In Ape Man, Bela Lugosi stars as a scientist who turns into a hairy beast. In his next film, Lugosi plays the butler of a man threatened by a killer called the Gorilla. And as a witch doctor in White Zombie, he turns a woman into a mindless zombie. The Gorilla, which is based on a 1920s stage comedy, stands out in Lugosi's filmography in that he assays a rare straight role and not the villain.