Tales of Frankenstein

Those that know me, know that I am extremely selective about horror movies and normally I am not attracted to it, very rare times I sit and watch horror films, specially the "classic kind" but I came across the opportunity to play this title on my home theater and immediately the 1st thing I was surprised by was the sound, it actually has great sound, although is not my type of movie but I was happy with Mel Novak's performance and I became a fan of Donald F. Glut after watching the bonus material on the disc, is really cool to see how this film maker has been around for so long making films out of passion, very inspirational and interesting. definitely worth to have as part of your collection :)

Inspired by the original novel, a series of alternate tales and stories about the Frankenstein legend.

The Good Stor(ies): My Creation, My Beloved-A century after the original creation got loose, a deformed descendent enraged over the fallout of his family's past attempts to create a perfect pair of species in each sex. As he goes about selecting various parts from a series of locals, he soon encounters an unexpected side-effect of his work. On the whole, this is a serviceable enough effort for getting this one going. The idea of his fury over the family legacy and attempt to get his affairs in order by outdoing the work of his ancestors which leads him down the path he does is well-handled and manages to influence the second half with his attempt to build his two creations. It's a little unfortunate that this section moves away from him being responsible for sourcing the pieces as he instead collects them from accidents not of his doing but the Gothic atmosphere and template for everything still carries this one along nicely.

Crawler from the Grave-After the death of her husband, a woman receives a call from his sworn enemy asking about the location of a sacred ring that was buried with him. Driven by madness to acquire the ring, he sets out to take it for himself only for something not quite human to be on his trail. This one was a solid if slightly problematic entry. One of the biggest drawbacks is that so much of the running time is taken up with the flashback detailing the relationship between the two and how the husband died which takes up more time than necessary when it could've been told more economically. After that, the segment has a lot to like with the paranormal inclusion of the cursed item coming to spell doom to the recipient who's unfortunate to be within its path which is mixed nicely with the other storyline influences to create plenty of fun with the question of whether the hand coming back is his guilty conscious or not. It's just a tad too long for its good.

Dr. Karnstein's Creation-Moving to a quiet Transylvanian town, a doctor's descendant and his teenage assistant move into an abandoned castle and set out to recreate the doctors' work. As they start to put the creature together, the success of their mission gets interrupted by the curious locals eager to know what they're up to in the castle. For the most part, this was a pretty solid and enjoyable entry. That this one goes about simply as a recreation of the original storyline involving graverobbing and constructing a monster for their nefarious purposes is about the only downfall here with the setup taken directly from the original story into a new location. Beyond that, the scenes of them stealing corpses in the graveyard and the eventual construction of the creature are full of old-school Gothic splendor much like the later scenes involving the resolution of the missing piece of the puzzle that's needed for the experiment. Combined with the frantic action in the finale, this has a lot to like overall.

The Bad Stor(ies): Madhouse of Death-Breaking down on a country road, a man trying to get out of the storm stumbles upon a strange mansion in the hillside where he finds the occupants inviting him inside almost too quickly. When it becomes clear about their intentions, he tries to get away before being transplanted into the body of a pet ape. This was a wholly problematic segment overall. The main problem is the running narration over the segment which tries to invoke the feeling of a film-noir but just comes off annoying with the unfunny jokes and observations that are supposed to get us on his side. Rather, they become cringe-worthy and just ruins the pacing which makes it obvious that he's an idiot which is the complete antithesis of his appeal to the brain-swapping doctor in the first place. Combined with little actual surgical scenes and a tenuous grasp of what the actual mythology was about, it's lighthearted and goofy tone is all this has going for it.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Nudity.

Four spin-off stories from the Frankenstein genre. It's definitely a cheesy movie with cheap props and it was pretty much like watching a theatre production on film. I wouldn't normally give this type of movie more than 10 minutes before switching it off but there was something about it that kept me watching. It has a subtle humour and really doesn't take itself too seriously - plus the stories kept the feel or the integral essence of the original Frankenstein movies, as well. The cast did a really good job and they all played their parts very well. The directing was also very good and sincere in that it didn't allow the stories to get boring or stagnant and I feel a bit mean giving this a 6 after the effort that was put into it so I'm going to give it a 7 instead.

A great indie tribute to a horror classic. I thought the acting was spot on for the thematic tone and genre. Anyone looking at this film with a critical opinion is clearly not watching the film from it's intended lens. Some of my favorite performances from this ensemble cast were Jack Anvil played by Jamisin Matthews and Helga played by Lilian Lev. Matthew's embodiment of 1940's Los Angles style was excellent, he even get's a great one liner in about "Central Casting" Also Buddy Friedman's Dr. Frankenstein was uniquely grounded by a great understanding of the material and it's characters.

The film's stories consist of "My Creation, My Beloved" - a descendant of Victor Frankenstein attempts to create the perfect man and woman. "Crawler from the Grave" - another Frankenstein descendant returns from the grave in the most unexpected way. "Madhouse of Death" - A private detective ends up in an old, dark house where a scientist is working on a very strange experiment. "Dr. Karnstein's Creation" - A mad scientist creates a monster that is a hybrid of Frankenstein's creature and the Vampire monster.

"My Creation, My Beloved" moves a bit slow, but it stays true to the original Frankenstein asthetic, and often shows a homage to the Hammer Film era. The cinematography and locations are atmospheric and a nice marker for what a classic horror fan wants. Although the story seems slightly unoriginal, it does give us a fun, alternative ending to the Frankenstein tale.

"Crawler From The Grave" moves a bit away from the more classic tale, but still manages to honor Shelley's characters. It does venture into more paranormal area with the cursed ring worn by Frankenstein. A more original tale, I thought it was interesting but I felt the absence of the monster making was crippling the entertainment value.

"Madhouse Of Death" was my least favorite of the four stories. It ventured too far to really show recognizable Frankenstein homage. On its own though, the concept and story choices are interesting and worthy. A total nod to late 30's and 40's horror noir, like The Monster Walks and The Return Of Doctor X. I just didn't get any real connection to Mary Shelley from this one. And there is a lot of cultural insensitivity in the film with a few characters, I know it is unintentionally present.

"Dr. Karstein's Creation" is a revisioning of the classic Frankenstein tale, and among the strongest of the four stories. There is an air of misogny that weighs on the entertainment value, but the story on a whole returns to a truer interpretation of the Shelley story and has some nice visual asthetics and creature design.

Overall "Tales Of Frankenstein" is a decent indie anthology that tries real hard to celebrate Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It has its good moments and bad moments. The stories may not be original but Gluts' choices and perspective is. Low-budget indie fans will find plenty to like about this movie, however thriller and popcorn horror fans may be disappointed.