Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (Cinematic Titanic)

Film Year:  1974

Genre:  Horror

Director:  Robert H. Oliver

Starring:  "Boris Lugosi?  What, they couldn't get Bela Karloff?"

CT Number:  6

The Movie

Count Frankenstein witnesses a fearful mob of people attack a recently discovered Neanderthal man unprovoked and murder him.  Through his scientific experiments, Frankenstein successfully brings the Neanderthal back to life, who becomes fond of Frankenstein's young lover who just so happens to love having girl/girl naked swim time with Frankenstein's daughter (in case you needed that in your fantasies).  Meanwhile, Frankenstein's dwarf assistant has been cast out of his castle and banished where he befriends another Neanderthal in the wild and plots to take revenge on Frankenstein.

It sure is great to have a pivotal classic in public domain.  That way we can get low-grade films like this who take the name and do whatever the fuck they want to it.  It's the Winnie the Pooh:  Blood & Honey effect.

Filmed in Italy, Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks is mostly just an exploitation film of tall guys, little people, and ladies with large bosoms with a Frankenstein name stamped on it to sell tickets.  What can be said about it is that at least they do have the whole "Frankenstein bringing the dead back to life" thing in the movie even if the movie doesn't seem to care all that deeply about Frankenstein himself.  It's more interested in the creatures he makes and gawking at how ugly he is, and then basking in how beautiful the women are.  If that's what you want from a Frankenstein movie then Castle of Freaks doesn't shortchange you.

Interestingly there seem to be disagreements on who exactly directed this movie, though it's generally agreed that "Robert H. Oliver" is a pseudonym.  A pseudonym for who is a better question, and the cast and crew all seemed to have a different story about who exactly directed the movie.  IMDB lists producer Dick Randall, though it seems what most likely happened is that a director was hired and left at some point due to creative differences and nobody remembers his name after all this time because he was left uncredited on the movie while other crewmembers stepped in to finish it.  That kind of makes Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks a dead monster that was stitched together and brought back to life itself.

The Riff

We're testing out a new technology for today's Cinematic Titanic release, as those responsible for the Cinematic Titanic project have decided they don't want people of the future to think they're pervs and decided to cover up the film's nudity.  Enter the Breast Blimp, which is an idea that seems evolved from a bit Joel did during the Mystery Science Theater episode City Limits where he opened up an umbrella to cover up a woman's buttocks in the film, while they would later play with the concept again in the MST reboot with a pair of drones covering up nudity in the film Avalanche.  The Breast Blimp is a bit cumbersome and it kind of slowly blocks the screen at various points of the film even when it's not necessary, so it's a bit of a failure here.  Luckily this is the only Cinematic Titanic film where it was needed.

As for the theater work itself, I'm a bit of a Frankenstein lover so while Castle of Freaks is clearly one of the lesser films made based on Shelly's novel, I'm having a load of fun with this one.  The movie is a bit of a dour freak show however, which might make it a bit harsh on most viewers.  Luckily the riffing is goofy and playful, which counteracts the film's tone and aggressiveness.  A lot of the quips compliment the film quite well, like daughter Frankenstein lamenting that her father wishes he spawned a son instead causing Mary Jo to point out "It's not too late, he can still bolt something on for you."  J. Elvis has a bit of nostalgia at watching the dwarf getting taunted and tossed out of the castle, reminiscing "This totally reminds me of my last day at MST."

The sole host segment basically has Trace trying to put on a presentation on Frankenstein, pointing out that he's wearing an "I Love Frankenstein" shirt, which leaves everyone at a loss because they thought the shirt said "I Love Frank" and they spend his presentation questioning him about why he resents Frank so much.  It's a little obvious but it's pretty funny, especially Frank's depressed sadness at the idea that Trace's shirt doesn't refer to him.  Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks is an ugly movie, but they work to make it as funny as it is and they mostly succeed.

Good

The DVD

Cinematic Titanic initially released Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks on DVD through their now defunct website, with solid audio and video, aside from the film itself which was lower resolution and sounded scratchy.  Years later Shout Factory released the complete collection of Cinematic Titanic in a box set, which included Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks which shared a disc with Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.