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Movies => Good Movies => Topic started by: JaseSF on February 11, 2010, 05:46:10 PM



Title: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: JaseSF on February 11, 2010, 05:46:10 PM
Here are some of my personal favourites.

1) BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935): Why Bride?? Well for one thing it makes the monster arguably seem more the victim. We can sympathize more with its plight - it never asked to be what it is. "Hate the living - love the dead". I also feel the talking humanizes the Monster more so that we feel more kinship for him.

2) FRANKENSTEIN (1931): so very different from the novel that inspired it yet the main themes remain.  It is most certainly memorable and highly entertaining. And is without any doubt the one movie most people will likely think of when someone mentions FRANKENSTEIN

3) REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN: this Hammer entry has Dr. Frankenstein on the run and in hiding but alas he is still up to his forbidden work. This portrays Dr. Frankenstein as a man of vision and determination who wants to benefit man but alas fear rules the day and time in which he lives.

4) COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT: What??!! Yes you did read that right - Colossus I consider a more modern take on the old Frankenstein tale with Dr. Charles Forbin creating not an intelligent man out of dead body parts but a living computer mind that is much too advanced for human good, once again a man is in essence destroyed by his own creation. "Your mother was right---FRANKENSTEIN should be required reading for all scientists" - COLOSSUS

5) . FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY: this was a 2-part mini-series in which Dr. Frankenstein tries to create the perfect man. He thinks he has succeeded but alas things start to go wrong and in the end, things wind up pretty close to events in Shelley’s novel.


"It's ALIVE!! It's ALIVE!"


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: RCMerchant on February 11, 2010, 06:21:28 PM
My favorite are the Universal Frankies....but of them-my tops is...

.The SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939)-Yeah...Karloff doesn't have much to do until the last quarter of the film,but Basil Rathbone seems to be on the brink of a total nervous breakdown,Lionel Atwill is great as the wood armed Inspector,and,of course Bela as Ygor (NOT Igor-as some think it's spelled)-Lugosi steals every scene he's in.
"I stole bodies...eh...they said!" Not a hint of Dracula....too bad more directors didn't take advantage of this man's talent. Hell-he played Shakespeare in Hungary!-He-he did---ok. I won't turn this into a "Lugosi got f*cked " rant.
.FRANKENSTEIN (1931)-I like this one better than BRIDE as well...just cuz it's darker and the lack of any music (like the original DRACULA) makes it even more eerie. And-even though I'm a Bela fanatic-I don't think Karloff's performance in this one has ever been topped. I remember watching this on late night tv with my little sister Wendy (she was 6) in 1978. She started to cry at one point. "What's wrong? It's not real-it's just a movie. Don't be scared!" She wasn't scared....she was sad.
Karloff brought to horror what Chaplin brought to slapstick...pathos.
.BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) of course!-Mostly for James Whale's dark humor and the unforgettable Ernest Theisinger as the take-it-all-in-stride-attitude to walking corpses and all things morbid. And Elsa as the Bride is a classic monster-she played the role once. It's never even tried to be copied (well..Madiline Kahn dont count...and ferget about the Sting movie...)
Now...this is where it gets weird....

.FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER (196 something-I fergit)-I'ma bad movie fan...no explanation...
.FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL-I like Cushing-I like the weird hairy eyeless monster.


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: Mr. DS on February 11, 2010, 07:15:12 PM
Parts of me really liked Frankenstein Island but for all the wrong reasons.   Hammer's Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed was a good one as well.  Cushing plays a good prick in that one.


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: JaseSF on February 11, 2010, 08:26:27 PM
Me, I've always liked Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) more than Son although it is in essence a sequel to that film. To me, Lugosi's Ygor is even more crazy, cunning and villainous in this picture.

Ygor: "The lightning. It is good for you! Your father was Frankenstein, but your mother was the lightning!"

I love Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster too although there in essence Frankenstein is simply referring to a robot astronaut space pilot named Frank who crashlands on Earth,  is damaged and goes berserk. Lots of catchy tunes in that one especially when the Martians invade a pool party to capture hapless women for breeding purposes.


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: RCMerchant on February 11, 2010, 10:34:18 PM
Dont get me wrong- I like ALL the Universal Frankensteins-Chaney made a brutish-p**sed off monster! He was STRONG. And MAD! GREAT film! I also like Glenn Strange. He didnt have a lot to do in his three outings as the Monster-but he looked dam cool! Lugosi as the Monster-his performance was hampered by the fact that all of his speaking parts in the film FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN were cut-so his staggerering arm outstreached,much imitated version made no sense. He was BLIND at the end of GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN. F meets W was a butchered,nonsensical film. Yet,it's still fondly remembered because it was the first monster mash.And Chaney Was taller than Bela. Porrly executed. More of a cash-in on the Wolfman than a serious follow up to the first 4. B-movie fun,though.


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: retrorussell on February 12, 2010, 05:57:56 AM
Woah.. no love for Young Frankenstein?  That's a fantastic movie!


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: The Burgomaster on February 12, 2010, 10:54:56 AM
These certainly are not good, but they're fun:

* DRACULA, PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN
* JESSE JAMES MEETS FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER
* LADY FRANKENSTEIN
* FRANKENSTEIN'S CASTLE OF FREAKS
* FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND
* FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER



Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: Flick James on February 12, 2010, 01:34:47 PM
I have never read Mary Shelley's work, but I know the premises. It's interesting how the majority of all adaptations have transformed Victor Frankenstein from the idealistic, if somewhat naive, scientist who believed in outdated scientific theories that would create a Gollum, but that he believed would benefit mankind by creating immotality and the "perfect man," into a more corrupt "mad scientist" caricature. Also, most adaptations have the mad scientist piecing the monster together from various bodies. The original novel never said that. The monster was reanimated from a single corpse.

Fascinating story, actually. Written during a time when medicine and science was undergoing a massive transformation from outdated and even medieval practices into modern medicine. When the novel was written, there were still some holdouts that practiced leech-craft.


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: Flick James on February 12, 2010, 01:40:20 PM
Wait, let me retract some of my previous post. Further research reveals that in the original novel, he did not create the monster from body parts, nor did he reanimate a single corpse, but the details of the creation are ambiguous. In other words, it's suggested he created golem-like creature, larger than a normal-sized man, but did not reanimate anything.


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: JaseSF on February 12, 2010, 03:09:35 PM
Frankenstein: The True Story, a TV mini-series starring James Mason, actually has the Monster at first created as a seemingly perfect man. Of course, things later take a turn for the worse...much worse. And look out for Jane Seymour in this one as a potential Bride. Also stars David McCallum, Leonard Whiting Agnes Moorehead and Tom Baker.

The Hammer films are interesting given the wide variation between the different Dr. Frankenstein characters played by Peter Cushing. While essentially playing the same character, every time out the character seem a bit different to me. In Revenge mentioned above, he's more the misguided, daring scientist who truly wants to benefit the world but finds his work misunderstood wheras in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, he's become downright nasty in his obsession.


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: Psycho Circus on February 12, 2010, 03:10:42 PM
This is my favourite just because it's so darn ridiculous!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WlpTbgCLgM


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: metalmonster on February 13, 2010, 05:51:01 PM
FRANKENSTEIN(1931)
BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
HOUSE OF DRACULA
SON OF FRANKENSTEIN
GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN
FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER
LADY FRANKENSTEIN
CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN
FRANKENSTEIN REBORN
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
FRANKENSTEIN the Miniseries(2004)
FRANKENSTEIN'S CASTLE OF FREAKS
FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN
ABBOT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN



Out Of All Of These Great Movies , The One That Most Closely Resembles The Book Is The 2004 Miniseries


There Are Dozens More FRANKENSTEIN Movies Out There That I Have To See!


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: metalmonster on February 13, 2010, 05:52:13 PM
....I Almost Forgot JESSE JAMES MEETS FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: JaseSF on February 13, 2010, 06:44:33 PM
No mention yet of Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)? Al Adamson's version might not be particularly good but it is surprisingly goofy fun especially when the monsters finally tangle. Actually I too have dozens of Frankenstein films left to see...only Dracula seems to have been adapted more...or was he?


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: The Burgomaster on February 13, 2010, 07:51:45 PM
And here is the WORST (by far) Frankenstein movie ever.  It is an incomprehensible, pseudo-artsy, ego-trip movie made by a very young director.  Awful, awful, awful . . . and I bought the damned DVD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kia0sTMpxcs


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: Allhallowsday on February 13, 2010, 09:26:25 PM
No mention yet of Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)? Al Adamson's version might not be particularly good but it is surprisingly goofy fun especially when the monsters finally tangle...
Yeh, well, read what others have posted in your thread...  :wink: Behold:

This is my favourite just because it's so darn ridiculous!
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WlpTbgCLgM[/url]


Truly unmentioned: FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND a cool movie made from a great book.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDqQERyhfqI


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: Mr. DS on February 13, 2010, 09:28:33 PM
Speaking mainly of films based on the book, I was actually OK with the Robert Dinero Frankenstein.  I felt it really captured the book more than it's predecessors.


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: RCMerchant on February 13, 2010, 11:29:34 PM
Whatta bout FRANKENSTEIN"S DAUGHTER? It's got two stupid monsters-and Harold Llyod Jr. And it's funnier than any of his Dad's films!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9tRKC9_I5s

I usta have a movie called FRANKENSTEIN 80 (italian,of course) where a big dumbass monster (who kinda looks like the DeNiro Frankie!) beat some chick with a big hambone!

(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/RCMerchant/manson1015-3.jpg)


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: El Misfit on February 14, 2010, 02:12:58 AM
here's my list:
Frankenstein 1915  :thumbup:
Young Frankenstein
Frankenstein 1931
Frankenhooker- B MOVIE IS AWESOME!!!!
Bride of Frankenstein
Dracula vs. Frankenstein


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: JaseSF on February 14, 2010, 04:01:49 AM
Sorry allhallows and Circus. The truth is I'm on a dial-up connection here and lots of times the Youtube links don't even load for me as was the case here.


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: RCMerchant on February 14, 2010, 06:13:36 AM
here's my list:
Frankenstein 1915  :thumbup:
Young Frankenstein
Frankenstein 1931
Frankenhooker- B MOVIE IS AWESOME!!!!
Bride of Frankenstein
Dracula vs. Frankenstein
Sorry to be anal retentive-the first FRANKENSTIEN was 1910-not 1915.
My anal passage flows fine-except when it comes to movie facts. Otherwise I cant recall my own sons birthday,daylight savings time,or where I left my hat the day before. But I know what year the first Frankenstein was made.  :bluesad: I dont have a girlfreind either.  :bluesad:


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: El Misfit on February 14, 2010, 11:23:59 AM
here's my list:
Frankenstein 1915  :thumbup:
Young Frankenstein
Frankenstein 1931
Frankenhooker- B MOVIE IS AWESOME!!!!
Bride of Frankenstein
Dracula vs. Frankenstein
Sorry to be anal retentive-the first FRANKENSTIEN was 1910-not 1915.
My anal passage flows fine-except when it comes to movie facts. Otherwise I cant recall my own sons birthday,daylight savings time,or where I left my hat the day before. But I know what year the first Frankenstein was made.  :bluesad: I dont have a girlfreind either.  :bluesad:

hey don't feel bad, i'm a single guy again after my ex girlfriend left for Cali after her dad went to jail  :bluesad:


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: KYGOTC on February 14, 2010, 01:05:01 PM
I may be...um, "AGAINST THE GRAIN" here, but I really dug the 90s one with DeNiro. Not EMACULATE by any means, but i liked it.


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: the ghoul on February 16, 2010, 09:25:47 AM
I consider Bride of Frankenstein to be the best one.

House of Dracula is my second favorite because the over-the-top craziness of having the Jekyll/Hyde mad scientist, hunchback nurse, wolf man, Frankenstein's monster, and Dracula all in one film.

After that it becomes very hard to decide.  I love so many of them.  The Hammer Frankensteins are some of my favorites.  I also like Assignment Terror (with Michael Rennie and Paul Naschy), Lady Frankenstein, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, Young Frankenstein, Frankenstein Conquers the World, and too many others to list.


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: Rev. Powell on March 26, 2010, 06:45:43 PM
And here is the WORST (by far) Frankenstein movie ever.  It is an incomprehensible, pseudo-artsy, ego-trip movie made by a very young director.  Awful, awful, awful . . . and I bought the damned DVD.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kia0sTMpxcs[/url]


Honestly, Burgo, it was better than BLACKENSTEIN.   :bouncegiggle: 


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: The Burgomaster on March 29, 2010, 04:28:33 PM
And here is the WORST (by far) Frankenstein movie ever.  It is an incomprehensible, pseudo-artsy, ego-trip movie made by a very young director.  Awful, awful, awful . . . and I bought the damned DVD.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kia0sTMpxcs[/url]


Honestly, Burgo, it was better than BLACKENSTEIN.   :bouncegiggle: 


At least BLACKENSTEIN is good for laughs.  This turkey is completely incomprehensible and BORING.




Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: Rev. Powell on March 29, 2010, 05:02:10 PM
And here is the WORST (by far) Frankenstein movie ever.  It is an incomprehensible, pseudo-artsy, ego-trip movie made by a very young director.  Awful, awful, awful . . . and I bought the damned DVD.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kia0sTMpxcs[/url]


Honestly, Burgo, it was better than BLACKENSTEIN.   :bouncegiggle: 


At least BLACKENSTEIN is good for laughs.  This turkey is completely incomprehensible and BORING.



But the director of BLACKENSTEIN didn't send me a free DVD! 

Honestly, I didn't think it was THAT bad, because of the massive inventiveness of the cinematography.  And, it's a tribute to Andy Milligan and drive-in cinema.  That melting effect when the doctor dies is absolutely beautiful and ingenious, and something I'd never seen before.  But in the narrative sense it was pretty terrible---Hand is a great technician but I fear he does not know how to tell a story.  His followup film was beautifully shot but once again, dull and confusing.  Anyway, I'm just happy that I'm not the only person on this board who's seen the movie.   


Title: Re: The Best Frankenstein Films?
Post by: AndyC on April 01, 2010, 06:28:07 PM
Frankenstein: The True Story, a TV mini-series starring James Mason, actually has the Monster at first created as a seemingly perfect man. Of course, things later take a turn for the worse...much worse. And look out for Jane Seymour in this one as a potential Bride. Also stars David McCallum, Leonard Whiting Agnes Moorehead and Tom Baker.

Oh wow. I remember seeing that one and liking it, but I couldn't remember what it was. Might have to look for it on video.

I didn't mind The Bride. I thought Clancy Brown was a pretty good monster. I don't suppose we can include Munster Go Home in this category.