***
Genial hit-and-miss parody, aimed rather more at the Universal Frankenstein films of the 1930s than Mary Shelley's book. Gene Wilder plays the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, who overcomes the shame of his famous forebears (he pronounces his name "Fronkensteen") when he discovers Victor's notes and realizes he can reanimate dead tissue, ultimately creating his own "monster" (Peter Boyle). Marty Feldman and Teri Garr assist. Very funny in spots -- Gene Hackman's turn as a lonely blind man is a particular highlight -- but the humor is so compartmentalized, much of it either works for you or it doesn't. Black and white.
Genial hit-and-miss parody, aimed rather more at the Universal Frankenstein films of the 1930s than Mary Shelley's book. Gene Wilder plays the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, who overcomes the shame of his famous forebears (he pronounces his name "Fronkensteen") when he discovers Victor's notes and realizes he can reanimate dead tissue, ultimately creating his own "monster" (Peter Boyle). Marty Feldman and Teri Garr assist. Very funny in spots -- Gene Hackman's turn as a lonely blind man is a particular highlight -- but the humor is so compartmentalized, much of it either works for you or it doesn't. Black and white.