I thought that Mark Blankfield was fairly amusing in horror comedy Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982), but in Frankenstein General Hospital he provides about as much laughs as a children's oncology ward.
A blatant attempt at trying to mimic the madcap humour of Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein, this woeful medical mess is really hard going: Blankfield is no Gene Wilder, director Deborah Sahagun is no Brooks, and writers Robert Deel and Michael Kelly clearly recognised their lack of talent soon after and gave up the film biz.
The film sees Dr. Bob Frankenstein (Blankfield), great-great-grandson of the legendary monster-maker, continuing his ancestor's experiments in the basement of a general hospital, which provides all of the necessary equipment and body parts; aiding him in his work is his diminutive loyal assistant Iggy (Leslie Jordan). The pair continuously run the risk of being discovered by hospital boss Dr. Frank Reutgar, who wants to find out what Bob's 'secret experiment' (cue godawful running gag) is all about.
I can honestly say that I never laughed once, but I groaned more than someone with a ruptured appendix. All of the jokes flat-line; there's no injecting any life into the movie, no matter how hard the cast try. To rub salt in the wound, just when I thought the film was over, it turns out that it's not quite the end: jeez, haven't we suffered enough?
Oh well, at least there's three hot women on duty to help ease the pain, two of whom go topless for their art (including Playboy Playmate Kathy Shower).
