Published in: Indie Film Reviews

Indie Film Review “Tales of Frankenstein”

Author OneFilmFan

Published on: March 2, 2020

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE

First, the Recap:

The stuff of legends. The monsters from our childhood continue to reign even into this modern age, incarnation after incarnation, all vying to remain in our nightmares, haunting us in classic style to deliver classic scares to chill us to the bone. Yet, there is another realm where said fiends still roam, but unexpectedly allow us to encounter them in a much more–comical–existence. Such as it is for Frankenstein (Scott Fresina), rambling about since his master first brought such an unnatural creation to life, now discovering an old painting that heralds a four-part adventure into the more–odd–side of Dr. Frankenstein’s family and experiments.

Tales of hapless pining and love gone wrong for cousin Gregore (Buddy Daniels Friedman), greed’s high price and the revenge it embodies for Helmut (Len Wein), the eerie combination of a madhouse, madder scientist Dr. Mortality (Mel Novak), and a poor private eye named Jack (Jamisin Matthews), or creator Dr. Karnstein’s (Jim Tavare) nefarious deeds ultimately sucking the life out of him, it all tells a simple truth–perhaps it’s best to let sleeping “Steins” lie.

Next, my Mind:

With its anthology-based format, intentional and purposeful campy B-movie delivery, over-the-top gory moments, and tongue FIRMLY in cheek atmosphere throughout a not-so-common-with-comedy 112-minute runtime, the indie effort from veteran writer/director/executive producer Donald F. Glut definitively warrants chuckles aplenty in telling four distinct yet connected narratives that find their foundational focus via Mary Shelley’s beloved creature, Frankenstein. Likewise inspired by a series of short stories written by Glut himself and published in the associated book that carries the film’s namesake, the stories span varied eras through 1887 Bavaria, 1910 Switzerland, 1948 Los Angeles, and 1957 Transylvania and capture standard themes as hinted at above like love, loss, greed, hunger for power, playing God, immortality, and the prices paid for meddling in them all with bad intentions.

But, the magic here is that it is all played for hilarity and even satiric bite, while playfully overdoing the gore, providing what some will dismiss as sub-par (but this critic found deliciously entertaining and wonderfully silly) SFX, and characters who are the seriously (or perhaps equally) misguided and insane relatives of the original Dr. Frankenstein, all with delusions of immortal grandeur and attempting to execute their idol’s fiendish experiments, no matter what the cost, in their own outlandish ways. But, as stated above, there is actually a very viable and dare I say necessary underlying statement to be made here about the cost of doing things we shouldn’t be doing, for as human beings we so desperately wish to find shortcuts to cheat death, that more often than not, it severely backfires and the only results gained not only harms us, but more than likely others as well. Again, while everything here is for witty pleasure, maybe its also a somewhat veiled challenge for us to not seek such means to create that which should never be made.

I saw some random snippets of other reviews about this effort after watching the film already, and to be frank, while opinion is opinion and totally allowed, I become mystified when it seems like some were expecting what would amount to an Oscar-level production when the entire notion and premise behind this film speaks one hundred percent the opposite–which is as it SHOULD be here, folks! The film’s glory is in how “cheap” it looks visually, how “fake” the SFX appear, etc. What else would you wish from that which is supposed to supply us with a jocular take on a classic monster, much less the contemptible, wacky shenanigans perpetrated by these offbeat relatives of the master himself?  I honestly enjoyed its camp being full on and fully in my face, as that’s what made me giggle away during most of the effort. Some moments dragged a little, but not enough to distract.

With such a (ok, forgive me but it has to be said) monstrous ensemble cast involved, spelling out in detail the wonder of everyone’s performances would make this review about 8000 words, so I hope the actors will realize how much I DID and DO appreciate their efforts beyond the words shared here. Friedman’s Gregore is a tribute to Igor for me, and it’s pulled off wonderfully to the point where you actually begin feeling for the poor sod as his misadventures to find love take an unanticipated turn. The late Wein shines as Helmut, whose messing around with a formula for eternal life ends up having a dire effect, but does give him an arm up on an old rival who’s filled with avarice. Matthews carries his oh-so-classic 40’s era private eye Jack with beautiful bravado (accent, overconfident arrogance, and all!) as he investigates a crazy house that gets him involved with Novak’s magnificently executed and just hysterically named Dr. Mortality, whose plans for Jack are quite–apish? Tavare’s  Dr. Karnstein is likewise portrayed with such exaggerated enthusiasm and waggish menace it’s hard NOT to chuckle each time he appears or speaks.

Of course, we mustn’t forget Fresina as THE monster himself, who appears periodically between segments and grunts and groans with the best of them. Primary supporting appearances abound (to say the least) courtesy of John Blyth Barrymore, Tatiana DeKhtyar, Justin Hoffmeister, T.J. Storm, Jerry Lacy, Beverly Washburn, Ann Robinson, Jena Sims, Lilian Lev, Tad Atkinson, Douglas Tait, Robert Axelrod, Ashley Caple, Kelsey Bohlen, Linda Bella, Lauren Kistner, Monique Marissa Lukens, Serena Hope Sun, Ban-ya Choi , Amy Shi, Kevin Caliber, Adam Meir, and a host of others. Know, truly, that I enjoyed what each of you brought along with those I may not have listed here. What I love about indie film is that everyone has passion and heart to put out their best performances, no matter how large or small a part, and that is what this critic feels he can see and appreciate here in everyone’s performances.

In total, with odes to Hammer Films, “Bride of Frankenstein”, “Young Frankenstein” for its comical side, and even one segment whose ultimate narrative brought to mind “Evil Dead 2” and the hassles of disembodied appendages running amok, “Tale of Frankenstein” is indie film horror comedy in a unique form, not always gut-busting, but not droll and trying too hard for laughs either. It fits perfectly into that “so voluntarily, deliberately cheesy FUN” category so as to present what films were always, I feel, made to do to begin with–allow us an escape from reality and/or sometimes just throw good old fashioned, amusing diversion our way.

As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!