I first saw this on a public domain DVD horror collection and had no idea where it came from, and after watching its abbreviated 25 minute running time, had no idea what to make of it. Everything about the production values and the staging shouted "made for TV", and it had apparently been edited with a chainsaw -when the monster is destroyed at the end, the movie just stops as if it were a RoadRunner cartoon.
Fortunately, IMDb came to the rescue and now I know why this clunker was so odd and desultory.
It's not entirely bad. In its favor: decent (and horrific) makeup, and an orchestral backdrop that filled a lot of dull, static stage business with crescendos and arpeggios and wailing violins, etc, making this more watchable than it would have been otherwise. The story has some of its elemental power even in this watered down version. And Chaney isn't at his best here, but he's OK.
Against? Oh, every thing else. The script touches on the high points of the story in a purely mechanical fashion. It's like a "Little Golden Book" version of "Frankenstein." The characters (especially Franskenstein himself) are complete idiots. And the actors (including poor Chaney) are under rehearsed and under directed and have to shout out their lines to make up for the poor miking and the live TV format.
Just about the worst version of the Frankenstein myth I've seen recently, and I'm including "Lady Frankenstein" and "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein" in that category. Those latter two oddities were actually movie length stories (however cheesy and odd their scope and emphasis)and this poor abortion is just a bunch of people going through the motions and hoping our affection for the story and the actor will make us overlook the bare bones creakiness of the presentation.
Fortunately, IMDb came to the rescue and now I know why this clunker was so odd and desultory.
It's not entirely bad. In its favor: decent (and horrific) makeup, and an orchestral backdrop that filled a lot of dull, static stage business with crescendos and arpeggios and wailing violins, etc, making this more watchable than it would have been otherwise. The story has some of its elemental power even in this watered down version. And Chaney isn't at his best here, but he's OK.
Against? Oh, every thing else. The script touches on the high points of the story in a purely mechanical fashion. It's like a "Little Golden Book" version of "Frankenstein." The characters (especially Franskenstein himself) are complete idiots. And the actors (including poor Chaney) are under rehearsed and under directed and have to shout out their lines to make up for the poor miking and the live TV format.
Just about the worst version of the Frankenstein myth I've seen recently, and I'm including "Lady Frankenstein" and "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein" in that category. Those latter two oddities were actually movie length stories (however cheesy and odd their scope and emphasis)and this poor abortion is just a bunch of people going through the motions and hoping our affection for the story and the actor will make us overlook the bare bones creakiness of the presentation.