Lady Frankenstein

Mel Welles, you might remember him as Mr. Mushnick in Roger Corman's Little Shop of Horrors, directs this somewhat interesting yet wholly twisted tale of Dr. Frankenstein's daughter carrying on her father's work after his death and creating a creature not for its intellectual ability or its likelihood to be/do good but rather for its sex appeal. You see, Tania Frankenstein, though a doctor and scientist in her own right, is concerned with really nothing more than satiating her primal desires for the stable boy and making some super sex slave by using his body with the excellent brain of a man she does not love. The story is tissue-thin here, and one gets what one might expect: lots of leering and suggestive comments(surprisingly most from the female lead), special effects that are not so special, acting that lacks depth of characterization, and not really much action or suspense. And while this film is almost barren in regards to good storytelling, Lady Frankenstein does oddly have some aspects which make it watchable - not highly watchable but watchable nonetheless. Italian actress Rosalba Neri AKA Sara Bay/Bey plays the Baron's daughter with some aplomb and lots and lots of sex appeal. She oozes desire and seduction quite well. Her performance is pretty one-dimensional, but she is quite lovely and plays over-the-top a little too well. She is also very open with her performance if you catch my drift. Poor Joseph Cotten, now regulated to European horror films for money, plays the father in a brief yet competent performance. He is the star attraction but gone before the film really kicks into a gear. As for the rest of the cast, Paul Muller is somewhat effective as Dr. Charles Marshall, the baron's assistant and an admirer of the daughter for some time. As crimes and missing persons begin to unfold in the village, policeman(I wasn't buying this)Mickey Hargitay starts to pump Tania for answers - despite what you might think not to her satisfaction. Where the movie really loses credibility is in the final third of the film where the suspect script, weak performances, and lackluster direction all head further South. The creature is revealed and looks quite ridiculous. The film ends somewhat abruptly with one of the hasty resolutions very common in the 1970s. While not nearly as bad and repulsive as some might want you to think, Lady Frankenstein is indeed a very flawed film with some perverse albeit intriguing overtones.

I gave this a 5 because of Rosalba Neri's wonderful performance as the Lady Frankenstein. Actually she's the daughter of Dr. Frankenstein, played by Joseph Cotten in a routine manner, but routine from Cotten is always good regardless. The flick deserves more than 5 based upon Neri, and decent acting all around, good sets and good atmosphere. It also deserves less than 5 due to a pretty crummy monster, both in appearance and mannerisms. Makes one long for the days of Glenn Strange, or even Kiwi Kingston. It's like everyone went to sleep when it came time to design the monster, because everything else is above average. And way above average is the performance of Neri as a really sexy and domineering lady doctor. She's a 10 in this flick and makes it worth watching.

This movie essentially begins with a man named "Baron Frankenstein" (Joseph Cotten) conducting secret experiments with his assistant "Charles Marshall" (Paul Muller). As luck would have it, they are soon visited by Baron Frankenstein's daughter "Tanya" (Rosalba Neri) who tells them that she has just attained the title of surgeon from a university and wants to help them on their research. However, Baron Frankenstein is hesitant to tell her everything because he doesn't want her involved in case anything goes wrong. As a result, he continues working in secret and not long afterward successfully transplants a heart and a brain from a recently deceased murderer into another body. Unfortunately, before he can complete his work "the monster" (Peter Whiteman) kills him and escapes from the laboratory into the surrounding area where he immediately goes on a killing rampage. Undaunted by all of this, Tanya not only attempts to cover up any evidence leading to her father's culpability but also continues even further with her father's experiments. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a rather unusual film which had both good and bad points. For starters, I liked the way Tanya developed into such an evil and manipulative person after the death of her father. On the other hand, I thought the appearance of the monster was quite ludicrous and hurt the overall effect immensely. Be that as it may, because of its uneven nature I have rated this movie according. Average.

Rosalba Neri is very hot indeed as the titular Lady Frankenstein though she is called Mrs. Marshall throughout the film. After her father's death, played by Joseph Cotton who must be wondering how the hell he's gone from Citizen Kane to cheap euro-horror, by the hands of the Baron's creation with a brain supplied by a man that eerily resembles Patrick Swayze circa Point Break, the nubile doctor Tania Frankenstein becomes determined to advance in her father's morbid work. It's a good thing too because I can't see Joe Cotton pulling off asphyxiation and orgasms quite like Ms. Neri can. The Baron's assistant Charles has long been enamored with Tania and wishes to woo her now that her old man is kaput. Tania loves his mind but can't quite picture jumping into the sack with the old horny bastard without a serious makeover. That is where village dolt Thomas steps in as the half-wit has been graced with good looks and brings the thunder into Tania's private lab if you catch my drift. Now, all Tania has to do is put Charles's brain into Thomas' body and voilà! instant marriage material. Too bad Mickey Hargitay as a persistent police captain keeps inquiring into what exactly her father's experiments entailed and why did he associate with graverobbers. Definitely one of the most amusing and downright bizarre endings I have ever seen. Who knew the sight of a mutilated corpse got her juices flowing?

I give this film a lot of credit by retelling the story of Frankenstein as apposed to the more faithful to the mythos Hammer films which is geared more for the hard-core euro-horror fans. Rosalba Neri is extremely engaging as the sexy doctor and commands your attention in every scene not just her nude ones. The supporting cast does a great job as well with a special salute to Herbert Fux as a slimy graverobber. My major complaint is that this film looks like it was edited with a samurai sword. Scenes appear for a second then disappear without any reason whatsoever. The version I saw was the 84 minute cut though I wonder what was excised from the film as most of the gore and plenty of nudity still remained. On a side note this is the third consecutive film in the "Chilling Classics" collection that features an adult woman sexually seducing a mentally challenged man/child. This is not a trend I would like to see continue thank you very much. Grab some popcorn and enjoy this guilty pleasure.