FRANKENSTEIN '80 (1972)
Directed by Mario Mancini
Gorgon VHS
THE FILM
A scientist named "Dr. Frankenstein" creates a monster named Mosaic. But, Mosaic's body keeps rejecting parts of itself causing him to rampage around and kill people. Dr. F steels a big carafe filled with a blue liquid. This particular blue liquid will keep organs from being rejected, in theory. But, it doesn't work and the rampaging goes on until all organs are rejected and Mosaic dies.
Writing down the plot makes me feel a little foolish. What does it all mean? Why does it happen? Where exactly are we? The movie just kind of throws itself at you. Things happen and they don't seem to connect to other things but there is a whole mess of gore and some sleazy behavior. And, it's all hurled at the viewer in strange, logy waves. There is someone who might be a hero and someone who might be a heroine but all of that fades in and out. It's really about the killings and the passing of time in between those killings.
Phil Hardy's Encyclopedia of Horror Movies says that "Frankenstein ‘80 was released in the Italian provinces only, although it later surfaced in Brazil." He forgot to mention that is also surfaced in my home, on a DVD-R sent over by Mr. Skull that he transferred from his VHS tape that he won off of Ebay. (It's strange that Hardy would have missed something like that.) I don't know if the book's statement is true but, boy, that would be neat. That would make it like Hauntedween or The Hackers or Wolfman. A territorial number that got snuck out of a village where the word giallo doesn't conjure up images of black-gloved killers and elaborate murders but thoughts of the sun.
I imagine crowds of people in the Italian provinces coming in from the vineyard, exhausted from a long day of stomping & picking. The women washing the deep purple off of their busy feet. The men laughing heartily & snapping each other with towels, sending chest hair into the ether. The farmers waving goodnight to their animals & their fields. The lazy kid sleeping under a tree being called into his home by his mother's voice. The couple holding hands along the river vowing to meet again at midnight, in this very same spot. Then, with the sun setting behind a large hill, they all move as one onto the main piazza. Where are they going? To The Cinema. To see Mosaico, aka Frankenstein '80.
And, as they watch, we see that everything in the film is something that connects to their lives & their beliefs & their collective souls, here in the Provinces of Italy. The blue liquid triggers the collective memory of something that happened ages ago, possibly during the war, and they laugh. All the talk of gonads brings waves of applause. The slightly buffoonish police remind them of Giovanni Fattibene, the Local Poliziotto, who hasn't fired his gun since the early 50s. The rejection of the organs is a metaphor for their town's wine being rejected by the Vatican two years ago. A pain that still lingers, not only economically but in ways far more powerful for this deeply Catholic Province. And, the mosaic of the plot matches the mosaic of the monster matches the spontaneous conversations breaking out in the theater & the people strolling out to smoke a cigarette, to talk with a friend. The movie is the lively background to a lovely evening out
in the world, their world. Every once in a while it catches their attention and they imbibe & enjoy, with the same voracious candor of all those who know that something beautiful was made just for them.
So, with that in mind, give Frankenstein '80 a viewing. Your mind will wander and the plot will make you arch your eyebrows and frown but, if you immerse yourself, you might just go to that place. If you don't go, well, there's always plenty of gore and sleaze. For some, that's enough.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Sounds bad and looks bad. But, I've no complaints. The picture is framed right in the center of the screen for the credits. ("ATO ROMANO – O PAPAS – ILA PARKER – FIZ One credit just reads "BONOS". I don't even have anything to say about this one. I just think it's kind of funny.) The folks who prepared the VHS probably didn't care that much. It would have been nice to watch the film properly framed (Hardy's book says it was shot scope.) but we take what we have. It's been so long since I've lowered myself into a transfer this grotty. It was fun to go back.
EXTRAS
Dr. F talks about gonads early on. I wasn't expecting that so I'm calling it an Extra.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Frankenstein '80 may stop and start. It may feel as if you've missed the first 15 minutes when you start. And, there will be moments when you think "Can we pick it up?" And, you may forget everything a few minutes later. I watched it four days ago and I'm already having trouble remembering things. But, to peg it down sharp, it's a decent Italian early 70's slap of horror, without the giallo set-up or gothic verve that normally fills up the films of the time.
Maybe that's not a recommendation. Maybe you should move to the Italian provinces. I bet they're beautiful.
— Dan Budnik, 05.21.09 |
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