around town as a street bally." The Neanderthal Man was not well received by critics in 1953, when it was mentioned at all. According to the "Review Digest" in the 1 August 1953 issue of BoxOffice magazine, the movie was rated "fair" by Film Daily, Harrison's Reports and BoxOffice itself. The Hollywood Reporter rated it as "very poor." The movie had not been reviewed by Variety, Parents' Magazine and The New York Daily News some six weeks after its release. In BoxOffice's "Feature Review", the anonymous reviewer wrote that "the film lends itself particularly on midnight 'spook show' programs." The reviewer went on to say that it "should qualify for duty as a supporting attraction in most bookings" and that the "picture can be played with an assurance of adequate acceptance." Deborah Del Vecchio quotes The Hollywood Reporter review, which calls the film "an overlong, dull conversation piece." Many later reviewers called the movie "a variation of the Jekyll and Hyde theme", often adding the words "uninteresting" and "clichéd" to the description. Bill Warren says the film has "almost nothing to recommend it." Academic Michael Klossner refers to it as a "clichéd, Jekyll/Hyde rip-off", but notes favorably "the beautiful mountain settings, the colorful rustics and [Stanley] Cortez's sharp b&w photography." The Neanderthal Man mask was frequently commented upon. Ken Hanke says it was "an appalling over-the-head mask (with stylishly wavy hair) that looks exactly like what it is." Phil Hardy notes that the mask "didn't flex with [Wally Rose's] facial movements." Warren, as well, points out that "the elaborate ... mask doesn't move or flex with the performer's face, and the eyes seem to be painted on." He adds that "the makeup/mask also varies throughout the film, as if different artists worked each day." Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film one and a half out of four stars, calling it "Colorless and cheap". General comments about The Neanderthal Man covered everything from direction to its overall quality as a film. Hanke calls it "a film that might be described as being scraped off the bottom of the barrel. That, of course, means the movie is like catnip to lovers of Bad Cinema", although adding that it is a "very low-rent production that is indefensible on every level." Nonetheless, Hanke rated the movie as 3 stars out of 5 and included it in "The Thursday Night Horror Picture