I Was a Teenage Frankenstein

Starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates, Robert Burton, and Gary Conway. Directed by Herbert L. Strock (this film and 1954's "Gog" seem to be highlights of his directing career). This low budget AIP chiller was made to capitalize on the success of "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (1957).

This time it's Professor Frankenstein (Bissell) who comes to 1950's America from England to lecture college professors at a seminar. His theories are derided, and Frankenstein vows that they shall soon see the theories work in practice. His faithful secretary Margaret (Coates) tells him he's wonderful and that she wants to be more than a secretary. Dr. Karlton (Burton) is blackmailed into helping Frankenstein carry out the grave-robbing and other errands Frankenstein needs to carry out his plans. Conway is Frankensteins' Monster, made up of various bodies. The doctor has a unique method of body disposal that's located beneath his laboratory/morgue. The plot goes from there.

Bissell is good as the arrogant, crazy Frankenstein. Coates' part is written as an understanding to a fault, a brainless woman who knows of her would-be husbands' felonies and doesn't mind covering them up. Conway is supposed to be pathetic, but misses the mark by a mile.

Memorable lines; Frankenstein to Monster--"Speak to me! I know you have a civil tongue in your head! I sewed it there myself!" Frankenstein, to unwilling accomplice Burton; "In this laboratory there is no death until I declare it so."

Film switches from black and white to color for its' last two minutes. The print I saw was a British print which was titled "Teenage Frankenstein". I didn't expect much out of this movie, but it is a bit better than Maltin thinks. A barely ok time passer.

Any movie lover of the 1950's monster genre would surely appreciate this for what it is! Pure 50's schlock! What an American International Pictures achievement! You've got everything in here but a decent budget! You have the title, for one. How kitsch can you get? "I Was a Teenage"...You've got the premise of constructing a teenage marvel(Gary Conway on his way to stardom) out of spare cadaver parts; the mad doctor(played by the articulate Whit Bissell and his memorable "witty" remarks; his assistant (the somewhat embarrassed looking Robert Burton; and his faithful/curious fiancé (the lovely Phyllis "Lois Lane" Coates); all doing the best they could possibly do under the circumstances! Now how about scenes like the surgical bone saw cutting through the leg(it could have used some splattered blood on their faces for the total effect!), the convenient alligator disposal unit under the laboratory/morgue, hearing the sound of the beautiful blonde victim being choaked to death by the sex craved monster, Phyllis and Whit necking in Lover's Lane(oh,my!), Gary's head being carried off in a bird cage, and hello!...the final, and for no good reason, the color sequence showing you the classic monster make up creation in glorious Pathe color!(you've got to see this in its totally restored color version, on the big screen.)...you can't get any better than this! Hey movie goers, make sure you watch the complete unedited version, somehow, somewhere; not the edited British version, "Teenage Frankenstein", which was sold on video some ten years ago. You think they would ever attempt a remake of this classic gem?

This is top of the line 1950's B movie schlock.And it is wonderful.Countless tv viewings and a recent VHS viewing confirms this.

Prof Frankenstein(Whit Bissel)is visiting from England on a lecture tour.He wants to create a perfect body from a youth.As it so happens there is a terrible auto accident outside which allows him to grab a corpse.

Of course there is the hesitant assistant to deal with. There is also the nosy just moved in fiancee to contend with. Frankenstein manages to put together a body but it has a severe case of morning face.The boy disobeys his creator and goes out for a stroll. He also kills a blonde and creates a panic.

Well the pesky bride to be stumbles upon the "monster" which angers the mad doctor to no end. He convinces the boy that she wants to kill him. So our boy kills her and she is dumped in the alligator pit(I'm not making this up).The pit is used to dispose of spare parts by the way.

The boy needs a nice face(does he ever)so he and the doctor go out in search of one.Happily they locate one and it is grafted on.Everybody is all smiles now.

The doctor and his assistant prepare to go to England. The boy has no passport so they plan to dissect him for easier international travel.The rousing finish is in color.

Whit Bissel gives a great performance as the cracked to the max mad doctor.He has a heck of a realtor that can set him up in temporary lodgings with a lab & an alligator pit in the basement.Wonder where he got the alligator.

If you can overlook or poke fun at the plot holes you can really enjoy this flick.See it if you can!

The production of this film, hot on the heels of Michael Landon's immortal 'Teenage Werewolf' opus, signified that Teen Horror was in fact a specific genre of film. Teen Horror films have been a constant cinematic presence from 1957 to the present, although they have waxed and waned several times over the past 53 years. Everything you see in 'the Craft,' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' and of course the ubiquitous 'Twilight' movies is a re-hash of Teenage Werewolf and Teenage Frankenstein.

Wereas Teenage Werewolf focuses on the personality and emotions of the Michael Landon character, thus structurally grafting the point of view of 'Rebel Without a Cause' to the horror genre, Teenage Frankenstein is more pre-occupied with Whit Bissel's portrayal of a Dr. Frankenstein living in the era drive-in movies. As such, Teenage Frankenstein follows more traditional monster movie conventions than Werewolf.

Nonetheless, teenagers are featured heavily, and teen actor Gary Conway as the eponymous monster is a major presence, so it is indeed appropriate to study this film in the context of the Teen Horror genre.

This film is an excellent example of the aesthetics of low-budget 1950's monster film-making. The acting is earnest and competent, the script does not get bogged down with dialog that would try to explain weak plot points, but rather dances across such places quickly, as one might dash across a wobbly bridge before it can collapse. It moves quickly and delivers just what the intended audience expected and needed: cheap and harmless thrills.

One of my favorite sequences involves the monster's search for a suitable head for himself at a nightime lovers' lane with teens parked in their cars. This is the earliest example I know of where the monster targets promiscuous teens. Also, since this film was obviously intended to be shown at drive-ins, so it must have been neat for 1957 teens parked in Studebakers in the dark to imagine their own heads as being coveted by a monster lurking somewhere nearby. Almost pushing the forth wall, really.

While this movie is fun and better than the title would suggest, it does lack the original psychic/emotional center that characterizes the classic horror pictures. King Kong, Frankenstein, Godzilla and Creature from the Black Lagoon all have a definite theme, a center, a statement relating to life and the human condition. So far as I could discern, this film does not. If a viewer can content himself with a bit of escapist fun, he will be satisfied.

Hollywood's first stab at Mary Shelley since the Universal days, AIP's 1957 "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein" was of course Herman Cohen's follow up to the phenomenally successful "I Was a Teenage Werewolf," shot back to back right after co feature "Blood of Dracula," in which the teen menace was a girl. Rather than a simple retread of "Werewolf," this script goes through the usual paces expected of a Frankenstein film, Herbert L. Strock's perfunctory staging enlivened by Whit Bissell's deadpan wit as the arrogant modern day Professor Frankenstein, eager to prove all those who scoffed at his limb transplant theories that he can indeed restore life to the dead, blackmailing his mild mannered assistant (Robert Burton) and even dispatching his devoted fiancée (Phyllis Coates) for disobedience. The idea of making the scientist a teenager rather than The Monster apparently didn't occur to Cohen, Hammer's massive worldwide success with "The Curse of Frankenstein" the obvious model (Peter Cushing's Baron a vivid anti hero), and Bissell, just as he had in "Werewolf," the adult manipulator of his youthful creation. A convenient crash near his home provides Frankenstein a teenage body to start with, replacing various hands and limbs but not yet the hideous wreck of a face. Gary Conway's Monster is alive at the 25 minute mark, his creator referring to him as 'my boy,' noting that he can both speak ("you've got a civil tongue in your head, I know you have because I sewed it back myself," "he should talk like a congressman at a filibuster!") and cry ("even the tear duct functions"). This Monster is a rebel with a cause, his most fervent wish to go out and walk among people, but when he does escape winds up strangling a young girl when she screams at his hideous appearance. His only other murders are clearly set up by his creator, the final one a gift of a new face (Conway's own with only a few scars), while the climax just lies there, the doctor receiving his comeuppance simply because he needed to, this final scene shot in not so vibrant color. Conway, in only his second screen role (following Roger Corman's "The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent"), would be back in the same makeup for Cohen's "How to Make a Monster," Gary Clarke replacing Michael Landon as the Teenage Werewolf, while Bissell returned to supporting ranks with "Monster on the Campus." The decade closed with Peter Cushing's sequel "The Revenge of Frankenstein," Boris Karloff starring in "Frankenstein-1970," and Donald Murphy hamming it up in "Frankenstein's Daughter," the 60s far more prolific for Mary Shelley's creation.