Kyofu densetsu: Kaiki! Furankenshutain

Kyofu densetsu: Kaiki! Furankenshutain (1981)

*** (out of 4)

This animated Japanese movie is another take on the Frankenstein legend as the doctor thinks it's a good idea to play God and he soon regrets that decision.

This film is also known as MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN and FRANKENSTEIN OF TERROR but no matter what you call it I thought the film was pretty good. I'm not going to call this thing a masterpiece as there are countless issues with it but if you're a fan of the monster then this is certainly worth watching.

The version I watched was the dubbed English one but what was most impressive was the visuals. I really loved the animation and especially some of the creative uses of light and its effect on the monster. The monster appears to look like ash early on and I really loved the scenes where lightening would strike and have the monster glow in a green tint. The entire look of the film is quite excellent as it perfectly captures a Victorian era but also a Gothic horror film.

The vocal work in this dubbed version was quite good and I'd argue that the story told is pretty effective. This here goes for a more "father-son" approach to the doctor and the monster. I thought the film also benefited from showing the horrors of the doctor having to live with what he has created. I was really surprised by this one but it's worth watching.

Marvel Studios + Japanese anime + Frankenstein? Now that is an interesting combination.

That's right from the people who bring you the Marvel/Avengers universe we have a feature length animated adaptation of Frankenstein in traditional anime style.

It's mixed tones are very unusual, it's sickly sweet animation style crossed with blood and violence.

For the most part its stays loyal to the original material and that plays to its benefit and detriment.

Frankenstein was always full of social messages, the questions raised being the mentality of playing god and whether he was truly a monster or if man become the monster in response to his existence.

Dark gritty and yet at the same time sickly sweet this is a watchable though highly depressing film but don't expect any similarity with other Marvel works. Truth be told this is closer to Studio Ghibli than Marvel.

The Good:

Looks great

Hard hitting adaptation

The Bad:

The monsters groans get real old real fast

Ultimately still a very depressing tale

Script is pretty flawed

Stupidly sickly in places

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

There are clothes easily available for purchase for mute 9 foot monsters

This is a very scary movie. It has a great story line and I also has great acting. It scarier then A Nightmare on elm street. It is scarier then The Exorcist. Frankenstein (1931) is better. But still this a good movie.

I saw this dubbed anime version of Frankenstein under the title Monster of Frankenstein, which is the name of a Marvel comic book series from the 1970s. This is supposedly based on that which, of course, was based off of Mary Shelley's classic novel. I say supposedly because I'm not overly familiar with that series so I don't know if this is directly adapted or just loosely so. The movie starts with Frankenstein creating the monster, who then attacks his creator and falls off a cliff. From there Frankenstein returns home to his VERY annoying family and spends a lot of time freaking out, worrying that his creation is going to come after him. Eventually, he decides to hunt down the monster himself and kill it.

This isn't for kids. There's lots of blood, violence, death, and even implied cannibalism. One character has his head squeezed until he loses an eye. Frankenstein cuts into a steak and the sight of blood makes him flashback to cutting up cadavers. It's fairly graphic at times, even by today's standards. The animation is kind of like what you would see in the '80s on cartoons like G.I. Joe, for those of you who are familiar with that. It seems strange to me that this was made by Japanese people for Japanese television yet all of the characters are Anglicized. Was that a common practice then? From what I've read it wasn't dubbed and released in the US until 1984. It's not bad necessarily, but it's overlong and weird. Still, I can't think of many other cartoons like it. If you're a Frankenstein fan you should definitely check it out.

50 years after the Universal classic, Toei animation puts their hand into adapting Mary Shelly's monstrous novel, "Frankenstein". In many ways this version is more faithful to the original novel, although I still wouldn't write your book report with it. The visuals of the monster are clearly borrowed from Karloff's portrayal.

This is a charming incarnation of the story. The focus on this version is on Victor's guilt for what he created and later, his daughter Emily. Teaming the monster with a young anime girl just feels right. One of those, only the wide eye innocence of a child can see the truth.

It will never replace the original, but this is still a version that utilizes the story to teach some powerful lessons about pride, science, mob mentality and inner beauty. It is the right balance of Halloween spook and wholesome cuteness.