Frankenstein 1970

The last association that Boris Karloff had with the Frankenstein character came in this low budget Allied Artists film that I remember seeing in the theater in 1958. It was not the best of endings.

This time Boris Karloff is playing the last descendant of the Frankenstein clan who's an old man and who in his youth was tortured by the Nazis in an effort to divulge Frankenstein family secrets. It left him quite understandably twisted.

Karloff is putting up with a movie company who is shooting on his castle grounds, no doubt shooting a film like Frankenstein 1970, a low budget thriller. The money they're paying him however is paying for an atomic reactor, something his ancestor didn't have, maybe that's the missing ingredient.

Of course the bodies start falling, four of them to be precise as Karloff searches for what he needs to revive the Frankenstein monster which he has found and preserved.

Boris Karloff and his contemporary Bela Lugosi did both great horror films and a lot of junk. Frankenstein 1970 sad to say falls in the latter category.

Nostalgic for me in many ways. I managed to sneak into the theater in my home-town in '58 (it was an "X" certificate then) to watch it. Karloff was an old "relic" even then!!! I remember thinking just how futuristic 1970 seemed. Believe it or not, people were talking planetary COLONISATION by the 70's, back in those days. (Actually, what the hell HAS happened the last three decades?)

Anyway back to the plot - there ISN'T one! Karloff shambles around his old shadowy and fog-machine driven castle occasionally doing the Dr Phibes bit on his organ. The monster is a cack-fest and everyone should be having a good time.

Ok Ok, sad in a way to see Karloff basically sending up his own classic role, but hey its STILL Boris Karloff!

In MY mind though, I still see a 13 year old boy staring up in wonder at a big screen with an evil monster on the loose. It was fun, it was THEN......best tribute you can pay it now is to just enjoy it for what it is/was.

When I was a little guy, my dad and I used to watch creature features on Friday nights and I loved the low budget scares on this show. Now as a middle aged guy who occasionally watches one of these "scary movies" I am amused and amazed at how easily I was scared and fooled. When I saw Frankenstein 1970 was going to be broadcast, I was ready to be disappointed. However I was fooled again.

Is this a great movie, NO. Is it a fun movie YES! Any movie who has as the the hero "Red" Berry is low budget. It does however have the great Karloff. He is wonderful. His monologue for the "movie in the movie" is great. Karloff was starting to show his incredibly painful arthritis at this time of his life and it does pain one to think of the agony he is going through. But he is Karloff and actually portrays a Frankenstein for the first time in his career. He does not disappoint.

If you love 1950 horrors and you like Karloff you will enjoy this movie. The acting is mediocre (except Karloff) and the Monster Hokey but give it a try.

This is not a down right awful film... it's actually quite fun to watch. This might not be the best film Karloff has starred in but it's entertaining! It's nice to see Karloff in a role reversal of Frankenstein. He is the scientist who created The Monster in this film.

I have to agree with other reviewers that it is Karloff's presence in the movie that makes this one worth watching over again. Some of the film is laughable - which really creates the "fun" in watching the film.

Love the semi-Gothic atmosphere - and the surprise at the end of it.

All in all this is a good weekend popcorn flick! Worth watching if you like anything Frankenstein and/or Boris Karloff! 7/10

MORD39 RATING: **1/2 (of ****)

As a kid I recall being disappointed when catching FRANKENSTEIN 1970 on TV. I was expecting the 1931 original, and at the age of 8 or 9 I was understandably disappointed. But now as an adult I can appreciate this 1950's monster flick for what it is.

Most fans dismiss this film, but I believe it has much going for it. For one thing, we get Boris Karloff as the Baron. Too many folks have panned his hammy performance, but I think he is deliciously sinister and over-ripe. His character reminds me of the Boris puppet from the MAD MONSTER PARTY film, and I'm surprised that more viewers don't find his performance endearing.

The film boasts a surprise opening and a surprise ending (I won't give them away), and in between that we get to see a gloomy castle filled with an underground secret laboratory and hidden passageways. Boris plays eerie music on his organ, and he's creating a monster that runs around killing people. Is this not what makes a fun horror pic?

True, the monster isn't very convincing...but neither are most fifties creatures, so why all the fuss? Besides, the monster only looks as he does due to the fact that the bandages and head cast have not yet been removed.

With foggy swamps, unexplored corridors, and a mad Karloff, fans could do far worse than FRANKENSTEIN 1970.