Frankenstein General Hospital

On balance, it must be said that I had heard a lot of terrible things about Frankenstein General Hospital before purchasing it, some of which were absolutely right, like that it relies more on Young Frankenstein than it does Mary Shelley's original novel, and some of which were bold-faced lies, like that it's the worst Frankenstein film ever made. I have seen far worse Frankenstein films, like Jerry Warren's Frankenstein Island. This film is a very poor man's Young Frankenstein set in a Los Angeles General Hospital with volume on the sexual puns turned way up. It deals with Mark Blankfield's Dr. Bob Frankenstein, with the help of his dwarf assistant Iggy, creating a new Monster (Irwin Keyes) in his black and white laboratory in the basement of a Los Angeles General Hospital run by a bunch of money hungry, sex-starved nitwits.

When I say Frankenstein General Hospital is the horror spoof equivalent to Fozzie Bear, I mean it's so unfunny that it's fun to watch, particularly on a double-video bill with Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks' masterpiece. The best things about this movie are Mark Blankfield, Leslie Jordan as Iggy and Irwin Keyes as the Monster, who are trying the best they can to make you forget you're watching a cheap Young Frankenstein knock-off (and thanks to them, you almost want to). Most people have accused Blankfield and Keyes of ripping off Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle respectively, but I'm guessing they realized this was what they were supposed to do. It's not really all that funny, but give it a chance before you call it the worst Frankenstein movie ever made (if you can find it).

However, charming actors and a few clever bits like having the basement lab in B&W with everything else in color and the Monster's visit with a blind girl in the hospital can't save the movie from its' major problem: It is a Frankenstein parody set in a hospital. A good rule of thumb when you're making a parody of hospitals, I mean aside from DON'T DO IT, IT WON'T WORK, HOSPITALS ARE NOT FUNNY, is that if it is also a parody of something else like the horror or action genre, you must concentrate on one type of joke or the other.

Yes, this movie is stupid. It is stupid in a special kind of way, however. A sort of dry, later 1980s "Night Court" inspired stupidity that can often work if you are stoned, tired, bored, or in need of a life. I was tired and maybe a bit stoned, but honestly, after about a half an hour of one of the most obnoxious set-up periods for a horror/comedy satire/parody I have seen this actually became painless, and at times even somewhat enjoyable.

The opening passage is atrocious: I'd say maybe fast-forward to about the 10 minute mark on your first time through. It took me two watches to "get" the movie's sense of humor, though the insight I had on the second perusal is that the opening 10 minutes were SO annoying that they stilted my perceptions of the remainder of the film. Familiar 80s/90s TV & bit movie actor Mark Blankfield -- perhaps best known in the worst kind of way for his lead role in the made-for-TV abomination THE JERK, TOO -- plays yuppie doctor Robert Frankenstein, director of a TV sitcom hospital populated by people like Ben Stein, sexy redhead sexpot nurse Katie Caple (who's elevator scene steals the show) and former Playboy Playmate of the Year Kathy Shower. Right.

Ms. Shower is actually the 2nd most interesting thing in the script, playing a high-heeled glasses wearing psychiatrist hot mom type who is also a practicing dominatrix. I take it I have your attention now. The most interesting thing in the film, though, is Irwin Keyes' "Monster", who's idea of going on a rampage consists of swiping a punk's leather jacket and boombox & cruising the halls of the hospital looking for things to knock over, starting with Kathy Shower who it turns out was looking for just such a man all her life. What's even more fascinating is that Mr. Keyes appears to be playing the Frankenstein monster without any special makeup effects other than some eye shadow & greasepaint stitchmarks. He came looking like that, kudos to the casting director at any rate.

Like I said, this movie has something to it. The people who made it weren't stupid, though in spite of the movies dry sense of humor the word subtlety was not in their vocabulary. The film "looks" stupid, or was rather crafted to appear stupid on initial glance. The second time through you start to realize that Dr. Frankenstein is sort of on his own wavelength; he seems to look through people when he's talking to them, and while he doesn't have any truly memorable one-liners a lot of what he has to say is genuinely amusing. The side antics like his twisted little Igor type Iggy I could have done without, however, and the mixture of some genuinely R-rated nudity & fake gore juxtaposed against the adolescent, pin-headed humor is offbeat.

One other contributor did sum it up best, however, when stating that hospitals are not that funny once you get down to it. My guess is that the producers were more interested in updating the Frankenstein mythology without appearing to mimic YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, which isn't easy. Mel Brooks' superior parody got it's foot in the cement first so any subsequent film sending up Frankenstein will inevitably draw unfavorable comparison. I wouldn't even go so far as to say that this is an updating of those ideas for a late 1980s television comedy mindset, more a sort of quirky, half-throwaway project that appears to be too stupid for it's own good.

Until the girls rip their nurses costumes off, that is. Funny how important an element is to a movie like this, cos otherwise there really is no reason to bother with it when the whole Frankenstein movie tradition itself is so absurd as to be hilarious without any embellishments. Take any one of the Hammer Frankenstein films with Peter Cushing and watch it in a MST3K kind of environment and you'll find three times as much to laugh at, if you bother to think about how silly they all really are. If you can't, try this movie. It isn't very good but then again if you are looking to Frankenstein for your comedy you probably deserve whatever you get.

5/10, which is admittedly generous but it made me laugh; Try it on a double bill with the equally obscure DR. HACKENSTEIN.

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.

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!

This is a comedy movie about Frankenstein. So comedies about Frankenstein are very funny. Like Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein and Young Frankenstein. Young Frankenstein is the movie that probably influenced this movie. Unlike Young Frankenstein this movie is not funny at all. There are to many comedy is movies that are not funny. I would say that 95% of all comedy movie are not funny. And this is one of that 95%. If a Frankenstein movie it not going to be funny than is should be scary. This movie is not scary. Mind it is not met to be it met to funny. It' not. Don't wast your money. This movie as awful story line. There best joke were the ones they took from Young Frankenstein. And there were worst jokes in Young Frankenstein. And the acting is awful.