''Frankenstein 1970'' is a 1958

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

/ horror film, shot in black and white CinemaScope, starring

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...

and featuring

Don "Red" Barry Donald Barry de Acosta (January 11, 1912 – July 17, 1980), also known as Red Barry and Milton Poimboeuf, was an American film and television actor. He was nicknamed "Red" after appearing as the first Red Ryder in the highly successful 19 ...

. The independent film was directed by

Howard W. Koch Howard Winchel Koch (April 11, 1916 – February 16, 2001) was an American producer and director of film and television. Life and career Koch was born in New York City, the son of Beatrice (Winchel) and William Jacob Koch. His family was Jewish. ...

, written by Richard Landau and George Worthing Yates, and produced by Aubrey Schenck. It was released theatrically in some markets on a double feature with ''

Queen of Outer Space ''Queen of Outer Space'' is a 1958 American science fiction feature film shot in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope. Produced by Ben Schwalb and directed by Edward Bernds, it stars Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eric Fleming, and Laurie Mitchell. The screenplay by C ...

''.

Plot

Baron Victor von Frankenstein (

) has suffered torture and disfigurement at the hands of the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

as punishment for not cooperating with them during World War II. He nevertheless continues his work as a scientist. Needing funds to support his experiments, the Baron allows a television crew to shoot a 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. When the Baron runs out of body parts for his work, he proceeds to kill off members of the crew, and even his faithful butler, for more spare parts. Finally, 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, 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 because he was the last of the Frankenstein family line.

Cast

as Baron Victor von Frankenstein * Tom Duggan as Mike Shaw *

Jana Lund Jana Lund (born Jana Cozette Ekelund; August 28, 1933 – July 20, 1991) was an American model, actress, and singer. She began her career as a young child actor. She had numerous roles on television shows and supporting roles in various films. ...

as Carolyn Hayes * Donald Barry as Douglas Row * Charlotte Austin as Judy Stevens * Irwin Berke as Inspector Raab * Rudolph Anders as Wilhelm Gottfried * Norbert Schiller as Schutter, Frankenstein's butler * John Dennis as Morgan Haley *

Mike Lane Michael V. Lane (January 6, 1933 – June 1, 2015) was an American actor and professional wrestler. Biography Lane's size (height 6'8" or 2.03 m, weight 275 lbs or 125 kg) led him to work in the King Bros. Circus boxing tent and wre ...

as Hans Himmler / the Monster

Production

Producer

Aubrey Schenck Aubrey Schenck (August 26, 1908, New York City – April 14, 1999, Murrieta, California) was an American film producer from the 1940s through the 1970s. Biography The son of George Schenck, a Russian immigrant theatrical manager, and Mary Schen ...

had a three-picture deal with Boris Karloff.Weaver, Tom. (2004) ''Aubrey Schenck: It Came from Horrorwood''. McFarland & Company. p. 279. The movie was shot at the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

studio in a mere eight days on a modest budget. The main set was borrowed from '' Too Much, Too Soon'' (1958). The title ''Frankenstein 1970'' was intended to add a futuristic touch. During preproduction, alternative titles included ''Frankenstein's Castle'', ''Frankenstein 1960'', and ''Frankenstein 2000''. Allied Artists released the film, after purchasing it for $250,000.

Reception

As of October 2022, the film carries a 4.9/10 score on IMDb.com

Home video

For years, the only home video release available of ''Frankenstein 1970'' was a

pan and scan Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown in fullscreen proportions of a standard-definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus ...

version on VHS. In October 2009, Warner Bros. included the film on the DVD ''Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics'', along with three other movies. This release of ''Frankenstein 1970'' features an audio commentary track by co-star Charlotte Austin and fan historians Tom Weaver and Bob Burns.

References

External links

* * * {{Frankenstein 1958 films 1958 horror films 1950s science fiction horror films Allied Artists films CinemaScope films American black-and-white films American science fiction horror films Frankenstein films Films directed by Howard W. Koch Films set in 1970 Films set in castles Films set in Germany Films set in the future Films about filmmaking Films scored by Paul Dunlap 1950s English-language films 1950s American films