Frankenstein 1970

Atmosphere is important in any horror film and this movie has it in spades. Unfortunately, that's all it has. Really very little to recommend here. Karloff is good in this movie but completely wasted in this effort and far too campy and hammy to really chill the audience. The monster itself is also a huge problem. Not so much when we first see the monster but as it progresses in its various stages of creation, it just gets sillier and sillier. The music tries to scare up a few chills whenever the monster appears but it is all really wasted. The best thing about the movie as I previously stated is the atmosphere. I especially like movies that have isolated creepy castles in them that are filled with secret passageways and hidden laboratories from which all those mad scientists conduct their business. The opening sequence of the film is by far the best part of the movie but the surprise ending tries to come close only that it is really telegraphed all throughout the movie and really isn't much of a surprise when you think about it. Although this is by far not the worst Karloff film it is not the best either. It's really too bad that Karloff, if he wanted to spoof the Frankenstein character he played, that he should have offered to play the part in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN.