Frankenstein Meets The Space Monster is an inaccurate name for the film, as neither Dr. Frankenstein, the Monster, nor any made-up distant relative appears at all. The plot threads that do actually exist only intertwine near the end. As this is a camp classic, most audience members probably already know that. The question then isn’t whether this 1965 sci-fi film is good or bad, but whether it’s any fun.
Princess Marcuzan (Marilyn Hanold) and Nadir (Lou Cutell) are on their way from Mars to Earth. Why? Because their planet, ravaged and decimated by war, needs to be repopulated, and they need women for that. But as they near the third planet from the sun, they mistakenly believe they are being fired upon. So, they shoot back. Aside from a few satellites, the Martians also strike a rocket ferrying one Colonel Frank Saunders (Robert Reilly). The crash fries the android’s circuits, sending him on a destructive rampage across Puerto Rico.
Now it is up to Dr. Adam (James Karen) and Karen (Nancy Marshall) to track down Frank and repair him before it is too late. As they travel the island, the aliens unleash a creature not of this planet, causing havoc in its wake. Unfortunately, the only thing strong enough to defeat the vile thing is the broken android. This puts time pressure upon Adam and Karen to fix Frank as soon as possible.
Frankenstein Meets The Space Monster was directed by Robert Gaffney, but has no credited screenwriter. Instead, the story is attributed to George Garrett, though R.H.W. Dillard and John Rodenbeck reportedly helped with the plotting. The lack of a proper screenplay helps explain why each scene feels completely disparate from the one before. The extraterrestrials talk of the horrid aftermath of war as they fly into Earth’s atmosphere. Then there’s a scene wherein Adam and Karen flirt in a rom-com sort of way. These two elements are at odds and rub up against each other exactly as viewers would imagine: confoundingly.
“…the aliens unleash a creature not of this planet…the only thing strong enough to defeat the vile thing is the broken android.”
It is no surprise that Gaffney only directed three films, two of them shorts. The man has no visual style to speak of. He frames the action with the excitement of Dante and Randall talking at the Quik Stop cash register. The cinematography never builds tension, and the pacing is never right. Things happen randomly, and sometimes, maybe, if lucky, a character or two will react.
Well, that would if the actors could deliver, which most cannot. Reilly acquits himself well as the android, being interesting enough to work as the humanoid. He also sells the danger the character represents decently enough. And no one else is good at all. Karen and Marshall share all the chemistry of a can of sardines and peanut butter. Hanold both over- and underacts, which is an unusual feat but also interesting to watch. Cutell is dull as dull can be, which is too bad, as throughout his long career as a character actor, he was usually dependable.
But what makes Frankenstein Meets The Space Monster a bad movie staple is the music. The song choices at every turn never match the current mood or indicate the danger afoot. Wanna go searching for Frank but leisurely, on a motorcycle while blasting 1960s surfer tunes? That is what happens, and if anyone who doesn’t laugh at it is far too serious about everything in life. Every song used is just as hilariously misplaced.
Frankenstein Meets The Space Monster is not good, not at all. But don’t let that fact prevent you from seeing it. Every decision the director, actors, producers, and so on made was the wrong one. While that makes for an objectively bad film, subjectively, it is the recipe for a true delight. This is the definition of so bad, it’s good. Everyone will have a blast watching the film, just for all the wrong reasons.
"…an objectively bad film, subjectively, it is the recipe for a true delight."
