Not only is this my favorite A&C film, it's one of my all time favorite films period. It might even be my favorite Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolf Man (and yes, even Invisible Man) film, though I'm sure saying that out loud will likely annoy a few of you diehard monster kids out there! Anyway, the box has clearly seen better days, and the reeled film itself is unfortunately melted, warped, very brittle, and completely unplayable (hey, you can't win 'em all!), --but good lord, I'm such a diehard freak for this monster mash-o-rama, that it will still make a great display piece in my office anyway, so no worries. I love all of the slightly off model cartoon art on the back of the box too! You go, Creech!
I had this Castle Films' condensed version years ago. Back when I just got into films (16mm and 8mm), I didn't realize they made condensed films, so when I bought this I was thinking, "Wow, that's really cheap for a whole film!" then when I went to watch it, wah wahhhhhh. Condensed version. But yes, still cool. A&C Meet Frankenstein is hands down my favorite A&C AND Monster film. I watched it every time they played it on Channel 11 and now have it saved permanently to my DVR so I can watch it anytime I want.
ReplyDelete8mm and 16 mm film, pre VCR fun of its day. Unlike aged, unplayable VCR tapes, you can still see the contents of the film.
ReplyDeleteHa! Even a little bit gimpy that's a heck of a nice find. You can always get out the old loupe and light table and look at the beautiful, grainy old frames any time you want to--whether or not they will ever actually make it through a projector again. As far as movie rankings go, well, I get where you're coming from. But for me the ranks shift down by almost one whole slot. This is my second favorite Frankenstein, Dracula, and Larry Talbot movie (but probably my first fave Invisible Man). I'm still plenty iconoclastic, though, since I'm putting this one over BRIDE, and I'm sure that totally heretical to many.
ReplyDeleteBack in the early '70s, I saw in the TV listings that this movie was going to be screened on the coming Saturday morning. Thing is, I had a Saturday job, and though I was tempted to throw a sickie, I decided to go to work. It was around 13 years later (half my life at the time) that I eventually got to see it on TV. I've now got the DVD, and whenever I watch it, I think of that Saturday morning when I almost didn't go to work.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, Dracula's reflection can be seen in a mirror, and you can see one of the electrodes on Frankie's neck pulling off as he gets up from the table he's on, but that apart, it's a great little movie. Would've loved to see Boris as the Monster though.
Always glad to hear from other A&C Meet Frankie fans out there! I do believe I have a few more posts on this subject for the future --so hang in there :)
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