Mad Monster Party?

Another super puppet-animated feature from Rankin/Bass. This full-length motion picture released to theaters, is one of only two films by R/B with a Halloween theme - the other being "Mad Mad Mad Monsters" (similar story to this but done in cel animation).

When Dr. Baron Von Frankenstein decides to retire from his long career as the head of the monster society, he invites all of his ghoulish creations - Frankenstein's Monster, Mummy, Count Dracula, Invisible Man, Werewolf and many others - for one final bash before handing down his position to his successor which each of the monsters assume will be themselves. When the true successor is revealed as the Baron's long-lost nephew, a nerdy boy named Felix Flankin, all hell breaks loose and poor Felix is in big trouble!!

The characters are really top-notch thanks to a winning combination of exquisitely designed stop-motion puppets and and excellent voices provided by some big-name stars. Boris Karloff adds his eerie sound as the Baron, Phyllis Diller is an ingenious choice as the Monster's Mate, and Gale Garnett takes the cake as the most vivacious character, Francesca, a curvy, buxom, husky-voiced sexy red-head with a mind just as sinister as the ghastliest of the monsters.

Featuring a fantastic jazzy, spy-groovy soundtrack and creepy set designs, this campy film stirs up a genuine retro Gothic Halloween vibe. The jokes that adults will find humorous will fly right over children's heads, which will be too mesmerized by all the cool monsters to notice much else.

I enjoyed this movie mainly because I'm a fan of the classic Universal movie monsters and Rankin-Bass' Christmas specials. I liked some of the humor that was clearly aimed at adults and even enjoyed the musical numbers. Although, some of the gags went on too long and seemed a bit pointless (like the scene where the Igor-type character went in the kitchen to ask about the food). And the ending was surprisingly dark and strange for a movie targeted at kids and didn't really make sense for the purpose of the story.

It's fun and I think kids will especially enjoy it, but if you're lookin' for better kid-friendly Halloween features, I'd suggest Nightmare Before Christmas or the Hotel Transylvania movies.

Mad Monster Party? (1967)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Animated film has Dr. Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) inviting all sorts of monsters to his house as well as his young nephew. What people don't know is that the doctor plans on retiring and wants his rather dorky nephew to take over for him. This animated feature is certainly a favorite to many who grew up with it and I understand what they'd enjoy. I'm sure being a kid who loved monsters this here would be terrific because there are simply so many on hand. The problem I've always had with this film is that I think it would have been better served as a television special that way it wouldn't come with a 96-minute running time, which in my opinion is just way too long and it really sucks the story dry. I say this because the idea of a monster (Dracula) revolting against Dr. Frankenstein isn't exactly the greatest story idea ever made and this is clear because the film just starts to run out of gas because it doesn't have anything there to work with. The film is certainly creative and it appears that the filmmakers were fans of the genre. I think the best character is a clear homage to Peter Lorre and I thought this one was delightful whenever he was on the screen. The Frankenstein doctor is also memorable thanks in large part to the vocal performance by Boris Karloff. The monsters are another major plus as we've got all the big guys here including Dracula, the Mummy, Frankenstein's monster, the hunchback, the creature, Jekyll and Hyde and countless others. I really thought all the monsters looked fantastic and there's no question that their look will put a smile on the face of monster fans.

Let me come straight to the point with this one and admit that "Mad Monster Party?" nearly wasn't as good or as much fun as I hoped it would be. The actual plot is rather weak, the film is overlong, a large amount of the gags entirely miss their effect and there's way too much singing and dancing going on. What the hell was that about? Someone really ought to add the tag "musical" to the genre description here on the film's IMDb page! But on the other hand, I can't possibly be too harsh or overly critical about a movie that pays so much tribute to my all-time favorite genre of cinema and all of its legendary contributors! All minor defaults and shortcomings aside, "Mad Monster Party?" is a warm-spirited, enthusiast and freshly inventive ode to (classic) horror from the 1930's to the 1960's. As a European kid born in the 80's, I'm not too familiar with the works of Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, and I never watched any of the "Frosty the Snowman" or "Rudolf the Red-Nose Reindeer" cartoons as child. But the simple fact that these men managed to cast the awesome Boris Karloff himself in order to voice the Baron Von Frankenstein pivot character more than enough proves to me that they know and respect a great deal of the horror genre. Up in the tower of his castle on the remote Isle of Evil, Baron Von Frankenstein just finished his latest and greatest invention; an all-destructive liquid in a tube! In order to celebrate his invention, and primarily also to make an important announcement, he invites all of his monster friends over to the island. And oh yes, all the protagonists from the brilliant horror milestones (Universal and others) attend the monster mash: Count Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Frankenstein's creature and his bride, the Mummy, The Invisible Man, the Creature from Black Lagoon, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and an uninvited mystery guest referred to as "it". However, the party turns sour and hostile when the monsters learn that Baron Von Frankenstein will announce his retirement and that he will hand over all of his secret formulas to a nerdy outsider – his nephew – instead of to one of them. The newly added character of Francesca, the Baron's voluptuous and sly secretary, is still original, but other side-characters like butler Yetch (with a voice reminiscent of Peter Lorre), Chef Machiavelli and even Felix Flanken are quite redundant. Instead of giving lines and lyrics to them, I personally would have much preferred that the parts of the familiar monster favorites were a bit more extended. Most of them don't have anything to do, except to howl and groan occasionally. The Claymation is inarguably wonderful and still very admirable even by today's high standards. I bet that even nowadays clay-wizards like Adam Elliot ("Mary and Max") or Peter Lord ("Wallace & Gromit") are big fans of these designs and that they couldn't do a better job.

Every year, Mad Monster Party? would show up on TV around Halloween. Every year I watched it, until suddenly it disappeared from the small screen. (This was about the same time that infomercials came into vogue.) It was ten or more long years before I saw it again one night on TNT, and it had lost none of it's magnificence. And now it's shown up again, this time on AMC...and the AMC print is miles better than the washed out one that TNT showed. It's unbelievably bright, displaying a full palette of colours where once all was green and purple. You owe it to yourself---and your children!---to catch Mad Monster Party? at the next possible occasion. It's a Rankin-Bass production, so you know it's quality!