The Monster Maker is a 1944 science-fiction horror film starring J. Carrol Naish and Ralph Morgan.

[1] Dr. Markoff (J. Carrol Naish) has concocted a formula that spreads acromegaly, a hideous disease that extends bones and distorts facial features.

His amoral behavior assumes monstrous dimensions when famed concert pianist Lawrence (Ralph Morgan) is injected with the doctor's disease-inducing serum.

In return for an antidote, Markoff intends to exact more than his pound of flesh by extorting a fortune from Lawrence and demanding the hand of the musician's pretty daughter Patricia (Wanda McKay).

[2] Lowly PRC hadn't released a horror picture in nearly 17 months, having spent most of 1943 substantially expanding their capabilities by purchasing the bankrupt Chadwick Studio (a poverty row operation that specialized in renting stages and production equipment to low-budget producers along Gower) for $305,000.