I Was a Teenage Frankenstein

The production of this film, hot on the heels of Michael Landon's immortal 'Teenage Werewolf' opus, signified that Teen Horror was in fact a specific genre of film. Teen Horror films have been a constant cinematic presence from 1957 to the present, although they have waxed and waned several times over the past 53 years. Everything you see in 'the Craft,' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' and of course the ubiquitous 'Twilight' movies is a re-hash of Teenage Werewolf and Teenage Frankenstein.

Wereas Teenage Werewolf focuses on the personality and emotions of the Michael Landon character, thus structurally grafting the point of view of 'Rebel Without a Cause' to the horror genre, Teenage Frankenstein is more pre-occupied with Whit Bissel's portrayal of a Dr. Frankenstein living in the era drive-in movies. As such, Teenage Frankenstein follows more traditional monster movie conventions than Werewolf.

Nonetheless, teenagers are featured heavily, and teen actor Gary Conway as the eponymous monster is a major presence, so it is indeed appropriate to study this film in the context of the Teen Horror genre.

This film is an excellent example of the aesthetics of low-budget 1950's monster film-making. The acting is earnest and competent, the script does not get bogged down with dialog that would try to explain weak plot points, but rather dances across such places quickly, as one might dash across a wobbly bridge before it can collapse. It moves quickly and delivers just what the intended audience expected and needed: cheap and harmless thrills.

One of my favorite sequences involves the monster's search for a suitable head for himself at a nightime lovers' lane with teens parked in their cars. This is the earliest example I know of where the monster targets promiscuous teens. Also, since this film was obviously intended to be shown at drive-ins, so it must have been neat for 1957 teens parked in Studebakers in the dark to imagine their own heads as being coveted by a monster lurking somewhere nearby. Almost pushing the forth wall, really.

While this movie is fun and better than the title would suggest, it does lack the original psychic/emotional center that characterizes the classic horror pictures. King Kong, Frankenstein, Godzilla and Creature from the Black Lagoon all have a definite theme, a center, a statement relating to life and the human condition. So far as I could discern, this film does not. If a viewer can content himself with a bit of escapist fun, he will be satisfied.

Starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates, Robert Burton, and Gary Conway. Directed by Herbert L. Strock (this film and 1954's "Gog" seem to be highlights of his directing career). This low budget AIP chiller was made to capitalize on the success of "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (1957).

This time it's Professor Frankenstein (Bissell) who comes to 1950's America from England to lecture college professors at a seminar. His theories are derided, and Frankenstein vows that they shall soon see the theories work in practice. His faithful secretary Margaret (Coates) tells him he's wonderful and that she wants to be more than a secretary. Dr. Karlton (Burton) is blackmailed into helping Frankenstein carry out the grave-robbing and other errands Frankenstein needs to carry out his plans. Conway is Frankensteins' Monster, made up of various bodies. The doctor has a unique method of body disposal that's located beneath his laboratory/morgue. The plot goes from there.

Bissell is good as the arrogant, crazy Frankenstein. Coates' part is written as an understanding to a fault, a brainless woman who knows of her would-be husbands' felonies and doesn't mind covering them up. Conway is supposed to be pathetic, but misses the mark by a mile.

Memorable lines; Frankenstein to Monster--"Speak to me! I know you have a civil tongue in your head! I sewed it there myself!" Frankenstein, to unwilling accomplice Burton; "In this laboratory there is no death until I declare it so."

Film switches from black and white to color for its' last two minutes. The print I saw was a British print which was titled "Teenage Frankenstein". I didn't expect much out of this movie, but it is a bit better than Maltin thinks. A barely ok time passer.

What do Whit Bissel, Donald Murphy and Boris Karloff all have in common? They all played "the last member of the Frankenstein family" within a single year! Boris emoted in Cinemascope in FRANKENSTEIN 1970, Donald Murphy built monsters in a wine cellar in FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER and Whit Bissel created a teenage monster in the movie I am about to discuss.

As if most teenagers were not monsters already in their own right Whit decides to build an artificial man out of parts from young healthy teen athletes. To keep his creation under control Whit fixes everything except .. .wait for it . . .the face. The monster (Gary Conway) has the body of a muscleman but a face that, well, looks like it was sculpted out of clay (which it was!) and when he talks he sounds like someone who is, well, talking through a mask!

Okay, this has already been discussed in detail by other reviewers on this board but everyone seems to have ignored one very obvious gaffe. We all know the classic line "Speak! You have a civil tongue in your head. I know because I sewed it in place myself!" But in that same scene Whit gets a line that should properly have gone to his assistant (Robert Burton). Remember that Whit's Prof. Frankenstein has lived his entire life in England and he is visiting this country for a relative short time. His remark about the newly revived Creature "He should be chattering like a Senator at a filibuster." is far too American a statement to come from someone who is just visiting from another country. It is better suited to Robert Burton's character who is an American. Perhaps if Whit had said "chattering like an MP" (Member of Parliament) instead. Oh well, this is still a fun movie, especially now that the colour ending has been restored.

Points of interest: Gary Conway's real name is Gareth Carmody. He changed it himself because he thought it sounded too "highbrow" for an actor. Robert Burton later went on to battle THE SLIME PEOPLE in 1963. And of course many of us remember Phyliss Coates from "Superman" on television but how many remember she appeared in the 1952 film INVASION USA along with Noel Neill? Both Lois Lane's in one movie! I don't know what became of the alligator, but he certainly seemed to enjoy his role and he does indeed give a convincing performance.

For years I avoided this film solely from the title and critic' comments about it. It was easy to label it as a bad film with the title it has, and it constantly appears on bad films lists. Recently I decided to watch as many Frankenstein films made by companies other than Universal as I could, and finally got around to this one. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this film, and how unfairly it had been judged by critics. It has a lot going for it, and my opinion was made by one scene in particular. The Monster had been kept in a cold, utilitarian lab under Dr. Frankenstein's plush opulent mansion, little seeing or knowing of the outside world. One night the lab door was accidentally left unlocked and he hesitantly ventures upstairs to the empty house. He enters Dr. Frankenstein's living room, in awe at all the splendor, his senses reeling at a world he never dreamed existed. Sitting down in a large stuffed chair, his body reacts to the soft cushions, experiencing comfort as never had before and almost melts into it. It is these moments of discovery that we get to know the Monster as a person, and not just a killing machine. Many films featuring a Frankenstein Monster use him as just a mindless brute with no personality or motivation. Teen-age Frankenstein, for faults in other areas, is one of the few to allow the Monster a goal: he expresses his loneliness and desire for companionship.

So for everyone who hasn't seen this film yet because of volumes of "Best of..." books, give it a try. You may not become a fan, but at least you'll see it for what it truly is.

This companion piece to I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF is somewhat fun, even if it's largely for all the wrong reasons! As another "modern" descendant of the Frankenstein family, Whit Bissell takes the body of a hideously disfigured teen from a car wreck and assembles a muscular young man with a head that looks like it passed through a garbage disposal. Though Bissell's doctor is supposed to be from England, he's the main attraction of the show by providing many unintentional laughs while speaking in his all-American accent. The serious conviction with which he recites some of the most ridiculous lines ever written for a monster movie will keep you in stitches (here's a taste: "Speak! You have a civil tongue in your head. I know, because I sewed it back myself!"). Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane from TV's ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN) plays his snooping fiancé with a bad habit of putting her nose where it doesn't belong.

Not as remarkable as TEENAGE WEREWOLF, with a tendency to feel kind of claustrophobic in its indoor environment. But the immortal monster makeup is above the low budget standard and this is still worth watching for fans of cheesy fifties monster movies. Perhaps owing to Hammer's CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, we also get to see dismembered body parts, which was uncommon back in the day. **1/2 out of ****