Review of Young Frankenstein (1974) by Simon H — 30 Jul 2014

Young Frankenstein is a very different parody film you get compared to the modern crop of spoofs. Rather than throwing out joke after joke on a variety of horror subjects, Mel Brooks and Writer/Star Gene Wilder keeps it based on the story of Frankenstein. Young Frankenstein is essentially a version of that story.

Gene Wilder is great as the shouting mad scientist and delivers the jokes with ease. Peter Boyle makes the most of what he can as the monster. Cloris Leachman is fun to watch but not in the film enough. However, she does have some of the best scenes. The highlight out of all the characters is Marty Feldman as Igor. He has the look for the character and the voice that you don't expect. He is given some of the best jokes, and the way he connects to the audience by talking to them works well. There is also a nice little cameo from Gene Hackman.

It also helps Brooks to be given equipment from the original Frankenstein film to use. Along with the well crafted sets, you are given a Frankenstein film that feels authentic. The use of filming it in black and white gives it that extra layer.

Whilst the film contains some good jokes, a lot of them are based on the Universal horror film series. This means that some of the humour can be lost on the audience. You also have to be paying attention as some jokes could fly straight past you without realising. It wasn't until reading through the quotes after that I could appreciate some of the one liners I missed. Still, two of the best sequences (the charades and the performance) should be found funny to anyone who isn't familiar with the movies.

Whilst I personally didn't find it to be Mel Brook's best comedy, it is still a solid affair. Unfortunately, I find that the film would only gain a particular audience based on their past viewing history.