In the horror film world, there are probably more incantations of Dr. Frankenstein and his Monster than there are rats scurrying along the dungeon floors. Many of these versions of the Monster and his creator are somewhat bloodless and some are downright silly. In the film we're about to spotlight, there is some silliness but plenty of blood as the cinematic Frankenstein legend is mixed with Eurotrash and we end up with...
By HARVEY F. CHARTRAND Dr. Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks (1974) is quite an uncharacteristic slice of Italian horror for the era in which it was made. It seems more influenced by the Universal horror films of the 1930s and by fifties-vintage Russ Meyer nudie-cuties than by anything coming out of Italy at the time. This is easily explained. The real auteur of Dr. Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks was a mysterious and rather louche character — the expatriate American producer Dick Randall, whose previous credits included sexploitation features such as Around The World With Nothing On (1958), My Bare Lady (1962) and The Wild, Wild World Of Jayne Mansfield (1968). Randall also dabbled in horror, producing such fodder as The Mad Butcher of Vienna (1971), The Devil’s Lover (1972) and The Girl In Room 2A (1973).
Sometimes, Randall produced films that combined horror with erotica; witness The Paris Sex Murders (1973) and Dr. Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks, which features a sexy scene in which the bodacious former Playmate Christiane Rücker and starlet Simonetta Vitelli doff their period garb to frolic in a mud bath inside a cavern. Randall was a schlock producer, but in Dr. Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks, he had a big enough budget to sign up two stars whose luster had faded since their heyday in the 1950s, although they still had some draw at the box office: aging Italian heartthrob Rossano Brazzi (late of Summertime and South Pacific) as Count — not Baron — Frankenstein; and British leading man Edmund Purdom (the onetime matinee idol best known for his roles in The Egyptian, The Student Prince and The Prodigal) cast as Prefect Ewing, the police inspector investigating murders and grave robbings.
Dr. Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks also marked one of the final screen appearances of the famous "little person" actor Michael Dunn (Murders In The Rue Morgue, House Of The Damned, The Mutations) in the role of Genz, the count’s inept and depraved assistant. In a November 2003 interview with the author, Purdom recalled that: "Dick (Randall) offered me the larger role of Count Frankenstein, and then decided he would rather give that role to Brazzi, figuring he had a bigger name, as far as Italy and the immediate distributors were concerned. So Dick found some excuse to give me the role of Prefect Ewing, but I didn’t really care, because it wasn’t much of a script and the conditions under which we shot were pretty meager."
The extremely bizarre storyline, set in the late Nineteenth Century (despite the odd anachronism), involves Neanderthal men living in caves near Frankenstein’s castle, being used in brain transplant experiments performed in an operating theatre in the dungeon. Count Frankenstein relies on no less than three henchmen to provide him with fresh bodies for his experiments: Genz, a dwarf with a squeaky voice who is prone to voyeurism and necrophilia; Kreegin (Xiro Papas), a dimwitted hunchback; and the misnamed Igor (Gordon Mitchell), a thug with no visible deformities. (The lumbering Kreegin is the true Igor of the piece. Igor is dispatched early, strangled by a Neanderthal.) Count Frankenstein also has a sinister butler — Hans, played by the very ugly Luciano Pigozzi (Castle Of The Living Dead), who was often billed as "Italy’s Peter Lorre."
As for beauty, the count’s fetching daughter Maria (Vitelli) pays a visit to the castle, accompanied by her voluptuous friend Krista Lauder (Rücker). Also tagging along is Maria’s fiancée Erik, a dorky character who serves no purpose in the story other than to bang Maria twice while Genz observes their lovemaking from hiding places behind a painting and inside a grandfather clock. Vital Krista enters into a May-December romance with the desiccated old count, who kisses her clumsily and later manhandles her in front of Goliath (the Neanderthal with the transplanted brain of a little girl), to see if the monster will try to defend her.
Genz is banished from the castle for having fondled a girl’s corpse and for various other transgressions. With nowhere to go, he hides in a cave, where he meets Ook, a very hirsute Neanderthal (played by the laughably credited "Boris Lugosi" — actually strongman Salvatore Baccaro aka "Il Mostro di Cinecittà"). Genz teaches Ook all about sex, but I won’t go into these details, as they are too distasteful for a family Webzine. Genz also uses Ook in a revenge scheme against Count Frankenstein and the manservant Hans, whom the dwarf especially loathes. Meanwhile, Prefect Ewing tries to maintain law and order as an unruly mob of villagers (actually eight extras) threaten to storm Frankenstein’s castle and burn it down. Krista is kidnapped by Ook, which leads to a Battle of the Neanderthals when the smitten Goliath comes to her rescue. Prefect Ewing loses control of the villagers who attack and torch Goliath inside a cave. (The best line in the picture is spoken by a bit player cast as a rabble-rouser, forever inciting the villagers to destroy Frankenstein’s castle. As the vengeful mob rushes off, this cretin yells: "I’d go with you myself if I wasn’t so crippled.")
Brazzi and Purdom are never less than thoroughly professional, despite being saddled with ridiculous dialogue. Dunn makes the most of his role, but unfortunately his wonderful speaking voice was dubbed by an idiot. "The little creature (Dunn) was adorable, a great talent." Purdom remembered. "He died shortly after we shot the picture and I was very sorry to hear that, because he was a fascinating creature. Michael was full of fun. You wouldn’t have thought he had a care in the world or that he was in any way handicapped or that fate had treated him badly. An extraordinary man, so positive and forward-looking. I had a few scenes with him, although I didn’t have very much to do in the film.
"My role was very straight. I didn’t have any sort of strange scenes to play (with monsters). I never saw the movie, not even the rushes, so I have no idea how the scenes turned out. I can really tell you nothing about this picture. Dr. Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks was shot in a castle just outside Rome. Dick couldn’t afford a studio. I don’t even remember who directed the film." Some film historians claim that strapped-for-cash Randall directed the picture himself. This eccentric fusion of Italian Gothic and cheap American exploitation certainly has his fingerprints all over it.
Dr. Frankenstein’s Castle Of Freaks has everything a Eurotrash lover could desire: polyglot casting of former matinee idols and top-heavy actresses, shameless titillation, cheesy Eurolounge music during the sexy interludes, terrible dubbing, jarring cuts, and pointless, interminable scenes (such as a long take of Ook dragging a sheep…where and for what purpose are never explained). Brazzi is not necessarily miscast as Count Frankenstein, but the role is certainly misconceived. Rather than a brilliant, God-defying scientist, the count comes across as a harmless, horny old goat with a strange resurrection hobby, who takes in strays with deformities in a kind of halfway house environment.
Although faulty and cheaply made, Dr. Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks has a strange and mystifying charm. Even with prior knowledge of the outré standards set by 1970s European horror films, this programmer still holds up as admirably outlandish viewing. And in its new Something Weird Video DVD incarnation, Dr. Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks looks like it was filmed yesterday, rather than 30 years ago. Trivia note: Dr. Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks has no less than eight alternate titles: Terror! Il castello delle donne maledette; Frankenstein's Castle; Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks; The House Of Freaks; The Monsters Of Dr. Frankenstein; Monsters Of Frankenstein; Terror; and Terror Castle. Thanks, Harv. Yes, it's quite a drop between South Pacific and Dr. Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks and that's probably the most truly horrifying thing in this horror movie (poor Rossano Brazzi!). At least it delivers the sleazy goods and has an intriguing wrinkle-- the Frankenstein Monster as a true "modern" man versus the apish but non-corrupted Early Man. It is definitely worth a look and not just by Frankenstein movie completists. Article copyright © Harvey F. Chartrand |
