My Top 20 Halloween Favorites: Frankenstein

  Waayy back in 1910, Thomas Edison's Edison Studios produced the first film version of Victor Frankenstein's Monster.
Back then, the average running time for these new fangdangled movie pictures was about fifteen minutes (with this one going for a full minute longer than that....talk about getting your money's worth).
Needless to say, by today's standards, the special effects and make-up jobs look like the kind you'd see at your niece's or nephew's high school play.
And even though this earliest of efforts featured a monster that appeared more like a long-haired electro-shocked mad-asylum escapee that comes off much more as comedic compared to the famous clog-stomping, sport-jacket wearing hammerhead that would become one of the most enduring icons of the horror genre, the look of Franky's premiere on the "big" screen was still considered pretty big time back during this time of the 1900's first decade.

  Okay, so first there was 1931's Frankenstein.
Then there was The Bride Of Frankenstein.
Which naturally led to The Son Of Frankenstein.
Followed by this flick, the House Of Frankenstein.
Based on the titles of these movies, looks like ol' Frankie did a good job of following the formula that would constitute the American Dream.
Not too bad for a guy made outta spare parts.



  Actually, truthfully speaking, while I'm a big fan of Universal's Frankenstein franchise, this is the first of the sequels where the decline in quality begins. A big sign of Hollywood's slacking off on the series can be seen on the make-up job of the monster's head and face. The attention to detail of stitches and scarring is barely evident and comes off much less gruesome, not to mention, not as fearsome as the movies that precede this one.

  Even though they sported a stop-motion technique that, even by the standards of the time, came off as rather "rudimentary", Rankin and Bass were probably the rock'n'roll TV animation studio for kids who, such as myself, grew up during 1970's.
Every holiday season, I looked forward to watching the annual animated specials like Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, The Little Drummer Boy, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and all its sequels.
And even though Mad Monster Party? was made in 1967, it rarely ran as often as it's Yuletide counterparts. So it was a rare treat the few times that it did air during the late autumn season. And as a kid who enjoyed the Trick-or-Treating antics of getting free candy from strangers more than the spirit of gift-giving to friends and family, it made the few times that I was able to watch it made it feel more like Christmas than Halloween.
 It depicts a tale of a monster mash that takes place on an island owned by a Baron Von Frankenstein, and features crude versions of all the archetypical universal monsters, plus a couple of extras, just to make sure that all the graves have been covered. What makes this fright night feature so "Frankensteiny" isn't just the name of the lead role of the Baron, but also that the character is voiced by none other than the gentle gentlemen thespian who made the monster so universal to begin with, Boris Korloff. A representation more of the mad doctor that the mad creature, the fact that the Monster is still part of the cast right next to good ol' Doc Vick is what puts this Party on the main guest list of this particular line-up of Halloween favorites.

With House Of Frankenstein from the year before, the Count probably figured that if the ol' patchwork monster could have a house, why couldn't the Master of all Vampires? So, obviously we now have House of Dracula, a direct sequel to HoF. And just like Franky's house, the whole gang of Universal's macabre membership are present and accounted for.
However, with the novelty of the morbid motley crew beginning to wear thin, this is one of the last times we get to see the monsters mashing it up in one film.
It wouldn't be until decades later that we finally get to see the gang all together again, and by then, Dracky's heirs have moved on up from just residing in a house to running and owning an entire hotel.

When I first read about Depraved from a movie article online, it described this film as a modern take of the Frankenstein lore". Which is why I sought it out, because I think that the concept originally concieved by Ms, Shelley had much more creative potential than has been utilized, particular in the area of cinema.
After I watched it, sure, it's a modern take, but, it's not really too far from what we've seen before. And for me, if someone is gonna do anything diffrent from the source material, I prefer it to be something much more unique or distinctive than what Depraved has to offer.
Still, the makers of this modern minimal-monster motion picture do get points for putting forth the effort of presenting a Franky-Fiend flick in the world of today. It's not gonna go down as a classic, but it's worch a watch at least once during these times when, compared to the other classical feature creatures, a Frankenstein movie is something that rarely "comes alive" anymore.

One of the earliest "Monster Mash-ups" I saw as a kid on a local TV frightfest show called "Creature Features". I remember my older brother telling me right before the program started that just because this is called "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" the truth was that all three of the Universal Monsters Top Trio of Terror, Franky, Dracky and Wolfy, would be making an appearance throughout this film.
To which I had to inquire "Cool. Who's on first?"

 In this particular adventure of Frankenstein building lore, Doc Vic's cadaverous creation enters the Toho universe and goes from being just a plain ol' human-sized Frankenstein's Monster who likes throwing daisy collecting little girls into ponds, to becoming a giant, several stories tall Frankenstein's Kaiju Monster that passes the time battling Godzilla's fellow island dwelling colleagues.
  Well, at least, in his heart he does.
  Oh, and big time the spoiler alert; despite what the movie title suggests, Frankenstein doesn't really actually conquer the world. But at the height of 300 feet, he does end up covering a lot more landscape than before.
  As a result, and in keeping with the theme of mashing up the madcap with the macabre, Mary Shelley is most likely rolling over in her grave.

   Full of the creative and scraggly type of characters that Tim Burton is known for, Dr. Finklestein is an amalgam of creator and creation as he seems to be a patchwork of both mad scientist and monster. Residing and working in a large gothic castle which incles a massive lab, filled with all the iconic equipment associated with Vitor Von, it's obvious that these are representative of Dr. Frankenstein himself (plus, the hame kinda give sit away...d'uh!). But, the fact that he has pale, dead like skin, stitches and can even open up the top of his oversized cranium strongley suggests that the character is meant to be somewhat stylized version of the "fiend" (as it's referred to in the early Universal films).



  To be honest, this is probably my pick for best movie on this list. However, since the theme of this list is Mary Shelley's most iconic creation, and TNBC's Franken-styled character is limited to a minor albeit important (let's not forget, not only did he create Sandy, but also the thinned down version of flying reindeer) role, I'm limiting it's placement to a much lower position, based on screentime rather than quality.

   After decades of being shunned by reguaar people throughout the world, universally inspired monsters finally have a place to escape to where they don't hafta to worry about being staked through the heart for their specific dietary considerations or the of being harrassed by torch wileding, pitchfork waving townsfolk who misterundersand them.
Okay, just like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hotel Transylvania is an animated monster mash movie in which the Frankenstein monster isn’t really the central theme of the movie. and also just like the nightmare before Christmas, this is a very good film, which in any other list, would rank higher in its position then I have it here. However, another thing that this shares with The Nightmare Before Christmas is that Frankiey's lack of screen time is made up by the quality of the character's role in the story, not to mention the great visual design of the caricature that was used here for the fiend. He, along with the rest of his classic creature colleagues, all look great here in CGI form, and a while HT really isn't much considered as one of the many frontrunners of today's Pixar style blockbusters, it is, for me, still a great opportinuty to see any kind of modern depiction of the Universal Monsters with the kind of cool, crisp computer technology of today.

  Before its release, this movie went through several different titles, like The Frankenstein Brothers, The Two Frankensteins, Frankenstein vs. Frankenstein, Frankenstein's Decisive Battle, and Frankenstein's Fight, before finally settling on Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda vs. Gaira. Although, many American kaiju fans didn't know that this was a Frankenstein flick since the working title for it's U.S. release is the more commonly known War of The Garguantuas.



   Technically speaking, this is a sequel to the aforementioned Frankenstein Conquers the World, the extreme title change may be due to the fact that within the story of Sanda and Gaira is a continuity that is barely stitched together with its predecessor. And then, for any American fans of the genre, it's even worse as the whole plot just plain gets totally lost in translation once it reaches the shores of it's more English-speaking audiences.
  Which is probably for the best since Mary Shelley most likely never even considered the possibility that her patchworked creation would eventually be translated into a giant, Japanese, city stomping kaiju. Let alone one who would spawn two Cain and Ablesque sons. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your level of fandomhood towards this Asian over-the-top genre), no one at the monster-making studios of Toho came up with the idea of doing a film that focused on whoever the mother was in this skyscraping dysfunctional family (Attack of the 50 Ft. Bride of Frankenstein, maybe?).

 The Baron of Bloodsuckers, Count Dracula, is looking to become king of the world. And not in that Titanic sort of way, either.  The King of Consuming Corpuscles wants to plunge the planet into eternal darkness, but in order to do so, he seeks to round up a "universal" band of fellow creature colleagues to make his dastardly dream of dread come true.
 However, when it comes to the Frankenstein Monster, he/it proves that contrary to his/it's reputation of being a composite corpse of evil, he/it has a heart of gold.
And when you think about it, isn't that enough of a plot description for this fear flick to make any fan of Franky-Mon want to go and see it?



 When you really think about it, the 80s really were the only time that you could make a movie like this. The practical effects combined with a very very early stages of computer imaging with just barely enough to cover what needed to be done here in terms of makeup and special effects. Not to mention that the mindset of the typical moviegoer might have been passed the outdated level of thinking that was required for all those old, silly B-movies of the 1950s and 60s cinema, but they hadn’t completely let go of the kind of suspension of disbelief that allowed someone to watch a movie with the premise of iconic creatures such as this one. On top of that, they were accepting the fact that if you’re going to use any kind of monster in a "modern" motion picture, we really had gotten to a point where the story needed to have some level of darkness to it, even if it was just a tinge, in order to be able to make this an enjoyable watch for our growing and more discerning tastes of the day. 
  All of this combined into making The Monster Squad into the type of fang-filled film that had just enough fun mixed in with right amount fear that allowed us to enjoy the legendary Universal monsters (or even a close enough facsimile of them) for one last time before they became more of a vehicle for parody that are now. The Squad was the final film that we got to see Monster of Frankenstein in flathead mode before that version became a simple cartoon of what used to be.

The year is 1940, and a traveling movie theatre has just shown the film version of "Frankenstein" to a small village in Spain (which has just started recovering from it's recent civil war). Transformed by what she sees on the screen, young Ana, along with her sister Isabel, becomes determined to search out this "spirit-monster".



The Spirit Of The Beehive is a really good arthouse film that refrains from getting too artsy so that it's story doesn't stray too far off it's rails. At the same, it's unique use of the "spirit" of the famous stitch-headed monster as a metaphor of childhood fascination distinguishes it's premise, at least enough to separate it from the average, standard movie fare.

  Back in the 1930's and early 40's, it was the power trio of Frankie, Wolfie and Drackie that made the Universal Monsters so universal when it came to movie going audiences. However, the time the the decade of the 50's shambled on in, it seemed that this "Triumvirate of Terror" had lost all bankability at the box office.
That is, until Hammer Film Productions came from across the pond and decided to take a crack at it.
  And with their distinctive brand of visceral storytelling and Gothic cinema, they were able to spark up a lightning strike that forever forged their name into the history of horror and were able to show to a whole new generation of theater going audiences that the curse of Dr. Frankenstein's creepy creation was indeed, still very much alive.

In 1943, Universal Studios released Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, a film that is considered the first to actually team up two of the monster mainstays that will make the studio company famous (in the horror flick circle, that is). Its story is considered the sequel to the original 1941 Wolf Man and at the same time, the fifth chapter in the Frankenstein series.
And while it seems like it's the werewolf who experiences more development as a character, it's still cool to see that the creatures who have become staples in legendary lore of the scare flick are now sharing terrorizing tactics together in the same world.

What is it that makes a young surgeon carry on the family tradition of creating a patchwork monstrosity of a menace that always seems to rile up the local villagers into taking up arms with their pitchforks and their torches and then, storming the castle?
Simple. It's in his blood.
Y'know....
as in a vampiric metaphor....?

Okay, okay,
I know that some of you out there would be quick to remind me that vampires are not the the central theme of this list. Frankenstein monsters are.
To which I can only respond "Actually, it's pronounced Frankensteen."

Tim Burton's very first film is a black & white feature which tells the macabre tale of how a pet dog is bought back to life by his child owner. After the bull terrier gets killed by a car (the leading cause of death amongst canines, after old age), the young lad decides to a take a page out of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and resurrect the Spuds Mckenzie look-alike through the use of electricity. I guess mad scientists have figured out that electricity is spark of all life.
But that's not the point. What matters is a boy and his dog.
A bond that not even the Grim Reaper can hope to sever.
Well....he can....
but still, through the use of love and, well...y'know.... more electricity...
and probably some string, I guess...
the boy and his dog will can never be separated. For long.



Though, now that I think about it,
when a kid's dog "bites it",
it seems to me that making a simple trip to the pet shop would really be a heck of alot easier than building a secret lab in the attic.

Almost 30 years after making his first film, Tim Burton updates the 30 minute live action feature into a full length stop-motion animated flick.



Basically, it's the same story as the earlier one, just padded with alot more of cool and crazy homages to other horror genres in an over the top manner that is allowed in the cartoon world of stop-motion graphics. For my money, it all adds up as an excellent example of why Burton's preference for spookish cinematic subject matter is a more perfect patchwork combination with his own brand of stylish animation and tends to come much more alive than when he tries to film it in live action.

The original Dr. Frankenstein may be dead, but his son, aptly named "Wolf", lives on. To continue the family tradition of monster mayem madness.



Featuring not only the first appearance of the iconic hunchbacked sidekick named Ygor (notice that's the correct spelling is a "Y", not an "I"), but also some really cool angular backdrops, a one-armed inspector, and a laboratory containing a big pit of sulfur.
And lemme tell you something,
when it comes to literal foreshadowing, they don't get any deeper than a big pit of sulfur.

In this immensely successful sequel (one of the first to be so successful), the Frankenstein Monster learns to talk, smoke a cigar, and on a social level, put himself "out there".
Now while he and the Bride give a new meaning to the term "made for each other", for any few of you who've never seen this movie,
I won't spoil it for you by revealing whether or not she accepts his proposal or not.

Lest to say that the fact that the name the follow-up film to this follow-up film is Son Of Frankenstein bears no reflection to the outcome of this movie.

At the number ten spot, I mentioned how horrordom's most famous patchwork man debuted on film in back in 1910. produced the of.
Fast forward twenty-one years later, and we have the 1931 classic that features Victor Frankenstein's (or in this movie version, Henry) monster as the flat-topped heavy-browed stitchhead which has come to define the creature's appearance more so than that of what Mary Shelley described in her novel.
And even tho it has become sort of a comical look for modern audiences, back at the time of it's release, Boris Koloff's heavy made-up visage of The Monster was enough to scare the hell out of even hardcore horror aficionados.



But the main reason I have this movie at number one, isn't just cuz it's still considered the best of all of the Frankenstein Monsters, but also because the top three of the early Universal monster flix (Franky, Dracula and The Wolfman) have always been a regular staple on the television sets of The Mighty Celestial (my screename, in case you haven't noticed) household every Halloween night now for generations. Heck, probably even before television sets were invented.
For me, the night of All Hallow's Eve wouldn't be the same without the most famous of freaky flat-tops shambling about on the ol' boobtube.