A Tia Frankenstein

I write this review not because this is a particularly good film, but to counteract some of the (in my opinion) overly harsh reviews and the overall low rating. If even Ed Wood's films can crack the 3/10 mark, surely Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie deserves its due. Firstly, this film contains Donald Pleasance in a maid's costume - this alone is worth 2 stars. Throw in some questionable period set pieces, incompetent government officials, an actress who is far too, shall we say, 'buxom' for the early 20th century setting, and some particularly bad monster make-up -- what's not to love?!

In the vein of spoof films of classic monster films (i.e. Young Frankenstein), Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie, directed by Yvonne Furneaux, does not have any pretentions to being a 'good' film. Whether or not the comedy is intentional or unintentional, the film offers up a big fat slice of delicious 80s cheese. For fellow fans of trashy film, this one deserves more recognition. After all, they don't make 'em like this anymore!

This movie fails so hard that it's hilarious. It's funny in ways that the filmmakers, who were on some potent drugs, couldn't possibly have intended. The surreal dialogue, the terrible sound recording, the huge-breasted actress changing costumes on camera to work in yet another shot of her cleavage, Donald Pleasence on an apparent bender, all of it. It's a perfect storm of awful. Dysfunctional hilarity!

Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie (1984)

BOMB (out of 4)

Incredibly awful film has Baron Frankenstein (Donald Pleasance) and his Aunt Tillie returning to the family estate to try and get money. When they discover the monster's body they decide to bring him to life to make some cash off of him. This so-called comedy is without a doubt one of the worst films I've ever seen. I'm a firm believer than every film has at least one fan but I don't see how anyone could enjoy this mess. The comedy doesn't work on any level and the story is so confusing that I had a hard time following it. The subplot with women's rights also didn't work. No horror, no laughs, no nudity, no gore, no violence. Worthless on all levels even when Pleasance goes out in drag.

See The Respectable People keep down suffragettes trying to bring the E. R. A. To Mucklebugger from a 1386 AD decree. See car race on old roads. Much hilarity ensues and is a visual feast of off-beat, obscure, weird and odd references that don't really congeal into a whole movie.

Speaking of a disjointed movie, how about that audio de-sync. But wait for it - this is a movie to GO APE! It's got so many strange items and things to see! Thomas Crapper is referenced, Zsa Zsa Gabor shows up, radio and FM had not been invented yet, bloomers are given away: "down with trousers, up with skirts", likes Chinese food, dancing at 48m(!), cross-dressing Nanny Groat, Sir Thomas Crapper and the dream of hygiene, gunk of rock oil, hickie on wrist, many UFOs: Unverified Frankenstein Observations: 6; Ape-tastic: 7; Ape-tastic: 9 (Audio De-Sync); Black Monolith with Apes: 2; Conelrad Alert: 1; Indian Head Test Pattern: 2; Monkeys at a Typewriter: 4; Poop Show: 0; Propeller Cap: 5 (Obscure References) .

Find the audio sync by using a second player in the mini player mode. This audio de-sync will keep you Going APE. If the sync was there, it might - might - be as good as Young Frankenstein.

PSA: Watching the audio de-synced version is one of the hardest films yet to extract viewing enjoyment out of and receives a Poop Show Award. GO APE! Enjoy!

I guess movies like this are aimed at a specific audience, but, for the life of me, I can't figure out who that would be. I'll admit I only watched as much as I could stand, and I feel kind of wrong about reviewing something I could only stay with for about 30 minutes. However, you don't really need to sniff a pile of crap for a second time to know it's still gonna stink.

Apparently, some of Victor Frankenstein's relatives return to his abandoned estate because they've run out of money. I think. I'm not sure because the 'plot' is buried beneath a lot of other subplots that don't seem to fit immediately (maybe it becomes clear if you can actually watch this entire travesty, but I can't go there again). They end up finding Frankenstein's monster by accident and cook up some kind of half-assed idea to revive the creature and somehow glean cash from this whole thing.

I get the feeling that this was supposed to be a comedy, but the laughs never come. When a group of 'wayward' girls turned seltzer bottles on the local police in the middle of an Equal Rights protest, that was my cue to exit. Avoid.