Frankenstein General Hospital

You know you're in trouble when Kathy Shower is both the most recognizable name and the best actress in the cast. Actually, there isn't enough Kathy Shower in "Frankenstein General Hospital" to save it. The film does boast one good idea - shooting all the laboratory scenes in black & white, as a kind of homage to the old Frankenstein classics. Other than that, it is boring, amateurish and witless. * out of 4.

I won't even go into how funny, obnoxious, or drab this movie is (you can get all that from the title, or just the picture on the cover). I won't get into why I even watched it, because I don't know why, other than that I owned it for some reason. All I want to talk about is how amorally horrible it is. Okay, so it's bad to over-analyze dreck like this, but at least it kept me slightly ocupied while I half-hazardly watched it. "Bob" (Mark Blankfeld), channelling gene wilder), is a snide twerp who steals and blackmails, let alone harasses his assistant. The assistant (Iggy- cute, huh? Played by Leslie Jordan- avoid all movies with this whining puffball at all costs) murders people. The "sexy" dominatrix psychiatrist has random sex with a monster. The monster throws a blind girl out the window (this scene might've been funny if a better director did it, but it just comes off sort of stupidly chilling (?) to me here). These are the good guys. And the bad guys? Well, there's the evil head of the hospital, who's upset... because people are dying in his hospital. Then there's the oafish Dr. who cries because he's being framed for killing his patients. Then there's the sinister professor who wants revenge on Bob... because bob stole his experiment. Yeah, great character development, guys. Next time you make a crappy movie at least try to make the heroes likable. Oh yeah, the acting's okay.

My review was written in May 1988 after watching the movie on New Star video cassette.

"Frankenstein General Hospital" is a rather flat sendup of horror films, closer to aping "Young Doctors in Love" than Mel Brooks' classic "Young Frankenstein". In regional release since March, it's headed for home video.

Mark Blankfield, who unsuccessfully sent up another genre classic in Paramount's flop "Jekyll & Hyde.. Together Again", toplines as Dr. Bob Frankenstein. Great-great-grandson of the legendary scientist, who's busy experimenting on the creation of a perfect human in the basement of General Hospital whr he works. Gag of all the downstairs scenes being in black & whit offes a pleasant visual variation.

Sadeled with dumb puns and lots of running gags that don't work, nealr plotless film proceeds by fits and stasrts, with an occasional, brief topless sene by former Plyaboy magazine model Kathy Showe4r (cast unconvincingly as the hospital shrink) or voluptuous nurse Katie Caple to liven things up. Blankfield is hamstrung by the weak material; ditto his dimutive asisstant Iggy, played unfunnily by Leslie Jordan.

In casting reminiscent of the 1940s films of Rondo Hatton, distorted-featur4ed Irwin Keyes plays the monster with little makeup required; it works for a while, but Keyes is far too normal looking and unscary to support the latter reels when he's supposdely on the rampage upstairs in the hospital and everyone screams at the sight of him.

Tech credits are acceptable.

It's alive! Not quite. Frankenstein is an often used tale. Sometimes it hit's the spot, other times it's a flat-line. "Frankenstein General Hospital" is more the latter with it taking the old age mad doctor story and setting it in modern times.

The great, great, great grandson of Baron Victor Frankenstein works under an assumed name in a general hospital. In a secret laboratory in the hospital basement he is recreating his famous ancestor's life- creating experiment.

It's goofy, low-brow and dumb comedy horror that's really on the cheap. A clever technique used is when the action is staged in the basement laboratory it's done in black-and-white. But what really kills it is its loathsome nature and mocking humour. It tries too hard for laughs that it becomes tired and unfunny with it using the same running gag over and over again. *Cue laughter*. Sure it did have its moments, just not enough with its witless script simply meandering. The farcical plot is episodic and self-knowing with it being strung along by clumsy and noisy slapstick set-pieces. The monster really doesn't come into play until the dying stages when it goes on the rampage in the hospital.

The dramatic comical performances fare up a little better with Mark Blankfield's dry, straight-up turn as Bob Frankenstein and Leslie Jordan's twitchy Igor-like character ("Who's that tiny man"?!). The combination between the two works. Jonathan Farwell is amusing, so are Kathy Shower's dominatrix doctor and Irwin Keyes in the monster role. Also showing up in minor support is Hamilton Mitchell, Lou Catell and Katie Caple in few memorable encounters with doctors.

"Everyone spoils their first monster".

This feels like an indirect sequel to Jekyll & Hyde...Together Again(1982). It's similar that they both star Mark Blankfield and take place mostly in a hospital setting. This feels alot like Jekyll but with less drug humor and more sex humor. Some genuine light horror scenes,and some scenes are very hilarious. Love the appearance of the actress Bunky Jones,she is my favorite B-movie horror actress I think. The low budget is the only thing that hurts this,otherwise a really underrated late 80's comedy!