The Horror of Frankenstein

1/25/04 by scott

The other night, I happened to be watching Army of Darkness on AMC, and after it was over I was too lazy to get up off the couch. And it's a good thing, too, because if I had gotten up, I would have missed the next movie, which was one of the strangest I have ever seen.

'The Horror of Frankenstein' is a dry/black comedy, portraying Victor Frankenstein as a college-aged lunatic genius who convinces his teachers to cancel class, seduces his female classmates, sleeps with his father's housekeeper, and ultimately kills his father for his money. It's the classic Frankenstein tale, except it's told with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek. This movie is hilarious in the beginning, and then when Frankenstein starts down the path of creating his monster, it gets pretty scary, as the Frankenstein story should. But it's also funny to see Frankenstein calmly explain to the police why everyone is disappearing from around his castle as if nothing was wrong, and it also has one of those 'gotcha' bad joke endings, much like a Tales from the Crypt episode.

This movie would be great to watch if you're ever playing that drinking game where you have to pause the movie and guess what happens next, because some of the plot unfolds like the classic horror movies, and some of it unfolds like Monty Python.

And if that's not enough, Frankenstein's monster is played by David Prowse, who later went on to play Darth Vader.

So if you're ever sitting around with a couple of hours free and this movie comes on TV, give it a shot. I bet you'll be hooked in the first five minutes just like I was.