The final film in Hammer studios Frankenstein series brings back peter Cushing as the naughty doctor and teams him up with a young admirer and emulator of his work(Shane Briant). The monster is played by David Prowse who among other hulking monsters over the years would go on to famously play Darth Vader. Taking place in an insane asylum this is a decent enough watch though I often find the endings to these Hammer monster movies a bit of a letdown and this one is no exception there. It also leaves the ending open for more adventures of our wacky mad scientists which sadly didn't happen.
Played in England on a weird double bill with a Shaw Brothers kung fu flick from 2 years prior:
Boris Karloff returns one more time to the Frankenstein role. Instead of playing the monster though this time he's the last of the descendents of the original Frankenstein family of mad scientists. Of course he gets up to bulding a monster of his own with the help of some nuclear energy. The hulking creature starts out looking really cool with a skull head but then spends most of the rest of the movie all wrapped up like a mummy. There is a cool movie-within-a-movie opening scene, a sorta surprise ending and a weird disposal system for body parts that gives this film the classy distinction of being the first movie to feature the sound of a toilet flushing. I'm not exactly sure what was so futuristic about this movie that they had to make it set 12 years in the future except maybe having an atomic reactor in your laboratory. Clearly not up to the standards of any of the Universal classics this is still a decent watch for hardcore monster kids that have seen all the other Frank flicks.
Alternate Frech title = FRANKENSTEIN VERSUS THE INVISIBLE MAN(even though there is no Invisible man at all!):
Remember that opening scene from THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN? Well Ken Russell made a whole movie out of that same evening. This time around though there's way more drug use, homosexuality and general craziness because it's now 1986 and you can film that kinda stuff if you're Ken Russell. The FRANKENSTEIN story doesn't really get brought up until the end and the whole film is more about spoiled rich people getting wacky. I've watched this one a few times over the years but I'm still not sure if I would recommend it to anyone. It is an interesting concept to explore and the visuals are exciting to watch but the whole thing seems like it could have been wrapped up in about 15 minutes. Still if you're a classic horror fan it's probably worth at least one viewing.
The 3rd movie in Hammer studio's FRANKENSTEIN series(though that doesn't really matter since it's not really a sequel to any of the previous entries and just retells Frankenstein's origin). Strange that they called this one THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN since Dr. Frank isn't particularly evil here and is shown being treated like crap right from the beginning. He also gets taken advantage of by a drunken hypnotist, fellow with the awesome name of Zoltan(Peter Woodthorpe), who uses the creature(British Pro-wrestler Kiwi Kingston) for his own nefarious purposes. It's all a pretty by-the-numbers film. The monster looks like a crappy version of the Universal Karloff design, a deaf-mute gal who looks like Bjork becomes his only friend and the monster's downfall, humorously, has to do with him very quickly becoming a raging alcoholic. Peter Cushing does his usual great acting as the obsessed doctor but I can see why Christopher Lee wouldn't have been interested in being in this.
The whole Hammer FRANKENSTEIN series:
1. THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957)
2. THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1958)
3. THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN (1964)
4. FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN (1967)
5. FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1969)
6. THE HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN (1970)
7. FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1974)
Made in 1974, the greatest year of cinema ever, this one doesn't disappoint in the crazy grindhouse horror category. Chock full of some great characters including a pervy little dwarf who frequently molests women ,whether they are alive or dead, a couple of neanderthal men(one of which gets turned into a Frankenstein monster named Goliath), a mad Doctor Frankenstein (of course), his assistant named Igor(played by former sword n' sandals movie strongman Gordon Mitchell) and a horny humpback amongst others. The plot doesn't make a bunch of sense(like why are there cavemen running around in the hills of old timey Europe?) but it sorta fits in with the later Universal monster mashes( if they were really sleazy and wackier anyway) and this one is always fun to me. I first discovered this movie on a fuzzy UHF showing hosted by Elvira on her Movie Macabre program. That was obviously a censored version which I enjoyed enough for it's strangeness but having discovered the raunchier full length theatrical cut I became a lifelong fan. How this thing was originally released with a PG-rating I'll never figure out but obviously it had something to do with how great 1974 was. AKA MONSTERS OF FRANKENSTEIN, TERROR CASTLE, THE HOUSE OF FREAKS and DR. FRANKENSTEIN'S CASTLE OF FREAKS
Known in Italy as TERROR! THE CASTLE OF THE CURSED WOMEN:
This one is probably better known as ASSIGNMENT TERROR. Calling it DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN is pretty dumb since those 2 monsters never fight and are working on the same team and there is a crappy Al Adamson film under that title and also a Jess Franco film known as such. THE WOLFMAN VS. FRANKENSTEIN woulda made more sense since that actually happens but weird aka's is pretty standard for Paul Naschy werewolf flicks. This is the 2nd(or 3rd if you count the unobtainable/uncompleted? NIGHTS OF THE WOLF-MAN) Naschy flick as Waldemar Daninsky and one of the few ones that actually works as a sequel. The plot revolves around a mad-scientist-type, played by Michael Rennie from the classic THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, and just like in that movie he's actually an alien but instead of trying to warn the Earth about its impending doom here he's actively trying to bring that about by re-animating various monsters including a mummy, a vampire, a Frankenstein-monster(though he's called the Faranksalan-monster to avoid copyright charges?) and, of course, Naschy's Wolf-Man. Instead of conquering the planet though they all seem to just hang out in this old castle. It's a pretty convoluted(part sci-fi/part-horror) mess of a movie that's closer in plot to something like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE than any of the classic Universal films it's attempting to mimic but for monster fans like myself it's still a great wacky watch and where else do you get go-go dancers mixed into your monster-mash?.
For some reason I always assumed this was a prequel to the similarly-titled Mexican monster-filled flick THE SHIP OF MONSTERS but it isn't at all. This one is more like the Mexican version of ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN except that they replace the famous duo with only one moronic bumbling idiot named Clavillazzo. Most of the film is a pretty straight-on comedy until it finally ends up in a castle chock full of south-of-the-border versions of famous monsters of filmland including a Frankenstein monster(who's also a very Lurch of THE ADDAMS FAMILY-like servant), a Wolf-Man, a very skinny Mummy, a Creature From The Black Lagoon, an ape-man and a Dracula(played by German Robles who stars in a lot of these early Mexi-horrors including the title role in the EL VAMPIRO series). While our main funny-man can get a little grating at times this is such a goofy oddity that it needs to be seen by monster-kids who want to see a fairly obscure monster mash-up.
Nudie-cuties with monsters are my favorites! Sadly, besides this and HOUSE ON BARE MOUNTAIN, I don't think there were a lot more of them. This one concerns an alien who impersonates Laurel and Hardy and is sent to Earth to find a human female to take back to the planet Buttless. So of course he meets up with a mad scientist who just so happens to have a whole load of swinging 60s chicks for him(and us) to peruse. It's just a non-stop barrage of bad jokes, nekkid women, go-go dancing and some monsters show up from time to time. You get a Frankenstein who used to be a woman(this movie is so progressive!), a Mummy and Dracula. It's basically the film equivalent of an old-timey burlesque show. So if you like stupid campy humour, bumbling monsters, beehives to the ceiling and jiggling tits this is fantastic! For most people this would probably be a bit tiresome after a while. Luckily it's only a little over an hour long. AKA DR. BREEDLOVE OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE
Well this certainly is no BLACULA, that's for sure. I guess my main problem with this blaxploitation monster epic is that it's super boring. I mean the monster, created by the uber-bland Dr. Stein, walks around so slowly it's amazing that anyone winds up getting killed by him. The makeup is really bad and there's not much in the way of fx besides a couple of fleeting bloody intestine fondling scenes. Mostly people just get pushed and shoved or hugged to death. Yawn! 60's/70's sexploitation/porn star Liz Renay shows up for one scene to wear a big gaudy wig to bed and get her guts spilled. While this might not be the worst blaxploitation flick out there it's probably the worst black monster cash-in I've seen.
This is my favorite Abbott & Costello flick and it's also probably the classic Universal monster movie that I've seen the most, due to it being played many Sunday mornings on TV back when I was a kid. The cast in this one is pretty sweet with Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr. as The Wolf Man(also briefly the voice of Vincent Price as The Invisible Man). The only one missing is Boris Karloff, who Abbott & Costello would meet a year later in A & C MEET THE KILLER, but we do have Glenn Strange as The Monster(referred to as "Frankie" by Costello in what might be the first time in a film the monster is referred to as just Frankenstein??). While this is obviously a comedy the monsters are kept fairly true to their roots and never completely ridiculed the way I imagine most modern-day comedies would treat them. Memories of watching this film are so ingrained in my head that it's impossible to be very subjective about it but I feel very lucky to have been raised in an era when stuff like this was everywhere for free.
"To know death, Otto, you have to fuck life... in the gall bladder!"
Udo Kier might be the most incredible actor to ever overact his way through a film based solely on his performance here. In addition to his insane portrayal of monster-building Baron Frankenstein you get Joe Dallesandro portraying, I think, a Serbian villager who, along with his friend who supplies his head to the monster, gets mixed up with the whole Frankenstein family. It's a bit hard to believe he's Serbian or even a villager from anywhere in Europe since he speaks in a strong Brooklyn accent throughout the movie but this just adds to the amazing insanity on display.
Filmed back-to-back, and sharing the same sets, with BLOOD FOR DRACULA this movie might be as close to being a perfect film as I can imagine. It has everything; blood, gore, laughs, nudity, ridiculousness, creepy incest, over-the-top acting by everyone and there's even a couple of little kids who by some miracle manage not to be annoying(this is most likely due to the fact that they have almost no lines). It's also highly re-watchable. I've seen it a bunch of times and even got a chance to watch a print in the theater a few nights ago which made me love the film even more. Originally released in 3-D(you can tell this by how everything is shoved right out at the audience), I've yet to see it presented anywhere in that version. Hopefully a print still exists somewhere out there. AKA ANDY WARHOL'S FRANKENSTEIN(Warhol was a producer), FRANKENSTEIN, THE DEVIL AND DR. FRANKENSTEIN and UP FRANKENSTEIN
One of my favorite Euro-trash monster-mash flicks. Directed by Mel Welles(Mr. Mushnick from the original LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS) this is the story of Dr. Frankenstein and his daughter who has recently returned from medical school and is eager to get in on the human organ transplant experimenting with her mad doctor dad. I think one of my favorite things about this movie is the ridiculous creature that Dr. Frank creates. He's a 7 foot-tall clumsy oaf in platform shoes and stripey pants complete with a bulbous flame-broiled bald head and a goofy face that kinda reminds me of Peter Boyle. A real fashion plate as far as undead homicidal creatures goes and I never get tired of watching his stumbling rampages. He seems to have a knack for finding naked women to maul which is pretty cool. Franks' daughter(played by the beautiful Rosalba Neri. who we get to see a lot of lovely nudity from) uses her sex-appeal to get whatever she wants. One of my fav porno-name-sounding character actors Herbert Fux(from MARK OF THE DEVIL) gets a big role as a sleazy grave-robber who enjoys the finer things in life like cheap booze and cheap whores. There's also another creature who's just a retarded man-boy with a more intelligent brain transplanted into his stupid head so we get a nice monster battle at the end and, of course, they didn't forget the angry torch-wielding villagers. All in all I find this to be a neat updated Universal horror-inspired film with a sleazy Eurohorror-vibe that works for me.
This played on a double-bill with the similarly crappy BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA and FRANK'S DAUGHTER is slightly better than that one but that's not really saying much. You get a hybrid of a western and a horror film as Frankenstein's daughter(actually the daughter of the son of Frankenstein) ends up in the old west and Jesse James comes along with a musclebound friend that she fancies for experimental purposes. It's not a very good example of either one of those genres though. Our monster gets the old skullcap with stitches look and a Mexican girl ends up being the hero of the film. This was directed by the great William "One Shot" Beaudine who made over 350 movies including a bunch of those old Bowery Boys flicks and this might have been a lot better if Sach or Mahoney showed up.
There's a DVD with Joe Bobs Briggs commentary that make this movie a lot more entertaining and is probably the best way to view it.
The most iconic horror movie ever? probably. The most remade movie ever? very possibly. What's for sure is it's the one that kick-started(along with DRACULA) the whole classic monster series that led to a zillion monster-obsessed kids including myself. I first viewed this as a young fellow early one Halloween morning as part of an all-day classic monster movie marathon where some fuzzy UHF channel was showing all the Universal greats in order. I think that might have been the perfect introduction for me. Before that I knew about Frank from reading tons of Famous Monsters magazines and any books I could find on the subject of horror films. Of course even if I didn't do any of that avoiding the imagery of Frankenstein's monster would have been impossible since the character has become as symbolic over the years as Superman or Mickey Mouse. A poster-monster for awkward youth and alienation. It's hard not to feel at least a little sympathy for old Frank.
Reviewing a movie like this today is kinda ridiculous since anyone that appreciates cinema of any sort and has half a brain would have to acknowledge this film as a milestone for what it did in it's era and beyond. Boris Karloff, Colin Clive and Dwight Frye are all amazing and it's a film that will be around long after everyone who had anything to do with it is long gone. Also you get to see a little kid killed and that's a rare thing in American films even today. It's too bad kids today will never get the chance to stumble across this playing on a dark and rainy Halloween morning. Maybe kids in the future will have it directly downloaded into their subconscious.
I caught this last night at a big screen showing along with it's arguably superior sequel and felt lucky to finally get a chance to view it closer to the way it was intended.
A young John Ashley(who would later on go to the Philippines and fight monsters there in those Blood Island movies) stars in this 50's updating of the Frankenstein story mixed with teenage drama. This typically goofy monster flick features Dr. Frankenstein's grandson making monsters. There are actually two monsters for the price of one in this one. One is a teen gal who gets slipped a spiked drink and then gets all pasty-faced, grows some goofy-ass giant eyebrows, bug-eyes and stalks the neighborhood all the while wearing nothing but a bathing suit and robe. Frankenstein also builds another female monster from dead bodies of stupid teens. This creature, which looks quite masculine, is quite the looker with sort of a Two-Face from BATMAN look. Her outfit appears to be some kind of Martian workout tracksuit. She/he/it walks about town doing a version of the robot dance and karate chopping people that get in the way which just looks fucking ridiculous. This thing is only 75 minutes long and unfortunately a lot of them are exceedingly dull minutes full of talky-talk scenes but there is some monsterific action here and there and actually some blood on a few victims which is rare in these oldies. Should be fun for hardcore monster fans for nostalgic reasons if nothing else.
Not as much fun as I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF but a pretty typical 1950's monster flick nonetheless. It could use a little more action as the talky bits are a bit of a drag but like most 50's monster movies they keep the running time down to a little over 1 hour. Could use more teenagers and more Teen Frankenstein rampaging but an O.K. piece of illogically, nonsensical, nostalgia fluff complete with a monster lab and even an alligator body disposal system. They even throw in a color ending for added goofiness.
