Frankenstein - 1970 (1958)

Director:

Howard W. Koch

Writers:

Richard H. Landau (screenplay)
Charles A. Moses (story)

Release Date:

20 July 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The One...The Only KING OF MONSTERS as the new demon of the atomic age!

Plot:

Baron Victor Von Frankenstein has fallen on hard times; he was tortured at the hands of the Nazis for...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Monster Movie | Frankenstein's Monster | 1970s | Disfigurement

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Baron Victor von Frankenstein
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Douglas Row
Jana Lund	...	Carolyn Hayes
Tom Duggan	...	Mike Shaw
Charlotte Austin	...	Judy Stevens
Norbert Schiller	...	Shuter
Rudolph Anders	...	Wilhelm Gottfried
Irwin Berke	...	Insp. Raab
John Dennis	...	Morgan Haley
Franz Roehn	...	Cab driver
Joe Ploski	...	Station porter
Otto Reichow	...	Atomic reactor expert
Mike Lane	...	Hans / The Monster
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jack Kenny	...	Assistant Cameraman

Also Known As:

Frankenstein 1960 (USA) (working title)
Frankenstein 1975 (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Aubrey Schenck Productions

Trivia:

This project was proposed because of the success of the "Shock Theatre" package of Universal horror films released to television. The other contributing factors were the recent successes of the British-made The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and the low-budget American International release I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957). This low-budget film had the advantage of being shot in CinemaScope.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Popcorn (1991)

FRANKENSTEIN 1970 (Howard W. Koch, 1958) *1/2

This film has only ever been shown once in my neck of the woods and on a minor Sicilian TV channel at that so, despite its negative reputation, I've always wanted to see it. After all, it does have Boris Karloff playing the Baron for once…even if, for some strange reason, he is named Victor here while his notorious ancestor is called Richard!!

The film's pre-credit sequence, in which a German fraulein is being pursued through the forest by a barely-glimpsed fiend is promising enough but, as it turns out, it's also the best sequence in the whole film…which ought to give you an idea about the worthiness of the whole enterprise. However, even from this first sequence, one is made aware of the sheer ineptness of the direction: it not only cuts away from one character to another with a boring regularity but the sequence is framed in such a way as to cut the creature's head off! This factor cannot be attributed to watching a pan-and-scan version because, surprisingly enough, the film was being shown in the correct widescreen ratio. This is exacerbated as the film goes along by the director's apparent refusal (in some sequences, at least) to move the camera in any way; I don't know if this was an attempt on his part to satirize the TV medium (given that it is, after all, a TV crew which impounds on the Baron's home ground) but I'd be surprised if the thought had occurred to the director in the first place. Coming hot on the heels of Hammer's full-blooded color version, it would have been a daunting task for anyone I presume…

Of course, it goes without saying that Karloff gives it his all (particularly during a rehearsal for the upcoming TV show in which he narrates straight to the camera his ancestor's diabolical deeds) and sometimes it's hard to watch him simply walking around the castle as the evident strain this is having on his legs is palpable and there were a couple of times where I could have sworn he lost his footing! Even so, apparently this does not detain him from creating the monster and installing the all-important atomic reactor (which is barely glimpsed in the film anyhow) single-handedly. It's incredible to note that, despite his failing health, some of Karloff's best work - Roger Corman's THE RAVEN (1963), Mario Bava's BLACK SABBATH (1963) and Peter Bogdanovich's TARGETS (1968) - was yet ahead of him! Still, even here - with the haphazard appearance of the Baron, whose misshapen face apparently gets "lifted" every once in a while! – the film's limitations make themselves felt. And why is it that every mad scientist out there has to be an accomplished pianist as well? Why not try your hand at an electric guitar, Herr Baron…after all, we're in the age of Chuck Berry here, aren't we? Er…no - make that 1970: "Monster making is for me, like…you know…outta sight, man"!! And how about that deadening monotone music during the laboratory sequences? Also, the less said about the goofy mummy…er…monster, the better! To top it all, there's an execrable attempt at an echo but the dialogue spoken in the cavern (the site of the Doc's lab) is totally all over the place and overlaps ad infinitum!

I know Joe Karlosi (if he's still around, that is) won't be too pleased with my review of this one as I know this is one of his guilty pleasures…but I have to say that my negative impressions were certainly amplified by the abysmal state (correct aspect ratio notwithstanding) of the print I watched which was replete with print damage and missing frames which not only managed to shorten the film to around 70 minutes (against the official 83!!) but also made the parts of the narrative and the revelatory climax particularly incoherent! Recently, there's been some talk of an upcoming Warners DVD of this one and, strange as it may sound, I hope it does materialize as I wouldn't put it past me to give this clunker another chance under more ideal circumstances. For the moment, however, I suppose even LADY FRANKENSTEIN (1971) is preferable…!