Frankenstein 1970

Frankenstein 1970
theatrical release poster
Directed by	Howard W. Koch
Screenplay by	Richard H. Landau George Worthing Yates
Story by	Aubrey Schenck Charles A. Moses
Based on	Frankenstein characters inn 1818 novel by Mary Shelley
Produced by	Aubrey Schenck
Starring	Boris Karloff
Cinematography	Carl E. Guthrie
Edited by	John A. Bushelman
Music by	Paul Dunlap
Production company	Aubrey Schenck Productions
Distributed by	Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
Release date	July 20, 1958 (1958-07-20)
Running time	83 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$110,000

Frankenstein 1970 is a 1958 science fiction/horror film, shot in black and white CinemaScope, starring Boris Karloff and featuring Don "Red" Barry. The independent film was directed by Howard W. Koch, written by Richard Landau and George Worthing Yates, and produced by Aubrey Schenck. It was released theatrically in some markets on a double feature with Queen of Outer Space.

Plot

It is 1970. Baron Victor von Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) has suffered torture and disfigurement at the hands of the Nazis as punishment for not cooperating with them during World War II. He nevertheless continues his work as a scientist. Needing funds to support his experiments, the Baron allows a television crew to shoot a horror film about his monster-making family at his castle in Germany.

This arrangement gives the Baron enough money to buy an atomic reactor, which he uses to create a living being, modeled after his own likeness before he had been tortured. When the Baron runs out of body parts for his work, he proceeds to kill off members of the crew, and even his faithful butler, for more spare parts. Finally, the Monster turns on the Baron, and they are both killed in a blast of radioactive steam from the reactor. After the reactor is shut down and the radiation falls to safe levels, the Monster's bandages are removed, and an audio tape is played back in which the Baron reveals that he had intended for the Monster to be a perpetuation of himself because he was the last of the Frankenstein family line.

Cast

• Boris Karloff as Baron Victor von Frankenstein
• Tom Duggan as Mike Shaw
• Jana Lund as Carolyn Hayes
• Donald Barry as Douglas Row
• Charlotte Austin as Judy Stevens
• Irwin Berke as Inspector Raab
• Rudolph Anders as Wilhelm Gottfried
• Norbert Schiller as Schutter, Frankenstein's butler
• John Dennis as Morgan Haley
• Mike Lane as Hans Himmler / the Monster

Production

Producer Aubrey Schenck had a three-picture deal with Boris Karloff.

The movie was shot at the Warner Bros. studio in a mere eight days on a modest budget. The main set was borrowed from Too Much, Too Soon (1958).

The title Frankenstein 1970 was intended to add a futuristic touch. During preproduction, alternative titles included Frankenstein's Castle, Frankenstein 1960, and Frankenstein 2000.

Allied Artists released the film, after purchasing it for $250,000.

Home media

For years, the only home video release available of Frankenstein 1970 was a pan and scan version on VHS. In October 2009, Warner Bros. included the film on the DVD Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics, along with three other movies. This release of Frankenstein 1970 features an audio commentary track by co-star Charlotte Austin and fan historians Tom Weaver and Bob Burns. Frankenstein 1970 was released in 2019 on Blu-ray as part of the Warner Archive Collection.

Howard Stern talked about the movie on his Sirius XM radio show. His father, Ben Stern would watch it on television and would call Howard "Schutter".

External links

• Frankenstein 1970 at IMDb
• Frankenstein 1970 at AllMovie
• Frankenstein 1970 at the TCM Movie Database
• Frankenstein 1970 at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Frankenstein 1970 at Rotten Tomatoes