Movielogr
Monster of Frankenstein (1981)
Directed by Yugo Serikawa
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
The film centers around the life of Victor Frankenstein. After creating the monster together with his partner Zuckel, the monster attacks the assistant and falls from a cliff. Assuming the monster is dead, Victor returns to his wife Elizabeth and daughter Emily. A police inspector named Bellbeau investigates some mysterious mutilations killings, and Victor is blackmailed by his former assistant, who lost an eye in his fight with the monster.
Length 98 minutes
Actors
Hôsei Komatsu | Nachi Nozawa | Kei Tomiyama | Mami Koyama | Minori Matsushima | Jōji Yanami | Yoku Shioya | Ichirō Nagai | Banjou Ginga | Kaneto Shiozawa | Keiko Yamamoto | Mugihito
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/26/2020 | TV | Broadcast | Other | 6 stars |
| (Average) 6 stars |
Viewing Notes
The second half of the Toei produced Marvel Comics adaptations of their monster comics (the other being TOMB OF DRACULA). This animated take is way more coherent than Dracula likely due to the source material / story in the comics. How the monster is presented here is more in line with Shelley’s original story and subsequent adaptations whereas the Dracula animated film is all over the place and just weird. Also the animated is more stylized and cartoonish rather than borrowing the same look as the comic book, the monster doesn’t resemble the same one we see in the comics. Overall, this is a better animated film. Also, the transfer for this one was very nice and sharp.
Like TOMB OF DRACULA, this was the Harmony Gold production that was briefly distributed in the US. The English dub is full of familiar voices we’d later hear in Robotech and other westernized anime series done by HG. We get Rebecca Forstadt (Minmei) as the girl Emily and what sounds like Tony Oliver (Rick) as her brother Phillip, among other Robotech voices. Having watched the Robotech series so many times I have these voices ingrained in my brain so they are super obvious to me. It makes the viewing of this film a little strange.
I’m sure there’s some legal shenanigans with the rights to these films between Toei and Marvel that’s kept them from getting any kind of official release and that’s unfortunate. They’d make a nice double feature release for the novelty and completist value. I’d love to view the Japanese versions w/the Japanese voice cast.
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