Frankenstein General Hospital (1988)

Director:

Deborah Romare

Writers:

Robert Deel (writer)
Michael Kelly (writer)

Release Date:

March 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Everyone spoils their first monster

Plot:

A mad doctor puts together a new body by using body parts he steals from a mortuary at the hospital where he works.

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Sexy Nurse | Topless | Doctor Frankenstein | Dominatrix

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Mark Blankfield	...	Dr. Bob Frankenstein
Leslie Jordan	...	Iggy
Jonathan Farwell	...	Dr. Frank Reutgar
Kathy Shower	...	Dr. Alice Singleton
Irwin Keyes	...	The Monster
Hamilton Mitchell	...	Dr. Andrew Dixon
Lou Cutell	...	Dr. Saperstein
Katie Caple	...	Nurse Verna
Dorothy Patterson	...	Mildred Pennys
Mark DeCarlo	...	Dr. Skip
Harry Murphy	...	Dr. Biff
Bunky Jones	...	Elizabeth Rice (as Rebunkah Jones)
Joleen Lutz	...	Candy Striper Patty
Jessica Puscas	...	Cindy Swanson
Ben Stein	...	Dr. Who

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-14 | USA:R

Company:

New Star Entertainment

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Matinee (1989) (TV)

After Your Brain Begins To Numb This Is Quite Painless

Yes, this movie is stupid. It is stupid in a special kind of way, however. A sort of dry, later 1980s "Night Court" inspired stupidity that can often work if you are stoned, tired, bored, or in need of a life. I was tired and maybe a bit stoned, but honestly, after about a half an hour of one of the most obnoxious set-up periods for a horror/comedy satire/parody I have seen this actually became painless, and at times even somewhat enjoyable.

The opening passage is atrocious: I'd say maybe fast-forward to about the 10 minute mark on your first time through. It took me two watches to "get" the movie's sense of humor, though the insight I had on the second perusal is that the opening 10 minutes were SO annoying that they stilted my perceptions of the remainder of the film. Familiar 80s/90s TV & bit movie actor Mark Blankfield -- perhaps best known in the worst kind of way for his lead role in the made-for-TV abomination THE JERK, TOO -- plays yuppie doctor Robert Frankenstein, director of a TV sitcom hospital populated by people like Ben Stein, sexy redhead sexpot nurse Katie Caple (who's elevator scene steals the show) and former Playboy Playmate of the Year Kathy Shower. Right.

Ms. Shower is actually the 2nd most interesting thing in the script, playing a high-heeled glasses wearing psychiatrist hot mom type who is also a practicing dominatrix. I take it I have your attention now. The most interesting thing in the film, though, is Irwin Keyes' "Monster", who's idea of going on a rampage consists of swiping a punk's leather jacket and boombox & cruising the halls of the hospital looking for things to knock over, starting with Kathy Shower who it turns out was looking for just such a man all her life. What's even more fascinating is that Mr. Keyes appears to be playing the Frankenstein monster without any special makeup effects other than some eye shadow & greasepaint stitchmarks. He came looking like that, kudos to the casting director at any rate.

Like I said, this movie has something to it. The people who made it weren't stupid, though in spite of the movies dry sense of humor the word subtlety was not in their vocabulary. The film "looks" stupid, or was rather crafted to appear stupid on initial glance. The second time through you start to realize that Dr. Frankenstein is sort of on his own wavelength; he seems to look through people when he's talking to them, and while he doesn't have any truly memorable one-liners a lot of what he has to say is genuinely amusing. The side antics like his twisted little Igor type Iggy I could have done without, however, and the mixture of some genuinely R-rated nudity & fake gore juxtaposed against the adolescent, pin-headed humor is offbeat.

One other contributor did sum it up best, however, when stating that hospitals are not that funny once you get down to it. My guess is that the producers were more interested in updating the Frankenstein mythology without appearing to mimic YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, which isn't easy. Mel Brooks' superior parody got it's foot in the cement first so any subsequent film sending up Frankenstein will inevitably draw unfavorable comparison. I wouldn't even go so far as to say that this is an updating of those ideas for a late 1980s television comedy mindset, more a sort of quirky, half-throwaway project that appears to be too stupid for it's own good.

Until the girls rip their nurses costumes off, that is. Funny how important an element is to a movie like this, cos otherwise there really is no reason to bother with it when the whole Frankenstein movie tradition itself is so absurd as to be hilarious without any embellishments. Take any one of the Hammer Frankenstein films with Peter Cushing and watch it in a MST3K kind of environment and you'll find three times as much to laugh at, if you bother to think about how silly they all really are. If you can't, try this movie. It isn't very good but then again if you are looking to Frankenstein for your comedy you probably deserve whatever you get.

5/10, which is admittedly generous but it made me laugh; Try it on a double bill with the equally obscure DR. HACKENSTEIN.