FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR On Blu-ray From Kino

 

I first saw FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR about forty years ago, when it was presented by Svengoolie, during his "Son Of" days. My much younger self wasn't all that impressed with the film--mainly due to the fact that it had nothing to do with Frankenstein whatsoever. 

Nevertheless, FBT has a place in Gothic horror films history, with it being the first feature written & starring Paul Naschy, Spain's premier monster movie fanatic/actor. Kino Lorber gives FBT the deluxe treatment, with a 2-D version of the American release of the film, a stereoscopic version (which can only be properly viewed with a 3-D Blu-ray player and monitor) and a anaglyphic version, with a pair of 3-D glasses included in the disc case. 

The saga of Paul Naschy's (birth name Jacinto Molina) werewolf Waldemar Daninsky begins here, as the Polish nobleman is bitten by another lycanthrope in a vague European location. A beautiful young aristocrat falls in love with Waldemar, and she and her former boyfriend try to find a cure for Daninsky's affliction. They wind up seeking the help of a mysterious Dr. Mikhelov and his sultry wife....but the couple are vampires, who have nefarious plans for Daninsky and his friends. 

FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR is the American version of a Spanish/German film titled LA MARCA DEL HOMBRE LOBO. Independent producer Sam Sherman picked up the movie, cut out some scenes, and added a cheesy prologue explaining how the Frankenstein family was cursed to be known as "Wolfstein". (Sherman owed a movie to distributors with Frankenstein in the title, and he saw this as an easy way to deal with the problem.) 

The actual movie itself is a bizarre mishmash of classic monster concepts and Euro Gothic luridness. The movie is most assuredly set in the late 1960s, but it has wandering gypsies, superstitious villagers, and plenty of atmospheric locales. Paul Naschy's Waldemar certainly has some Lawrence Talbot-like traits, but he's also an energetic cuss, snarling and thrashing about with abandon. It's Julian Ugarte and Aurora de Alba who grab the viewer's attention the most as the creepy Mikhelovs (De Alba's cleavage, especially in 3-D, is a wonder to behold.) Naschy might have been better served if he wrote more scripts about them. 

It must be pointed out that this Kino release only features the American version of FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR, which is about 15 minutes shorter than the original cut. (That cut, by the way, can be found on a DVD released by Media Blasters earlier this century--if you have that disc, you should hold on to it, as I'll explain later.) The 2-D version of FBT, presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio on this Blu-ray is very soft-looking and fuzzy at times (I'd even say the Media Blasters release looks better). 

As for the 3-D version....I need to mention that I am not a big 3-D fan, which means of course that I don't own a 3-D disc player. Watching movies in 3-D usually gives me headaches, and I find the format distracting. I must say, though, that the anaglyphic 3-D in this release comes off very well. The 3-D is used as an enhancement, not just a gimmick. Instead of contrived attempts to thrust objects at the audience, the 3-D provides depth and extra perception to the scenes. Director Enrique Lopez Eguiluz did an excellent job setting up the shots for the format (or at least someone did). I would even state that the anaglyphic version of FBT has much better visual quality than the 2-D version. (The only voice track provided on this disc is the dubbed English version.) 

Along with 2-D and 3-D versions of the film, Kino has provided a bunch of extras, including the scenes not used in the U.S release, an alternate main title sequence, and a theatrical trailer and radio spots. There's also a short program in which Tim Lucas details the amount of work that went into making the 3-D version of FBT finally available to Region A home audiences. 

Lucas also provides a brand new audio commentary, where he proclaims his unabashed love for FBT. He also gives out plenty of info on the life of Paul Naschy (at one point comparing him to Quentin Tarantino), and he mentions the original sources of various parts of the cobbled-together music score. There's also another new commentary featuring Troy Howarth, Troy Guinn, and Rodney Barnett. The trio are all Paul Naschy experts and fans, and their talk is a fun and lively one, as they discuss how important FBT was to the genre of Euro Gothic overall. Troy Howarth states that FBT has a "effortless weirdness", and that's about as apt of a summation as any when it comes to defining the cinematic legacy of Paul Naschy. Both commentaries add a lot to a viewer's knowledge and enjoyment of the film. 

The disc cover sleeve is reversible, with the over-the-top American poster for the film on one side. As mentioned, a pair of 3-D glasses are included. If you want to watch this film in anaglyphic 3-D, with friends or a significant other, I guess you....just have to share?? 

(By the way, if you do own the Media Blasters DVD of FBT, as I do, another reason to hang on to it is that it has even more deleted scenes and trims, and it also contains a fascinating audio commentary from Sam Sherman himself.) 

I mentioned at the beginning of this blog how unimpressed I was on my first viewing of FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR. Finally seeing it in 3-D has upped my appreciation of it. I wouldn't call it a great film, but it is an important one, as it kick-started the Spanish horror film boom of the early 1970s and it began the monster movie career of cult legend Paul Naschy. Kino has gone all out on this Blu-ray, and their efforts are vastly appreciated on my part.....especially the fact that they have enabled those who don't own a 3-D player a way to still view the movie in that format.