi's character, Dr. Eric Vornoff, tries to create an army of supermen to do his bidding but is thwarted by the good guys. The film's highlight is when Bela is thrown atop a rubber octopus and moves its arms in the vain attempt to simulate animation on the part of the beast. Previous splices of a live octopus in a fish tank with the rubber octopus do nothing to make it seem more realistic.
The television program Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured Bride of the Monster in one episode. The shooting of this movie is also re-enacted in Tim Burton's biopic of Wood, including a sequence showing Wood (played by Johnny Depp) and his crew stealing the phony octopus from a props storage vault at the Republic Studios.
Arguably this film's most memorable line is spoken by Lugosi's character: "One is always considered mad, if one discovers something that others cannot grasp". It has been argued by commentators on the film that it is actually meaningful as a criticism of standard views and ideas. It has also been suggested that the phrase expresses both Wood's and Lugosi's bitterness at the lack of appreciation for their work.
Another line of dialogue attributed to this film (and popularized in the book The Golden Turkey Awards which immortalized Wood as the worst film director of all time) has Lugosi's character proclaiming that his manservant (played the larger-than-life wrestler Tor Johnson) is "as harmless as a kitchen." This allegedly misspoken line is often used as evidence of either Lugosi's failing health/mental faculties, or Wood's incompetence as a director. In reality, no such line of dialogue exists in the film. Lugosi can clearly be heard stating that Johnson's character is "as harmless as a kitten".
Finally, the closing comment by the heroes, after Vornoff's demise in the hands of his own creation, "He tampered in God's domain", is extremely typical of the view as science as being antagonistic, something extremely typical to '50s science fiction.