Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965)

User Rating:

2.5/10   

Director:

Robert Gaffney

Writers:

R.H.W. Dillard (story)
George Garrett (story)

Release Date:

22 September 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Warning! Beware their stare!

Plot:

When an atomic war on Mars destroys the planet's women, it's up to Martian Princess Marcuzan and her right-hand man Dr...

Plot Keywords:

Martian | Android | Space Capsule | Mars | Puerto Rico

Cast

Marilyn Hanold	...	Princess Marcuzan
James Karen	...	Dr. Adam Steele (as Jim Karen)
Lou Cutell	...	Dr. Nadir
Nancy Marshall	...	Karen Grant
David Kerman	...	Gen. Bowers
Robert Reilly	...	Col. Frank Saunders / Frankenstein

Also Known As:

Duel of the Space Monsters (UK)
Frankenstein Meets the Space Men
Mars Attacks Puerto Rico
Mars Invades Puerto Rico
Operation San Juan

Runtime:

USA:79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Hempstead, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Futurama Entertainment Corp.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Steele, Nancy and the general fly off to Puerto Rico to search for Frank, they are seen leaving in a B-52 bomber. However, the plane they land in is a Boeing C-135.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)

Soundtrack:

That's The Way It's Gotta Be

Hoo-Boy, What a Mess... :=8P

Wacky cheapie that is part "Plan 9", part "Mars Needs Women", in which Dr. Evil and Cleopatra decide to invade the earth; fortunately, they get stopped by "Frank", the Frankenstein robot-astronaut who is film's hero with 1/2 face, and the annoying tendency to throttle innocent people randomly. Dr. Evil and Cleopatra send their evil bald henchmen armed with hair dryers to abduct bikini-clad females for "breeding purposes". They make them lie on a board, drape cheap curtains over them, and pull them away for "electro-purification". Mull, a shaggy, snaggle-tooth monster, is also on hand, and is the titular space monster for "Frankenstein" to fight. Frank blows himself up, along with the evil bald aliens, and Cape Kennedy and Puerto Rico and Korea are all saved. Various pointless chunks of raw, oozing stock footage are spliced together in a vain attempt to insinuate that this film has some sort of a plot. The stock footage ranges from Korean War battles to, old NASA footage, to Civilian Air Patrol film strips, all cut up and sprinkled liberally throughout the film, like so much salt and pepper. In fact, stock footage makes up a good 50% of the moovie, and it does constitute an improvement over actually paying attention to the story. Much of the film involves the "actors" stumbling about in the bushes at night, so you can't actually see what they do. In fact, the film is as murky as a septic tank, and sports some of the worst post-production (looping, editing)this cow has ever seen. Toss in some rockin' 60's surf moosic, and you've got an almoost passable plate of schlock. First-time Director Frank Gaffney never directed again, and the world breathed a sigh of relief. Marilyn Hanold("The Brain that Wouldn't Die")plays the ditsy, Cleopatra-like Princess Marcuzan, who wears a hat made of kleenex and cardboard. Lou Cutell("Pee Wee's Big Adventure") plays Nadir, the effette, smiling bald dwarf who ogles the stolen babes. Long-time bit actor James Karen("Poltergeist", "Invaders from Mars") plays Dr. Adam Steele, the bland, un-appealing scientist who creates Frank & goes off to find him when Frank gets his face turned into a tuna melt. This film is a mumbling, stuttering, incoherent, indigestible pile of celluloid that only professional devotees of schlock-theater cud love, so says the MooCow. As ol' Princess Marcuzan says, "This is clearly a failure". You said it, babe. :=8P