Frankenstein 90

Horror comedies rarely work, in my opinion. Either the humor is unsuccessful or the horror is. Or both. In this case, there is a good combination, although ultimately there is more humor than horror.

The setting is modern day (1984) France and (what we find out) is a descendent of the Frankenstein family is continuing to work on the same old experiments. However this time around he is more successful and the "creation" is rather civilized (wearing jeans and a sweatshirt for much of the film) for the most part although he does have some anger management problems.

The humor is not heavy handed and in my opinion that helps it work better.

A good example of a funny bit early on is when the doctor, stealing an arm from a laboratory, accidentally drops it while climbing over the fence only to have it picked up by a dog. This results in a brief struggle for the arm. Not hilarious, but funny. There is a lot of that in the film.

This is a more down to earth version of Frankenstein. It is without the drama and grandiose aspects many of them have. It addresses, in some manner, the real problems that might come up if one had assembled a human/creature from dead body parts.

Some of the humor is a bit dark, naturally, and there are some genuinely atmospheric moments in the form of a dream sequences.

I'm sort of surprised this film doesn't have a greater cult following, although maybe it does and I'm just not aware of it. Maybe it will now since Anchor Bay has just released a nice looking DVD of the film.

For fans of the bizarre and humorous, I suggest checking this one out.

It is worth comparing this film, in a way, to the other comedy film based around the Frankenstein story - Young Frankenstein. I enjoy that film very much but this one has a different feel to it. It has some darker moments, thematically, and some darker comedy. Simply put, this one is French and the other is a Mel Brooks film made in his prime.

I think for the user comment posted , than the poster doesn't understand , that this is a comedy , an homage like Mel's Brooks "Young Frankenstein" , an it's a good French comedy , i saw it a long time ago , at 84' , and i remembered the enjoyable moment i have . And Jean Rochefort was superb , like always , not to mention the gorgeous female creature . I have to say that i am a big Frankenstein's fan , i watched for the first time the classic Whale - Karloff movie at the age of four , since then i looked all the versions filmed , even the Edison' film , of course all the Universals , the Hammers , the mexicans movies , the B versions , the most bizarre movies with the

"Frankenstein" title ever made , or with the man made monster or human in her plot , like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" , an this "Frankenstein 90" film , has a good and respectable place , between all this films.

Alain Jessua took a wrong turn from this movie onwards.All he did before was perfectly acceptable ("Les Chiens" "Armaguedon" and even highly commendable ("Traitement de Choc" ) Alain Jessua is one of of the rare French directors who has broached the fantasy and horror genre.In "Traitement de Choc" he tackled the absorbing subject of the fountain of youth :as it happens, the migrant workers used as "material" to rejuvenate the wealthy bourgeois ;there was something of Mary Shelley there;then in his overlooked 1981 "Le Paradis Pour Tous" ,a shrink sold a treatment-to-be-happy to his patient ,no matter if they lost their personality in the process ;this time again,Jessua showed that Man must not change Man as God or the Big Bang made him.

All that just shows how Jessua was the ideal French director to update the myth of Frankenstein.So it may have been,but if so it signally fails in his purpose .Perhaps Jessua's worst film ,this "90" version (what a stupid title!)cheapens Shelley's work with a screenplay which is a real hodgepodge that's completely unwatchable next to the director's best works.By and large , Jean Rochefort is a very reliable actor,but he is inefficient here.But if he is bad ,pop singer Eddy Mitchell is worse ,which tends to prove that singers are rarely good actors (with notable exceptions of course :Frank Sinatra;Charles Aznavour): his performance as the creature is a disaster ,but he is not the sole responsible : it's an absurd thing to make the creature speak as you and me ,to take "it" to the pictures to watch Whale's "Frankenstein" .At least ,for a very short while ,while these black and white pictures from 1931 are on the screen ,we are back in the world of true cinema.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Frankenstein 90; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.25 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.00 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.25

TOTAL: 6.00 out of 10.00

I was taken aback by how much I enjoyed this logical progression in the Frankenstein mythos. Honestly, I was unsure about the movie because the IMDb blurb does it a disservice. Though it is about an obsessed scientist assembling body parts, the limbs are not stolen from graves but half-hinched from a government laboratory, which the appendage thief managers. The writers additionally include a decent twist to fully tie-in the Frankenstein legend. And then you have the modern update of the creations.

In fact, it's Franck, the scientist's creation, that steals the show. The writers begin by having Franck's personality confined to the ram and rom of a computer. And Franck's growing impatient with his forced electronic imprisonment because Victor Lafaurie has promised him a body. Once Lafaurie has stitched together the purloined body parts and procured the most problematic item, a head, Franc is rehoused. Now comes the creature's training - walking, talking, eating, driving, road rage, love, and makeup. It's this education that takes up most of the movie. And, as you can expect with a manmade man, the learning curve is high and oftentimes deadly. The writers give the audience robust and credible characters, each with their own personalities and thoughts. Their interactions make for an absorbing and entertaining watch. Though IMDb categorises the movie as a comedy, the humour is slight and subtle. There aren't many laugh-out-loud moments. Though, plenty of scenes will raise a smile. Like when Franck fishes out the dead police investigator from the lake. The look he displays makes you inwardly chuckle because it states, oops, did I mess up again?

The director Alain Jessua satisfactorily brings the story to the screen. Jessua has a good eye for composing his scenes, though a few could've been slightly crisper. His greatest setback is the movie's pace. Jessua has opted to tell the tale at a steady stroll. This tempo is perfect for building up the characters, which is ideal for a character-driven story, which Frankenstein 90 mostly is. But a few comedic segments would have been more humourous had they been handled better, especially the road rage segment. Quicker cutting and more engaging camera angles could've made the audience audibly titter instead of being mildly, though silently, amused.

The cast is the leading element in this picture, especially Eddy Mitchell, who plays Franck with great gusto and subtle tinges. Mitchell makes the creature his own. It's not your typical Frankenstein creation, but it has more in common with Shelley's false fellow than other productions - and I loved him. The other performers give as good a performance as Mitchell, though this is Franck's story.

If you liked the original Mary Shelley novel and the proceeding films, I'd suggest seeking this picture out. This modern-day retelling has the original story at its heart and provides the viewer with a heartwarming, thought-provoking, and sometimes amusing way to waste an hour and a half. It's not much of a horror film as there are more sci-fi elements, so I'd push the picture more towards those fans.

Franck! It's time to learn about movies, so pull your chair up and study my IMDb lists - Absolute Horror and The Final Frontier to see where I ranked Frankenstein 90.

Take Care & Stay Well.

This is another film I was barely aware of before I acquired it (unfortunately, it cuts off before the end credits have finished rolling!) on the strength of the theme and credentials – director Jessua having already dabbled in the genre with TRAITEMENT DE CHOC (1973), LES CHIENS (1979) and PARADIS POUR TOUS (1982). I also did not expect it to be a spoof of the famous tale (since its makers were typically associated with sober stuff), but the result proved nonetheless thought-provoking and quite satisfactory. Incidentally, it was to be among the last works of scriptwriter Paul Gegauff (best-known for his long-time collaboration with the late great Claude Chabrol) prior to being murdered – by his own wife! – on Christmas Eve '83.

Anyway, while not as broadly comic as Mel Brooks' popular YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974), there are still some definite laugh-out-loud moments here – the funniest being the aftermath of a car accident (with the monster himself behind the wheel!). Besides, this is the only Frankenstein movie where you will see the creature – played here by singer Eddy Mitchell – donning jeans and shades…and he even goes to watch one of his own cinematic adventures (in which he is incarnated by one Maurice Tarloff)! In the same quirky vein, we get the monster repeatedly embarrassing its master – Jean Rochefort – by killing a cop-turned-procurer/blackmailer (merely by a slap in the face) and, for his mate, he takes the initiative to kidnap (and hang in deep-freeze) a trio of exotic dancers the doctor had indicated as prospective 'donors'; for the monster, he had previously worn a mask in order to steal the requisite body parts – from his own workplace – and had even been forced to knock-out his fiancée Elizabeth, now a scientist herself! For the record, the latter is played by Fiona Gelin, daughter of actor Daniel and half-sister of the recently-deceased Maria Schneider!

Incidentally, as per the Mary Shelley source novel, we get two creatures for the price of one: a prototype (i.e. ugly-looking) male – who learns to talk instantly but then, in something of a clichéd situation, has to be told what love is! – and a gorgeous statuesque female (Dutch Herma Vos, another singer curiously enough) but who, this time around, bears no visible marks of her patched-up nature! As in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), too, the latter takes an instant liking to her creator rather than her intended (there is also a nod to the 1931 original's inadvertent child murder in the similarly playful maid's death here). With Elizabeth getting a more central role than usual, and though she had been shaken by the monster's attempted rape of her, the couples eventually swap partners (echoing the afore-mentioned YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN)! The creatures actually engage in a fight atop the Frankenstein castle (though the events largely take place in Paris, we revert to Geneva for the finale) which ends pretty much in a draw.

Other notable assets are the interesting cavernous sets for the main lab (with the reconstructed bodies covered by a golden tin foil) and a surprisingly buoyant score by Armando Trovajoli. During the latter stages, however, the film seems to bite off more than it can chew – after a veritable siege at the Frankenstein house, the monster and Elizabeth escape across the ice (it seems that, after being neglected for so many years, every new interpretation has to incorporate this sprawling chilly landscape!)…only for him to re-emerge an entrepreneur (surrounded by all the modern commodities and with the ability to speak in several languages!), with scientist now reduced to a mere employee, and the mass-produced creatures (amusingly made-up to look like the David Bowie alter ego Ziggy Stardust!) already resenting their lot and sowing the seeds of rebellion!