Death Race 2000
In a future America, now a fascist dictatorship, the masses are pacified by watching the Transcontinental Road Race. Driving from New York to Los Angeles, drivers rack up extra points by running over pedestrians.
“The Monster of Frankenstein”
Previously I poster “Dracula, Sovereign of the Damned”, of of two Marvel Comics titles adapted by Toei before the licensing deal they had ran out. Instead of the Avengers or the X-Men, Toei decided to shell out the big bucks to license two characters that were in the public domain.
Whereas “Dracula, Sovereign of the Damned” used character designs, supporting characters and story lines from the Tomb of Dracula” comics, this one dispenses with all that and goes of a straight rehashing of the Universal films of the 30s and 40s. Baron Frankenstein creates a monster, more for personal curiosity than personal tragedy he experienced, it is a grunting, growling, cube headed monstrosity that breaks loose and mayhem ensues.
It even has a kindly blind man that takes pity on the creature. Even defending him from his pursuers by yelling “No! He is innocent!”
Except for all the people he killed after he escaped the castle. It is even mentioned that he ate one of them!
There is a heavy handed motif of comparing the monster to Christ. I’m no biblical scholar, but I am pretty sure that Jesus didn’t body slam people to death for interrupting his stolen meals, or throw huge boulders at his pursuers. If he had the Romans wouldn’t have caught him so easy.
So, in this film you get,
Frankenstein Jesus
Severed animal heads
Lots of murders and accidental deaths
Cannibalism
Little kids with revolvers and really bad aim
and a suicide by Baron Frankenstein in front of his own daughter
Cause, y’know… for the kids!
“RRRRR! Fire bad! MOVIE! BAD! RRRR!”
Radio Blue Heart presents TALES FROM THE PUBLIC DOMAIN!
Episode 68: Tales of Frankenstein!
After the unexpected international success of “The Curse of Frankenstein”, Hammer Films and Columbia Pictures collaborated on this short film, a pilot for a television series that never materialized.
“Tales of Frankenstein” would feature stories about Baron Frankenstein as he travels and continues his work in creating life from the dead. Each episode was to feature a new monster and new experiments.
Even thought the proposed series never came to be, many of the story concepts from the scripts commissioned for the film were adapted in feature films for Hammer Films. This includes “Frankenstein Created Woman” and “The Evil of Frankenstein”.
