Review of Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (1974) by Chris . — 05 May 2010

Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks has the dubious reputation for being one of the worst, if not the worst, Frankenstein films ever made. Despite its reputation I always wanted to see the film with the outrageously bad title to see just how bad it was. I finally got my chance when I scored a brand new copy at a pawn shop for a measly $1.25. The price was golden for me to see the film with such a retched reputation.

Well, the reputation was correct. I can't say this is the worst Frankenstein film ever made but it is by far the worst Frankenstein film I have ever seen. I knew I was in for a mish-mash of shit when I saw it was directed by schlock meister Dick Randall, the cash & grab filmmaker who went all over the world making band-wagon films (most notably some Bruceploitation films in Hong Kong). I can't say I don't enjoy some Dick Randall productions (his Spanish slasher "Pieces" has to be one of my all time guilty pleasures) but this is a real huge turd on his resume.

The film opens with a Neanderthal getting lynched by some villagers. He of course dies and in comes Count Frankenstein...what a minute. Hold that thought. COUNT Frankenstein? I'm sorry but every other version of Frankenstein in film and book form has Frankenstein as a Baron. Did the filmmakers get this confused with Dracula? Okay, so COUNT Frankenstein decides to bring the Neanderthal back from the dead with the help of Ygor and numerous other lab minions (I guess that is where the title comes from because of his weird helpers). After bringing him back from the dead the COUNT dodges accusations from local authorities and his daughter, while in the mean time falling in love. It wouldn't be a Frankenstein film without his creation breaking out and causing havoc and he does, with the help of a midget. What's a film like this without a midget?

This film's plot meanders everywhere. We even have our dead Neanderthal kill another caveman over a women while in the company of his midget friend. Where the hell did the filmmakers come up with some of these sequences? This is another film which I like to call "Alternative Cinema". Like I've mentioned in other reviews it means it's sort-of horror, sort-of exploitation, and all shit. I really can't recommend anything about this movie as it is even hard to watch for people who like bad movies. It's poorly shot, poorly directed, poorly scripted, poorly edited, and among all thing it's just fucking boring. The version I own is the Elvira's Movie Macabre edition which allows you to watch the film with or without Elviria's humorous intermissions. Her intermissions are a welcome relief from the film and like alcohol they helped me get through this mess. If you must see this film, make sure you get the Elvira Movie Macabre version. It will help...trust me.