Frankenstein 1970

Frankenstein 1970

theatrical release poster
Directed by Howard W. Koch
Produced by Aubrey Schenck
George Worthing Yates
Screenplay by Richard H. Landau
Story by Aubrey Schenck
Charles A. Moses
Based on characters from Frankenstein (1818 novel) by Mary Shelley (uncredited)
Starring Boris Karloff
Music by Paul Dunlap
Cinematography Carl E. Guthrie
Edited by John A. Bushelman
Production
company
Aubrey Schenck Productions
Distributed by Allied Artists Pictures
Release dates
 July 20, 1958 (US)
Running time
 83 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $110,000[1][2]

Frankenstein 1970 is a 1958 science fiction horror film, shot in black and white CinemaScope, starring Boris Karloff and featuring Don "Red" Barry. The independent film was directed by Howard W. Koch, and written by Richard Landau and George Worthing Yates, produced by Aubrey Schenck. It was released in some areas in 1958 on a double bill with Queen of Outer Space.

Plot

Baron Victor von Frankenstein (Boris Karloff), suffered torture and disfigurement at the hands of the Nazis as punishment for not cooperating with them during World War II. Horribly disfigured, he nevertheless continues his work as a scientist. Needing funds to support his experiments, the Baron allows a television crew to shoot a made-for-television horror film about his monster-making family at his castle in Germany.

This arrangement gives the Baron enough money to buy an atomic reactor, which he uses to create a living being, modeled after his own likeness before he had been tortured by the Nazis. When the Baron runs out of body parts for his work, however, he proceeds to kill off members of the crew, and even his faithful butler, for more spare parts. Finally, however, the monster turns on the Baron, and they are both killed in a blast of radioactive steam from the reactor. After the reactor is shut down and the radiation falls to safe levels, the monster's bandages are removed, revealing the Baron's own face prior to his being disfigured by the Nazis, and an audio tape is played back, in which the Baron reveals that he had intended for the monster to be a perpetuation of himself, as he was the last of the Frankenstein family line.

Cast

Production

Alternative titles during pre-production included "Frankenstein's Castle", "Frankenstein 1960", and "Frankenstein 1975". Shot in a mere eight days on a modest budget, the film was finally titled Frankenstein 1970 to add a futuristic touch. The film's main set was borrowed from the 1958 movie Too Much, Too Soon.[1]

The film was released through Allied Artists, who bought the film for $250,000,[1]

Home media

For several years, only a pan and scan VHS tape of the film was available. In October 2009, Warner Brothers released the DVD "Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics," which includes Frankenstein 1970 as one of the four films, and features an audio commentary by one of the film's co-stars, Charlotte Austin, and fan historians Tom Weaver and Bob Burns.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jacobs, Steven. (2011) Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster, Tomohawk Press. p.418
  2. ↑ Weaver, Tom. (2000) It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Tradition McFarland. p.279

External links

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