Director: Mel Welles and Aureliano Luppi
Year: 1971
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: La figlia di Frankenstein
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
Retrieving new bodies for an experiment, a scientist and his assistant try to keep his experiments away from his daughter, but when she finds out his creature has escaped into the countryside tries to curtail it's rampage as well as continue the troubled experiments to get them to work.
Review:
This is a surprisingly decent Italian Gothic horror entry. One of the better features here is the main aspect that really gives this their power in the gloriously Gothic castle used which is a real plus. The stone and brick constructed building has a really healthy air of dread to it, and with the design and furnishes, it's even more of a treat visually. The long, tall hallways, windows everywhere and spacious rooms give a great look, while the basement is marvelous as this houses the expected laboratory touches from the operating space to the electrical equipment inside pretty good. The design is grand as it really looks like a castle, and during the numerous thunderstorms throughout, this is a fantastic Gothic experience.
There's also the fine action involved here as the film picks up considerably once the creature gets loose since this one really goes out and terrorizes the countryside. This knocks off a lot of victims in it's rampage and these scenes have a lot of really great moments, from the escape from the lab, the attack out in the countryside on the lonely couple or the ambush on the farmhouse which all come together with some really fun moments, especially the ones with the nude victims which are especially fun. The final brawl in the laboratory is really great, with some nice back-and-forth between them, both sides have an upper-hand and it stays entertaining all the way through with the inclusion of the flaming mansion around them. That there's a fair amount of violence and damage caused during it is enough for some fun to be had, and overall it makes for a good scene.
The fact that this one even decides to spend a lot of time with the female taking on the role gives it a couple of great moves to it. These here are the film's good points as this one doesn't have a lot of flaws, but they're quite huge. The biggest one is easily the film's dragging pace that takes forever to get to the creature's escape, as most of it is about her desire to help them and those conversations just drag and drag. Once it gets out, the film is split between the lamest police investigation possible into the romantic subplot between those that are left which makes the few kills interspersed alongside that much more interesting due to the inactivity surrounding them from the film's lame pace.
The cheesiness of the film, most obviously the make-up for the creature, is a huge one since it takes on a couple different areas. The most obvious would be the make-up for the creature which is in no way anything remotely scary, really looks like a bunch of rubber molded onto the face into a haphazard design and doesn't once try to stay consistent. The design it tries to use is good, but there's no way that it gets anything more than derisive laughter. Also big is the film's lack of variety in kills. These are pretty much just the same two or three kills over and over again, with only a few that are different and it really detracts that it just does the same thing over and over. These here are what really drag the film down.
Overview: ***1/2/5
While it's a cheesy take on the genre, this one does have a few good points of interest in there that offer it some sort of enjoyment. Cheesy film lovers will be able to see this as a campy classic, while those who have an interest in more serious fare will find this one hard to swallow.
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