Flesh for Frankenstein
Although the film is often referred to as "Andy Warhol's Frankenstein," he wasn't directly involved in the production, but allowed the director to use his name. Warhol would make rare visits to the sets and during the editing period.,When Frankenstein "shocks" life into his creatures, him and Otto are touching the bodies with bare hands, yet they do not seem to be receiving any of the electricity.,Baron Frankenstein: To know death, Otto, you have to fuck life... in the gall bladder!,The original UK cinema version was cut by around 8 minutes on its initial release in 1973. Despite a lesser cut (2 minutes 8 secs) version being shown at London's Scala cinema 10 years later, the video certificate was withheld after the film became one of the infamous "DPP 72" list of video nasties. It eventually secured a UK video release in 1996 - minus 56 seconds of cuts to shots of the Baron smearing blood across the breasts of a female corpse and sexually caressing the body - and was finally granted a full uncut certificate in March 2006.,Edited into The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster (2002),Main Title
Composed by Claudio Gizzi
Conducted by Claudio Gizzi
Courtesy by RCA,This is clearly the superior of the two films that Paul Morrissey filmed at Cinecitta studios (Rome) during the early 1970s. It's the typical Frankenstein story with the Morrissey's spin on it.

And I suspect that it has a lot to do with Antonio Margheriti being involved since he is famous in Italian horror circles for the gore effects he brings to films. Especially the scene where the male monster (Srdjan Zelenovic) rips open his stomach sutures, exposing his organs in an act of suicide. Very anatomically correct.

Udo Kier is probably the best reason to see this film, however. His hammy acting skills are tops! His version of Frankenstein is so demented, I guess the German accent adds a lot to it. Usually it's an American or English actor who plays Frankenstein so having a real life German (speaking in English, of course) adds to the atmosphere.

And of course Joe Dallesandro's New York accent sounds totally out of place here, just as it did in BLOOD FOR DRACULA. He sounds like a male hustler hanging out in Times Square instead of an Italian stable boy

Also hideous is Monique Van Vooren as Baroness. Good gawd, the Dallesandro character must have been real hard-up in order to sleep with that old hag.

Still, it has decent atmosphere and the Criterion DVD uses a widescreen print that looks crystal along with production stills of the movie, secondary commentary track by Morrissey who has some revealing comments about the film, and some silly, pseudo-intellectual commentary by Maurice Yakowar that a trashy film like this doesn't deserve.

Worth seeing mostly for Kier's presence.

6 out of 10,