Customer Reviews

The Tormented/Lady Frankenstein

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The title character in "Lady Frankenstein" ("La Figlia di Frankenstein") turns out to be the daughter of the mad scientist and not his wife. Baron Frankenstein (Joseph Cotton) has been trying unsuccessfully for two decades to bring dead tissue to life. Using the corpse of a recently hung man as his test subject (note the interesting place they pick to hang the guy), the Baron finally succeeds. But there is something wrong with the brain and the monster kills the Baron and goes off to wreck more havoc on the countryside. Now that she is in control of the laboratory, having watched her father work since she was a little girl and having graduated medical school herself, the Baron's daughter Tania (Rosalba Neri, a.k.a. Sara Bay), wants revenge. However, Lady Frankenstein wants to do more than fight fire with fire.

Her plan is to take the brain of Dr. Charles Marshall (Paul Müller), her father's old lab assistant and the man who loves her, and put it into the hulking body of Thomas (Paul Whiteman), a manservant who is mentally retarded, so that she can have both brains and brawn. The plan is that this new creation will get revenge by killing the first creation, and then return to Tania's bedroom to find other ways of making her really, really happy. Meanwhile, Captain Harris (Mickey Hargitay) is investigating the Baron's death (Tantia makes up a story about a robber) and spouting interesting lines of dialogue to the suspects. It also turns out that Tania is not the only one seeking revenge. The original monster is going after the grave robbers, so there is a constant body count in this one. Actually it is not the dead people but the naked people who count more in this one, especially the quaint European custom of the man staying fully clothed while the women is totally naked.

Despite the cartoonish poster art for "Lady Frankenstein," director Mel Welles (a.k.a. Ernst R. von Theumer) creates an appropriately gothic looking horror film. However, the story is an uneven mix of interesting ideas (e.g., chemical batteries are better that lightning for reanimating dead tissue) and sundry plot holes (e.g., how Marshall's brain finally puts two and two together). Simply in terms of Eurotrash this is an above average example of the genre, in terms of both the story and the acting in addition to the bodies. Then again, as good as Neri looks (as long as you are not watching her eyes dart back and forth when she is listening to others speak) that is about how bad the monster (the first one) looks. Overall, the ending is the weakest part of "Lady Frankenstein," but that it is actually a plus because normally it is the set up that has you rolling your eyes. That is once you put your eyes back in your head, because when you cast Rosalba Neri as the lead character you are clearly deemphasizing the horror aspects of this particular horror film in favor of other attributes.

The DVD has some pretty good extras considering what the movie is, with a lot more than the theatrical trailer and televison spot for "Lady Frankenstein." Also included by DVD Drive-In are the trailers for other Italian horror movies from "Beyond the Darkness" to "The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave!" with "Revenge of the Living Dead," "Curse of the Living Dead," and "Fangs of the Living Dead" thrown in between. There are all sorts of production photographs, movie posters, and candid shots, several of which will make Neri's fans rather, ah, happy. There is also a short interview with the actress, as well as a longer walk down memory lane with the director Mel Welles, who tells a lot of stories about the production of the film (Roger Corman to the rescue). The deleted scenes are in Italian, so be prepared for that and make up your own dialogue. For me the extras are good enough to decide to round up on "Lady Frankenstein." Note: The Easter Egg on this one is the candle.

As I pushed "play" on the DVD remote, I warily wondered why a remastered DVD would be accompanied by such poor packaging and shoddy case/DVD artwork. I thought to myself, "stranger things have happened in the world of B horror movie DVD's". Three minutes later, I stood in front of the garbage can wondering how many sandwiches I could have bought at QuickCheck with the money I just wasted. The DVD was now in the garbage on top of the packaging it just came in and next to the food my kids didn't eat during school lunch. A2Z's release of this title is absolutely horrible in every single aspect. Everything from the poor quality DVD case, cheap disc case cover artwork, one of the worst picture transfers i have ever seen, and the actual DVD itself-which looks like someone printed the non-playing side artwork at home with one of the first printers ever available. If this is the "remastered version", I would hate to see what they originally had to work with. I have no idea how they can get away with even calling this DVD remastered. If anything, this is the exact opposite of what constitutes a remastered DVD. Save your money and buy a used ex-rental VHS copy, or rent the film and a projector from the library-you'd be light years ahead of the quality contained on this DVD with either option. This actually rates 0 stars with me. Shame on A2Z which stands as Awful2Zero in my book!

The picture quality of this movie was terrible.So bad all I could do was throw it away.It wasn't worth the $US14 I paid for it.steer clear of this dvd!

Lady Frankenstein is one of the films you can find in many multi movie packs due to its public domain nature. I happened upon it through the 50 movie pack of Chilling Classics.(20 bucks for 50 movies not bad) Anyway I was surprised when I popped this obvious schlock horror film into the player because it actually was interesting. Quite a good spin on the Frankenstein story. It starts typical with the mad doctor trying to bring back to life dead tissue. He greases the local authorities to get freshly dead specimens for his experiments and keeps them in his personal morgue. Soon he succeeds in bringing a cadaver back to life and it with the typical bad brain starts to rampage the town. His daughter aka Lady Frankenstein who just by her looks alone makes you a little more attentive to her scenes starts to perfect her fathers work. Her spin on her fathers work is to use newer specimens that don't have agressive personalities and supply them with brilliant minds. Soon she creates her own monster, but one by her calculations is more reformed and civilized, but is still a brute enough to dispose of her fathers mistake. That is the basic outline with plenty in between to keep you captivated. Not the best, but worth a look. It definitely is an early exploitation film and worthy of anyone that is into B horror movies or campy type films.

Typical Italian horror movie of the beginning of the 70's with a Hammer House horror look. The Two main actors are known for the time, which give a little more credit on the movie. Compare to violence in today's movies, I would say it is rated R because of the small naked scenes. I liked the movie.

Ah, where to start??? After creating life, Baron Frankenstein is murdered by his hideous creation that heads off to kill those people who were involved in its resurrection, or who are simply in the way. The baron's daughter, Tania, who has just arrived from university with the help of his lab assistant, decides to go on and continue with her father's work. To keep the high reputation of the family name and to satisfy her lustful needs. Tania seductively plans to create a perfect being with the brains of her fellow assistant and the body of the slow-witted servant.

"I am, my father's daughter". She sure is! And a whole lot more! This sleazy Frankenstein imitation (of Hammer's "The Horror of Frankenstein") is beyond warped with its kinky fixations with seedy sex and red paint jobs (gore, of course) within its highly Gothic surroundings, inspires this cheap Italian exploitation picture. Albeit at times quite nonsensical and melodramatic, at least it gave the mad doctor theme a huge revamp with its lewd nature and having a female protagonist who was in supreme control with her manipulative prowess. This refreshing twist was one of the few neat additions to this rough around the edges, but above-average production. Director Mel Welles shuffles around some assured moments of suspense, array of blinding images and builds upon the morbidly vivid atmosphere. Not to mention the creeping sound effects and crazy yet some what nagging music score really made it seem cheesier, but in a good way. The make-up effects were simply okay with the ghastly looking monster going on to aimlessly cause havoc like they mostly do in these stories.

When it came to the performances, one can only say they were quite laboured, despite a few decent turns. The very appealing Rosalba Neri grafts away with her conniving and forcefully voluptuous personality. She was quite hypnotic in the role and looked the part of Tania Frankenstein. Joseph Cotten gives the flick a steady head for the short time he's in it and Herbert Fux makes a more than a good impression as Tom Lynch the grave robber. The raw to-the-bone story and script aren't typically the best with their telegraphed patterns, but it lifted when it needed to by showing how much Tania has taken a shine to her father's aspiring work and there were hardly any dull spots.

"Lady Frankenstein" is an entertainingly tainted exercise on someone who cherishes what they do.

This goofy little Italian thriller is fun for die-hard fans of cheesy horror flicks. Many familiar elements are present. We have brain transplants, body-snatching, grave-robbers, and sewn together body parts. Joseph Cotton is ineffectual as Daddy Dr. Frankenstein, but he only lasts about half the movie. The alleged Master of Dark Science at one point stares out the castle window and yearns for a thunder storm. Not exactly Peter Cushing or Colin Clive capturing the ultra-violet ray of Life itself in the lab's vile machines. Daughter Dr. Tania Frankenstein (played by the quite delectable Sara Bey) graduates from medical school and sets to work with her reluctant father. There are actually two creatures in this film. The first one goes awry as usual and looks as if it is a blend of The Thing From Another World and Mister Potato Head. The monster kills Daddy Frankenstein. Things get dicey when Tania decides to create her own creature by putting Charles' brain into Thomas' body. Charles is a brilliant but afflicted doctor. Thomas is a mute but hunky stable hand. Tania likes Charles' brain. She also likes Thomas' physique and dickey. (Important Editor's Note! Webster defines "dickey" as a detachable shirtfront common in the 18th century. Sheesh! Some people!). Because this film was made in the 1970's, there are outbursts of nudity and implied sex. When Tania seduces Thomas, things get pretty steamy and revealing. Personally, my favorite character is the body snatcher named Lynch. Great script element. Put it all together and you get the usual low budget results of death, fiery explosions, and villagers with torches. You are warned. ;-)

Fresh out of medical school and eager to prove her abilities as a "surgeon," Dr. Frankenstein's daughter (Rosalba Neri) sets out to build her own monster-to kill the one created by her late father, which is now running amok terrorizing the locals. As if that weren't goofy enough, she decides to construct her monster using the brain of her father's assistant (whom she's just married) and the body of the hunky village idiot. It's a movie that could only be made in Italy and only in the '70s. Recommended for Euro-horror fanatics only.

The picture and sound quality on this DVD could be better, but I've definitely seen worse on bargain-priced DVDs like this. The print that was used is scratchy at times, but the colors are still fairly vibrant and sound is generally quite good. All in all, this DVD is a pretty good buy at this price.

Two out of five stars.

Lady Frankenstein, somewhat to my surprise, comes off as the most creative if not the best retelling of the done-to-death Frankenstein theme I have ever seen. It has its logical inconsistencies, at least one annoying and irrelevant character, and a thoroughly cheesy-looking monster, but I cannot but love this movie. Maybe it's the European ambiance that appeals to me so much; maybe it's the interesting little parallel contradictions (a term that makes little sense, I admit, but seems to encapsulate my thoughts) with Shelley's story and the original 1931 movie version. Probably, though, it is Rosalba Neri (going by the name of Sara Bay) in her role of Frankenstein's daughter. I don't have to tell you that I never really expected to find myself watching a Frankenstein movie with the words "Man, she's hot" constantly forming on my lips. As you might have guessed by the lead actress' name, Lady Frankenstein is an Italian horror film released in 1971 with the title La Figlia Di Frankenstein. Its look and feel is very much in line with the Hammer horror films that were all the rage back then. I'm still a little unsure how Joseph Cotton found his way in the picture, but maybe it had something to do with the American director Mel Welles. In any event, the casting of Cotton in the role of Dr. Frankenstein is a little weird, but he does a fine job in the role.

Forget some of what you know about the Frankenstein legend. In this film, Frankenstein, assisted by the non-hunchbacked Dr. Charles Marshall (Paul Muller), gives life to his monster only days after his daughter (Rosalba Neri) has returned home with her own surgical degree and "radical" medical ideas. Naturally, the monster kills Frankenstein right there in the lab and escapes into the night. The monster, incidentally, is quite silly-looking, looking like nothing so much as one of the Metaluna creatures from This Island Earth whose face, unfortunately for him, sort of caught on fire during the lightning strike that gave him life (not to mention super-human strength). Since his criminal brain sadly has a damaged hypothalamus, there is really nothing for him to do but wander the countryside killing people, especially if he catches them fornicating in the woods, before settling down to even the score with the men responsible for his new despicable life.

Daughter Tanya will not let her father's lifetime dream end in such a dishonorable way as this, so she claims her father was killed by a robber. Her idea is to create a second monster to be the executioner of the first monster, but then love and sex and just a little bit of beautiful evil fall in the mix, setting the stage for a conclusion that augurs well for no one. Torch-bearing villagers naturally demand their rightful place in the denouemont, and the ending, when it comes, is quite sudden and quite tragic, at least to my Rosalba Neri-enchanted eyes. There is some nudity in this picture, which is surely something you don't see in your average Frankenstein movie, and I for one definitely have no problem with it, especially since it plays delightfully off of the somewhat Victorian Gothic Euro-horror look and feel of the movie. This is basically a four-star movie that more than earns its fifth shiny star from this reviewer as a result of Rosalba Neri's captivating performance.

Lady Frankenstein comes off as one of the most creative if not the best retellings of the done-to-death Frankenstein theme committed to film thus far. It also stars one of the best actors who ever played the role of Baron Dr. Frankenstein, Joseph Cotten.

The Lady Frankenstein in this movie is the daughter of Baron Dr. Frankeinstein, Tania (Rosalba Neri). She comes home after graduating from medical school with her head filled with all sorts of "radical ideas." Among other things, she had engaged in unauthorized experiments involving human tissue and transplants. She is determined to assist her father in his experiments.

However, her father rebuffs her and ably assisted by his non-hunchbacked assistant, Dr. Charles Marshall (Paul Muller), he creates his monster. Frankenstein's plans go awry as the unexpected side effects of the electric shock aspect of his creative process results in a homicidal monster. The monster turns on its creator and kills him and then escapes the castle and spreads fear, havoc and ultimately, death in the surrounding countryside. Compounding matters, Police Captain Harris (Mickey Hargitay) is energetically pursuing any and all leads into the investigation of Frankenstein's death. This includes the possiblity that the monster that has been systematically killing folks off is linked to the late mad scientist Frankenstein in some way.

This situation presents a challenge for Frankenstein's young daughter. She proves herself to be worthy of the Frankenstein name by concocting an insane scheme to right the situation. Her idea is to take the brain of the laboratory assistant, who is deeply in love with her, and transplant it into the body of the handsome but mentally retarded servant. This new creation would then go forth into the wild and kill the monster and afterwards provide Tania with a suitable mate. The lab assistant is surprisingly agreeable to the bizarre scheme and after a surprisingly easy laboratory operation, the deed is done. The sharp mind of the lab assistant and the muscular body of the retarded servant are now one and the same.

The most striking aspect of this film is the atmosphere which makes you feel as though you were living in that very village and castle, among those people many of whom has something to hide. This movie features very good acting, in particular Paul Muller as the lab assistant, Rosalba Neri in the title role and, of course, Joseph Cotten as the Baron Doctor Frankenstein.

Lady Frankenstein is as much a tale about obsession, the insane things you will do for love, the risks you will take for money, the games people play with authorities and a complex morality play as a traditional Frankenstein picture, this movie deserves to be recognized. As such, Lady Frankenstein is a movie that is very much worth your time.