I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957)

I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957)

Tagline: Body of a boy! Mind of a monster! Soul of an unearthly thing!

(Sci-Fi, Horror, Grumpy Teenagers) [PG]

Note: This movie wasn’t given an MPAA rating, but it would have been a [PG]. Theatrically this movie was released as a double feature with BLOOD OF DRACULA. 

In this laboratory, there is no death until I declare it so.

In this one Professor Frankenstein is known for having out-of-the-box and controversial ideas, but still manages to convince Dr. Karlton of his brilliance and embarks on an effort to bring a dead body to life. Using the dead bodies of teenagers from a crashed airplane he succeeds in his mission, but with each day the teenage Frankenstein monster he creates grows more and more violent and easy to manipulate. 

It took me a while to get to this one on a long list of 1950s flicks I wanted to review. Honestly, I can’t stand the Frankenstein monster design we get in this thing. It’s terribly bad. Clearly, that was on purpose because in part of this movie the monster is looking for a face that he can go out in public with, but all that stuff in this one of the challenges this movie has for me. 

Acting wise Professor Frankenstein isn’t the problem. The role is taken on by Whit Bissell who was also in I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF and MONSTER ON CAMPUS along with over 299 other films and TV shows and was quite an accomplished actor. Robert Burton plays Dr. Karlton in this and is okay in the role. There weren’t very many lines thrown his way compared Whit. Burton was an accomplished actor as well and is probably best known for his role in 1963’s THE SLIME PEOPLE. It was also the last role he did. I did think this was a pretty weird but solid outing for Phyllis Coates. She plays Margaret in this and basically spends most of the movie making one bad decision after another. Coates was in the sci-fi flicks INVASION, U.S.A., and THE INCREDIBLE PETRIFIED WORLD. Gary Conway plays Bob in this (the Teenage Frankenstein Monster). He hasn’t done a ton of stuff I’ve seen, but he did write OVER THE TOP which is pretty rad. 

This movie focuses mostly on Dr. Frankenstein as a character and goes a lot into his ambitions and how far he is willing to go to accomplish his goals. There are a few parts of this thing I just freakin hate, but the film is meant to be more of a straight-up haunting horror film than I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF was. They do get to some pretty haunting things and deeds in this and in that respect as sci-fi horror it is pretty effective. Unfortunately, none of that leaves us with a character to like or root for by the time the flick is done. For me, that is always an issue. I have to have at least 1 character I can root for or identify with and that is the huge downfall of this movie, there is nothing hopeful in it. Cinematography wise the sets are small for the most part with just a few outdoor sequences and the lighting works fine. The score was appropriate, but not mind-blowing. 

This is a 4 out of 7 as a horror film because it does what it sets out to do, but I do wish I could have related to it more. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF SANTA ROSA PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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