When you hear about a low budget film using a public domain source for its inspiration you immediately begin to wonder if it could possibly be any good whatsoever. Toss in the name of a relative like son, cousin, uncle, whatever and you begin to think that the odds are against you. So my surprise at how good FRANKENSTEIN’S DAUGHTER was is legitimate.
The black and white film made in 1958 for Astor Pictures, a company known mostly for re-releasing old movies, and originally released on a double bill with MISSILE TO THE MOON, the film was directed by Richard E. Cunha. If the name sounds familiar it isn’t due to the number of movies he made but because his film GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN has also recently been restored and released by The Film Detective who is responsible for this restored release. Let’s hope they can also get his other two most famous films the aforementioned MISSILE TO THE MOON and SHE DEMONS.
The story takes place in today’s times (well at least in 1958). Carter Morton (Felix Maurice Locher) is an elderly scientists working out of a lab in his basement with his assistant Oliver Frank (Donald Murphy), a younger man who seems rather belligerent about his methods. His goal is to create a formula that will eliminate disease forever. Living in the same house is Trudy (Sandra Knight), Morton’s niece.
Lately Trudy has been having nightmares thinking she is some sort of beast roaming the neighborhood. She feels that these dreams are real even though her boyfriend Johnny (John Ashely) and her friends assure her it’s only a dream. But we the viewer know different.
It seems that Oliver isn’t who he claims to be. And he’s conducting experiments of his own on the side, spiking Judy’s punch with his own formula, one that has indeed been changing her at night as she sleeps. With the help of Elsu the gardener he’s been trying to create the perfect being. Just like his grandfather and Elsu’s past employer Dr. Frankenstein.
In addition to working on the side Oliver is also attracted to Judy who rebuffs him every time he approaches her. He takes out one of her girlfriends instead but when the date goes badly he kills her. Not one to waste fresh material he takes her body back to the lab and places her brain inside the body he has been constructing. A female brain in a man’s body? Of course this is now Frankenstein’s daughter!
Toss in some teens having a pool party at the house, a song or two to keep the drive-in crowd seeing the movie happy and you have what could have been a schlock fest. The thing is the movie is actually good. There are no more plot holes here than you’ll find in half a dozen big budget name titles. The acting is good. The cinematography standard for the time and the make-up decent for a film this small.
In other words the movie is quite enjoyable. I found myself watching without dozing off or reaching for the fast forward button on my remote. No scenes or time is wasted here and everything helps to progress the story forward.
The Film Detective is one of the smaller boutique companies rediscovering old movies like this and giving them new life. I find them to be one of the better companies doing so because they not only clean up and offer the films in their catalog with pristine prints and extras, they do so at a reasonable price. A company like Shout Factory would have done this title and charged you twice as much. The Film Detective doesn’t do that.
The extras included with this title include a full commentary track with author/historian Tom Weaver, a full color booklet with original essay by Weaver, “Richard E. Cunha: Filmmaker of the Unknown” a career retrospective from Ballyhoo Motion Pictures featuring an archival interview with Cunha and “John Ashley: Man from the B’s” a new career retrospective featuring film historian C. Courtney Joyner.
If it sound like I really enjoyed this movie the fact is I
did. I have no doubt that I’ll more likely than not watch it again and for a
movie that’s not among the top films rated on any list that’s saying something.
My guess is you’ll have a lot of fun with this one too. It’s worth adding to
your shelf.
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