Tag: Frankenstein
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Frankenstein’s Daughter
Dr. Frankenstein Jr continues his grandfather’s experiments in American suburbia – but this time it’s going to be a female monster. Richard Cunha’s 1958 “shocker” is low-budget schlock for the drive-in market, but it avoids scraping the bottom of the barrel. 3/10
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El castillo de los monstruos
Comedian Clavillazo saves a damsel from the clutches of a mad doctor, battling Universal’s entire roster of monsters in a creaky castle. This mildly amusing Mexican 1958 horror comedy has some nice atmospheric moments and is a fairly breezy watch. 5/10
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Frankenstein 1970
Boris Karloff stars as Dr. Frankenstein in this 1958 low-budget production about a TV crew getting killed off in an old castle. Despite the title, there is nothing futuristic about this tedious but mildly entertaining adaptation. 4/10
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How to Make a Monster
A makeup artist manipulates his actors to kill the studio brass that is shutting down horror movie production. AIP’s third and last teenage monster movie is a self-aware pastiche. The script makes no sense, but it is an entertaining romp. 5/10
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The Revenge of Frankenstein
Peter Cushing shines once again in the title role of Hammer’s 1958 sequel. Jimmy Sangster’s script puts an interesting class angle on the story, and despite its meandering plot and lack of focus, it remains one of Hammer’s best. 7/10
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I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
A ruthless scientist creates a teenage monster in his basement and tries to hide it from his fiancée. Herman Cohen’s 1957 follow-up to the smash hit I Was a Teenage Werewolf is a slow-moving affair saved by a toungue-in-cheek script. 4/10
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The Curse of Frankenstein
In 1957 Hammer rejuvenated the horror genre with an emphasis on blood and gore in bright colours. Somewhat flat and derivative story-wise, the film is more interesting for its legacy than for its qualities. 7/10
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El monstruo resucitado
As enthusiastic as it is bewildering, this operatic Mexican 1953 medical horror film is a clunky passion project. Throwing in everything but the kitchen sink, it’s a mix between The Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein and Mystery of the Wax Museum. 6/10
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Top 10 Sci-Fi Films of the 1930s
In the 1930’s science fiction finally made the leap from European screens to Hollywood. More than anything, the SF invasion of the thirties can be attributed to Universal Studios’ resurrection of Victorian horror stories, many of which had a clear SF element to them. The new Talking Pictures brought on…
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House of Frankenstein
Universal’s House of Frankenstein sees Boris Karloff as a mad scientist hiring Dracula as a hit man, attempting to cure the Wolf Man and restart the Frankenstein monster. All while J. Carrol Naish’s hunchback is trying to bonk a gypsy girl who’s in love with the werewolf. While the nutty…
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Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
Universal’s first monster mashup, made in 1943, is an audience divider. Some enjoy it as a brainless schlockfest, while others find the denigration of the Frankenstein franchise painful to watch. Arguably miscast from the start as the Frankenstein monster, Bela Lugosi saw all his lines cut in the editing room. 4/10
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The Ghost of Frankenstein
The magic is all but gone from the fourth Universal Frankenstein picture, made in 1942. Although well-paced and entertaining, the film stumbles on a ridiculous, self-contradictory script, a low budget and a Lon Chaney Jr. who isn’t up to the task of replacing Boris Karloff as the monster. 5/10
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Son of Frankenstein
Basil Rathbone is the son of Frankenstein who moves back to his father’s castle, only to find Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi hiding in the basement. The latter gives what is perhaps the performance of his lifetime in this visually stunning movie, which unfortunately treats Karloff’s classic monster with little…
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Bride of Frankenstein
With Bride of Frankenstein James Whale created the greatest of all Universal horror films. Superb acting, great casting, a script that balances between drama, horror and campy humour, all rounded up with fluid, Expressionist filmmaking and Soviet-style montage editing. All this, plus the marvellous Elsa Lanchester as the Bride, Boris…
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Frankenstein
Frankenstein (1931) is a masterpiece of camera, light and sound, which proved that sound films didn’t have to be static and clunky. By placing humanity at the film’s core and teasing superb performances out of Boris Karloff and Colin Clive, director James Whale saves it from a creaky script. A…
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