FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR (1968)

[The Burgomaster]

I have been waiting for decades to see this movie (one of my friends saw it at the drive-in when I was about 7 or 8 years old and he told me about it).  Finally, I was able to purchase the newly-released DVD.

The movie itself is nothing special - - a typical werewolf movie starring Spanish horror star Paul Naschy (Jacinto Molina).  But the history of how it came to the U.S. and the development of the misleading title and advertising campaign are fascinating (the movie has NOTHING to do with Dr. Frankenstein, the Frankenstein monster or anything whatsoever related to Frankenstein - - it's about werewolves and vampires).  

AUDIO COMMENTARY SPOILERS:  Sam Sherman of Independent International Pictures provides a very interesting audio commentary track in which he explains why he obtained the U.S. distribution rights for this movie and why he changed the title.  Without giving away too much, he was in the middle of a legal battle over the film negative for Al Adamson's DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN (which, at that time, was going to be called BLOOD OF FRANKENSTEIN, if it ever got released).  He had already promised theater and drive-in owners a release of a Frankenstein movie, so he needed another one to replace BLOOD OF FRANKENSTEIN.   He got his hands on a Spanish movie called MARK OF THE WOLFMAN, changed the title to FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR (to make it sound similar to BLOOD OF FRANKENSTEIN), and added an animated prologue to the film that gives a half-assed explanation of the connection between the name FRANKENSTEIN and the name WOLFSTEIN (which is used in the movie).  Sam Sherman's commentary is extremely interesting, especially if you are fascinated (as I am) by the 1960s and 1970s drive-in industry and the numerous dubbed, European imports that were brought into the U.S. during those years.

The movie itself gets about 1 1/2 stars, but the audio commentary gets a full 4 stars.  Excellent and fascinating.



Post Edited (11-26-05 08:57)

[Chopper]

i hear you Burgo! sometimes i wish i could've been alive during the era of sleazy/grindhouse cinema. there's a dollar theatre in my town i like to go to because the sits are all beaten and crappy, the theatre stinks, and the screen is small. call me wierd but i always feel like i'm in an old 70's grind house when i'm in this theatre.

[Shadowphile]

There used to be a local theatre that showed all the old movies, cheesy classics and art films.  The last time I checked, it was showing a month of 'March of the Penguin'.  I almost tore up my membership card.