Frankenstein 2000

You'd think that after directing so many movies, Massacessi would have managed to learn SOMETHING about the art of film-making. However, this is clearly not the case. FRANKENSTEIN 2000 really stands out as being a spectacularly terrible effort from a film-maker whose career has plumbed the depths of ineptitude on more than one occasion. The acting is possibly the worst I've ever seen, as unlike most of the old Euro-horrors, the dialogue seems to have been recorded real-time rather than dubbed afterwards. I can only assume that many of the actors couldn't actually speak English, as their delivery of some of the lines is absolutely HILARIOUS. The special effects are utterly abysmal. During an autopsy scene, you can clearly see a "corpse" breathing; the animal offal draped over its abdomen undulating suspiciously.

Hilarious, and probably worth a look to see just how bad a rushed film can turn out.

Georgia (Cinzia Monreale) is a woman with psychic abilities who is always having premonitions of her son being beheaded. One day she is attacked at home by some kids who belong to a local biker gang and is saved by Ric (Donald O'Brien), a former boxer turned handyman. When the corrupt local authorities place the crime on Ric, he hangs himself in his cell. That is okay because Georgia, who is now in a coma, somehow reanimates his dead body and uses him as an instrument for revenge.

By the time the '90s had rolled around, the Italian exploitation industry was petering out. Nowhere was this more apparent than in this Joe D'Amato horror effort that is better suited by its original, more literal title (RITORNO DALLA MORTE meaning RETURN FROM DEATH). Folks hoping for an exciting variation on the Mary Shelley legend will be sadly disappointed in this one as the "monster" doesn't appear until an hour in and this is more of a variation of PATRICK (1978) than a mad scientist. This is strictly by the numbers for D'Amato, who already seemed to have his foot out the door to return to the much more lucrative porn business (he would release one more horror film, THE CRAWLERS (1993), but that was shot before this). I will say the look of O'Brien, who apparently had a stroke before filming this, is pretty good with his skull held on by big clamps and there are some goofy gore effects in the last half hour. The biggest kick I got from it was D'Amato - who famously had Americans watching the Super Bowl in tuxedos in MONSTER HUNTER (1981) - showing he still has no clue about other cultures by having a group of neo-Nazi bad guys having a costume party.

This is an inordinate special movie, so will be my review. Neither in a way it's terrific but nor it's awful. Same time can't say it's average. The grade is for this movie is hard to figure out. I can only say I loved it. To be quite sincere I'll encounter all the ingredients. It starts out very realistic, preparing more to a drama than horror (in a good way) First 30 minutes we get to known to the following three things: the city is under the power of governor Hoffner, Georgia (Monreale) is telepathic, Rick is a former boxer a bit sick in head but fairly a nice man and in love in Georgia (the most tragic circumstance of the movie), Georgia's gift gives her nightmares seeing a maniac after her little boy Stephen some time. Hoffner's son and his two friends make an attempt to rape Georgia. First one misses, the second time they manage. But first they knock off Rick that comes to Georgia's house with flowers. After they beat Georgia to coma, rape her and leave, police arrests Rick. Rick knows his sickness and even thinks he could do it. He doesn't talk, so nobody doubts it's his work. Then governor orders two guys from his security and the autopsy doctor to murder Rick in the cell make it like a suicide so that he never talks again… Then the atmosphere kicks in – Georgia brings Rick back to life. Rick is out to punish everybody involved in this case – three bustards, two cops and even the governor. Frankly I wasn't sure how I felt about this movie watching for the first time until I watch the second time and realized I'd love to watch it again. It seems a lot longer though it's only 93 minutes all because the script is rich and deep. Some moments are just great but there are some serious goofs unfortunately – straight after an excellent scene of resurrection follows the autopsy scene when you clearly see the corpse breathing and even winking (so does Monreale in the very end however the goof is saved by the unexpected final shot that will keep you thinking or at least watch the movie again). The Frankenstein make-up is very good but the others are not that compelling. The killing scenes start well, and even with very little gore they are nice because of the good acting. Especially I enjoyed the two security guys' murder scene. Acting provides a lot of great little moments that keep you inside it. The script is very good. Richly colourful, atmospheric, suspenseful, dramatic, dynamic, excellent score. Yes, the pleasure of this movie is the atmosphere. D'Amato is genius to shot that kind of masterpiece with such a low budget. The thing is you don't that see it the way the make-up is but the way it could be with a little more money. Really, I can assure you despite of "considered" one of D'Amato's wicker horror efforts, it surely involves Joe's talent the most (just like "Endgame" and "Absurd" – other two hard to get flicks, Joe's best, for me this is the third one) Decent movie, it's good as thriller and as drama and a little horror. It's scary not that scary as traditional but as dramatic horror, I mean it's more "Dead man's shoes" that other Frankenstein movies. 7 out of 10! Don't believe all the reviews making you believe it's crap. Genius. One word. Don't miss it. If you like being entertained be sure it's highly entertaining. I'd rather by the soundtrack. Love you Joe D'Amato. You were so good. R.I.P.

This was Joe's last try at a horror movie and it's an average one. The film starts out very, very slow and then after the halfway point, it gets a little more exciting when the actual horror plot kicks in. At that point it got a little nostalgic, I felt like I was watching the Euro-trash that came out in the early 80's. That was a nice feeling.

Frankenstein 2000 (1991)

BOMB (out of 4)

Joe D'Amato's last horror film is among the worst films I've seen from him. A woman is raped by two thugs but the police put the blame on her homeless friend. The friend is eventually murdered in jail but the woman, while in a coma, uses her brain power to bring him back to life so he can seek vengeance. This film runs 93-minutes but I could have sworn it went on for nearly four or five hours. Every second of the film is a complete bore with horrible performances, bad dialogue and incredibly bad special effects. For some reason the woman keeps seeing her son get his head chopped off, which leads to countless scenes of his incredibly fake looking head rolling on the ground. There are a few gory scenes but all of them are poorly done. Most Euro films like this are dubbed but this one here features the German actors doing their own English, which leads to a large amount of flubbed lines. Original title: Return From Death: Frankenstein 2000.