Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster

Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster
Cast: Directed by Robert Gaffney
Studio: Dark Sky Films
Rating: 7/10

CORPORATE LINE: During a solo space mission to Mars, NASA astronaut Col. Frank Saunders (Robert Reilly)—who happens to be an experimental android—is shot down by an alien warship. Frank survives the attack, crash-landing on Puerto Rico. The space aliens—led by Princess Marcuzan (Marilyn Hanold) and her putty-eared lieutenant, Dr. Nadir (Lou Cutell)—decide he must die, so they give chase, but manage to only disfigure him before commencing with their ultimate endeavor: steal bikini-clad young women to re-populate their nuclear-ravaged planet!

THE REVIEW: Dark Sky Films has a knack for unearthing some of the most bizarre cinematic spectacles ever to grace the big screen (the creaky outdoor drive-in screen, to be exact). Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster is no exception. But this B-movie bomb is surprisingly quirky and fun. This film has it all: pool parties, Vespas, disfigured androids and hairy, skull-faced monsters. And astoundingly, it actually works, in a trashy sort of way.

While the costumes are cheap, the special effects negligible and the storyline over-ambitious, the snappy dialog, eerie atmosphere, swingin’ music and buxom bikini babes imbue the film with a peculiar charm reserved exclusively for so-bad-they’re-good classics like Plan 9 From Outer Space and Valley Of The Dolls.

THE EXTRAS:
Aside from a print that looks surprisingly good after 40-plus years, the DVD includes a trailer and still gallery, plus subtitles, which are always nice.

FRANKLY: Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster is a tacky good time—with loads of unintended humor, cheap shocks and an unpretentious shabbiness that’s shockingly refreshing.

+ Jim Kaz


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