Les orgies de Frankenstein 80

Trashy, sleazy, campy, exploitative and – of course – extremely pointless Italian version of the classic Frankenstein story. It's a variation on the traditional Mary Shelley tale, with some deranged additional ideas and awkward erotic undertones. The Italians tried to achieve this sort of concept before already with "Lady Frankenstein" and admittedly that was a much better and more memorable film than this cheap and amateurish attempt at making a motion picture. But still, that doesn't mean this piece of junk isn't good entertainment. The plot actually isn't too bad. Dr. Schwarz (which, I'm sure, is German slang for Dr. Penis) just invented a breakthrough serum that prevents donor organs from getting rejected by the patient's body after a transplant. This happens to be exactly what his vicious colleague Dr. Frankenstein needs in order to fix up his pet monster Mosaic. The serum disappears from Dr. Schwarz' laboratory and corpses start to pile up as Mosaic goes out on nightly strolls. The local police commissioner forbids his men to smoke until the case is solved (!) and another guy – a reporter who assigns himself private investigator – search for the serum to save his dying sister. "Frankenstein 80" is a hilariously amusing film, but probably not like its creators intended it. Ferdinando De Leone (although I suspect it was actually Fernando Di Leo; a prominent name in the Italian horror industry) and director Mario Mancini penned down a truly ludicrous script with the most one-dimensional character imaginable, absurd plot twists and the utmost imbecilic dialogs ever. Technically speaking, this is a laughably inept production as well. More than three quarters of the film is poorly lit, the make-up effects clearly cost less than a dollar and the editing appeared to have been done with a blending machine. The pacing is unspeakably uneven! The entire story is pretty much told after an hour already, but then still comes a lot of tedious filler-footage, like an overlong and dull striptease act, a full formula one race and even the complete development of a romance. The monster stumbles around until he literally passes his due date, which is interesting but not very thrilling.

I was only vaguely familiar with this title starring "Euro-Cult" stalwart (and former muscle-man) Gordon Mitchell – especially since I had already watched him dealing with this popular horror figure (albeit in a supporting part and with its original Gothic setting intact) in the notoriously bad FRANKENSTEIN'S CASTLE OF FREAKS (1974)! Anyway, I actually found this – at the proverbial eleventh hour – on "You Tube" in time for a mini-Frankenstein marathon which I have just concluded. Interestingly, this forms the middle part of an unrelated trilogy (also because they emanated from different countries!) involving the Mary Shelley creation – all of which tried to bring the monster into our modern age (with varying degrees of success) by appending a future decade to the name: hence the American FRANKENSTEIN – 1970 was made in 1958(!), the Italian film under review precedes the inferred date by 8 years, while that for the 1990s (whose viewing came hard on the heels of this one) emerged from France in 1984!

Truth be told, the lowly rating for this one is not indicative of the lack of ideas put on the table along the way but rather the extremely dull handling (the dreary cheapo look does not help), indifferent performances (the other familiar face here was that of hero John Richardson) and a thoroughly listless pace (the reasons for which are given later on)! In fact, this is the first rendition of the much-filmed tale where the monster's grafts are rejected and are, therefore, in constant need of replenishment (a' la EYES WITHOUT A FACE [1960]), as well as one of only a few that address his libido (making him something of a Jack The Ripper-like serial killer!)…though, in all probability, this was done in order to up the sex'n'gore ante (cue an awful lot of padding throughout)!

Incidentally, I suspect that the makers of this film were inspired by the recently-watched FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER (1958) – since Mitchell here is the assistant of a clinic director, whose precious fluid he steals for his own ends via the experiments he conducts inside a secret lab (that connects to both his office and his home)! By the way, it felt not a little awkward to have no one bat an eyelid at the mention of his name (which he did not even bother to hide as in that earlier picture)! In the end, creature turns on creator, hero saves (and hitches up with) Frankenstein's niece, the monster then expires bloodily from a fried brain…and, for no very good reason, we close on a shot of the Police Chief finally getting his self-negated nicotine fix at long last!

In 1818 when Mary Shelley wrote the supernatural tale that would go on to make her famous forever, it's difficult to imagine that she could ever have conceived that over 150 years later, her novel Frankenstein would be reinterpreted as a detective story about a sex-crazed rapist monster. Well, seeing as this version of the tale was made in Italy in the early 70's that's exactly what happened. Frankenstein '80 is one of the cycle of erotic Frankenstein movies made in Europe at the time. But this one also adds in a serial killer detective element which sort of ties it in with the giallo and poliziotteschi films that were very popular in Italy at the time. So it's a strange hybrid of specific sub-genres.

It's certainly a very trashy film. The dubbing is particularly deranged, while the film overall has a pretty cheap aesthetic. However, it's a gore and sleaze horror film at the end of the day and really has to be judged on these merits. And to be fair, Frankenstein '80 has plenty of both of those criteria; usually at the same time. The story is ludicrous of course. But I suspect very few of you will be watching this for its complexity or depth. It's more or less a slasher movie with Frankenstein's monster as the killer.

Not great but good mindless fun.

Sometimes you need a film like this: plenty of gore, some boobs, no pretensions whatsoever, stupid ending. Frankenstien '80 (why the '80?) sets out to entertain your brain stem and nothing else, and succeeds admirably. Those seeking a more cerebral film or even a film with any redeeming qualities whatsoever should probably avoid this one.

It's amazing how much time you save in your Frankenstien movie if the monster in question is already up and rampaging when the film starts. There's no scrambling about for body parts here. When the film starts, the monster's out getting his own body parts! That's a nice pro-active approach, you've got to admit, but his creator, Gordon 'Frankenstien' Mitchell, doesn't really agree with this activity. His method is much better – he steals body parts from corpses in his morgue at the hospital, and takes them to his secret laboratory, hidden behind a book shelf in the morgue. Also, he's just stolen a serum from a surgeon that might stop his monster rejecting all those body parts.

Gordon's in a bit of trouble, mind. That serum was intended for the sister of a nosey reporter who was lined up for a heart transplant, and now she's dead, the cops are all over the place, and the reporter is on his trail! Add to that the unintended results of a knacker transplant on the monster (a knacker transplant! Brilliant!) and you've got a good set up for a horny guy who looks like a zombified Mussolini to go on a guts and boobs fest. You've got the monster trying it on with some hookers, the monster trying it on with a stripper, and the monster trying it on with his creator's daughter. Stupid? Awww yeah. Great? You bet!

Featuring gut fondling, heads in fridges, a strip tease act, Gordon Mitchell's face and a rather unwholesome tone about the film that you only find in Italian cinema. Love that abrupt ending too!

What a bunch of hooey! There are so many plot holes that one could write a book. I loved that there was big bottle in the refrigerator with the secret serum used to help in transplant surgeries. Then there is some of the worst acting that can be imagined. The characters deliver their lines and wait a half second for the next person to respond. Did anyone notice that the doctor's name was Frankenstein? There is lots of gratuitous sex and violence. It gets pretty bad. I guess old Dr. F. should have left one part out of the mix. The monster is quite formidable, I can give you that.

Two of the strangest parts are the police and the the hero. The police are a bunch of idiots who are more concerned that they can't smoke until the case is closed. The guy who plays the lead is spookier than the monster. He has that real 80's look and wears a funny little hat when he is out and about. This has a few moments of violence that keep one interested, but beyond that, it's just not very good.