Director: Robert Gaffney
Writers: R.H.W. Dillard, George Garrett, John Rodenbeck
Cast: James Karen, Marilyn Hanold, Lou Cutell, Robert Reilly, Nancy Marshall, David Kerman, (uncredited cast members) Bruce Glover, Susan Stephens, Robert Fields, Robert Alan Browne
A small band of aliens from a dying planet fly their spaceship to Earth looking for female humans to mate with. They shoot down a NASA rocket piloted by experimental cyborg astronaut Frank Saunders (Robert Reilly). With his face charred and his robot brain damaged, the experiment runs amok in Puerto Rico. Its creator, Dr. Adam Steele (James Karen), must locate this “Frankenstein” while the US military he works with is dealing with abductions of Earth women by the aliens.
The Flashback Fanatic movie review
No! Really! I’m serious, dammit!
I must confess that I have watched this movie more times than any other. It’s just that good, and I’m just that anal and asinine.
There is a peculiar blend of exploitation genre tropes here that satisfy the most basic needs of this weird cinema junkie. The film’s tone of almost documentary seriousness, aided by tons of NASA and military stock footage, make the simple plot and execution seem to have a bit more gravitas. A lot of well-chosen library tracks for the music score, as well as a terrific tune by the Scottish rock band The Poets called “That’s the Way It’s Got to Be,” adds a charge to the proceedings. This is a Frankenstein film that was really stitched together and brought to life almost entirely in the editing room. It’s got a vibe all its own. I just turn off my brain and groove with it.
The film opens with a great track of music that just screams, “This is sci-fi horror!” as the title Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster appears and then the silhouette of the space monster rises up during the credits and lumbers forward to blackout the screen. It is stark, simple, and perfect. The nine-year-old genius was already on the verge of orgasm, and he hadn’t even seen the beautiful alien Princess Marcuzan (Marilyn Hanold) leering at her bikinied girl captive (Susan Stephens) yet.
Probably the best-known actor from the cast would be James Karen as Dr. Adam Steele. Horror buffs will also remember his roles in Poltergeist (1982) and The Return of the Living Dead (1985).
Robert Reilly is pretty effective as Frank Saunders/Frankenstein. In his sole dialogue scene, he addresses a small press conference before his space flight to orbit Mars. Saunders seems like just the kind of guy we need up there. He speaks with absolute confidence, precision, and even a touch of humor. Then he freezes up and Dr. Steele hustles him from the conference to an operating room. Now we learn that this ideal astronaut is not human as Frank’s scalp is peeled back to reveal the electronic works implanted in his brain. It’s a neat little sequence. For the rest of the film Frank is in a spacesuit and soon will be rendered mute and disfigured.
All of the characters and situations are played matter-of-fact and one-dimensional. There is a touch of tenderness and occasional irritation that Dr. Steele displays towards his assistant Karen Grant (Nancy Marshall). She feels sympathy for the lost and damaged Frank/Frankenstein. That’s all the drama there is.
Otherwise, it’s all business, except for the alien invaders. Marilyn Hanold, as Princess Marcuzan, and Lou Cutell, as her subordinate Nadir, clearly enjoy being bad. The princess is so damn mean that she smirks as she has one of her injured men taken to be killed by the caged space monster Mull. One of the few survivors of her entire planet is being wasted to set an example for the rest of the men. Is the lesson “Don’t let Frankenstein beat you up?” Nah, she’s just evil.
Why the heck they brought that space monster along on their cramped ship I will never know. I sure am glad that they did, though. It makes for a better movie title and gives the space age Frankenstein someone to tangle with later.
The biggest question is: How the hell did they get everyone, and even a few small rooms, inside of that spaceship? It’s clearly bigger on the inside than the outside. Maybe Doctor Who helped them build it.
Sorry. That’s my adult-self pondering the don’t-give-a-damn oversights of the filmmakers. I had it all figured out when I was a nine-year-old genius. This heap of offbeat enjoyment should be wallowed in instead of sifted through.
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