Young Frankenstein (1974)
Directed by Mel Brooks
A young neurosurgeon inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback, a pretty lab assistant and the elderly housekeeper. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather was delusional, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind.
9 connections found
View:
9 films that influenced Young Frankenstein
What critics say influenced Young Frankenstein
The combination has been around a long while — dating clear back to silent pictures like Harold Lloyd’s Haunted Spooks and Wallace Reid’s The Ghost Breaker.
I will confess to experiencing flashbacks to Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, Bill Condon’s Gods and Monsters, Lucky McKee’s May, and other riffs on the story while I was watching this…
The story has been moulded into numerous adaptations, parodies and spoofs, including Young Frankenstein (1974), Blackenstein (1973), Frankenhooker (1990), Frankenweenie (2012), and, most recently, Lisa Frankenstein (2024).
The story of the man who would be God and his creation has appeared in numerous cinematic guises, from the flatheaded, bolt-necked monster of 1930s as played by Boris Karloff to Peter Boyle’s all-singing-all-dancing creature in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein…
Along the way, del Toro does something one would think to be impossible — he reclaims the famous blind man sequence from the realm of the comedic, specifically from Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.”
…from the creepy (James Whale’s 1931 classic horror), to the hilarious (Mel Brooks’s 1974 classic Young Frankenstein)…
Even the Mel Brooks spoof Young Frankenstein looms larger over any update.
James Whale's "Frankenstein" (1931) and "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935), and the follow-up, "Son of Frankenstein" (1939), were the primary targets, but "Dracula" (1931), "The Wolf Man" (1941) and "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954) also provide ample fodder.
Director/co-writer Brooks and star/co-writer Gene Wilder brilliantly spoof the Universal Frankenstein films (lovingly skewering Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and Son of Frankenstein) while creating their own emotional, comedic take on Mary Shelley's classic tale.
But the real table-setter, in terms of the horror comedy’s style and appeal, was the 1948 smash Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
Advertisement
James Whale's "Frankenstein" (1931) and "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935), and the follow-up, "Son of Frankenstein" (1939), were the primary targets, but "Dracula" (1931), "The Wolf Man" (1941) and "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954) also provide ample fodder.
James Whale's "Frankenstein" (1931) and "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935), and the follow-up, "Son of Frankenstein" (1939), were the primary targets, but "Dracula" (1931), "The Wolf Man" (1941) and "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954) also provide ample fodder.
Since then, successors have included Bride of Frankenstein (1935), satires like Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein (1974) and British actor/director Kenneth Branagh’s artsy Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994).
…the films that came after it (Bride of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and even comedies like Young Frankenstein) cemented the story’s mythic stature…
Director/co-writer Brooks and star/co-writer Gene Wilder brilliantly spoof the Universal Frankenstein films (lovingly skewering Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and Son of Frankenstein) while creating their own emotional, comedic take on Mary Shelley's classic tale.
Mel Brooks ("High Anxiety"/"Blazing Saddles"/"The Twelve Chairs") directs Young Frankenstein as a parody homage to Whale's 1931 Frankenstein and the other 1930's horror genre films from Universal.
All were processed in DeLuxe color, except Blazing Saddles was three-strip dye-transfer Technicolor in its time and this DVD is somewhat close here, while Young Frankenstein is real black and white.�…
Advertisement
From its opening title (which manages to satirize “Frankenstein” and “ Citizen Kane ” at the same time) to its closing, uh, refrain, “Young Frankenstein” is not only a Mel Brooks movie but also a loving commentary on our love-hate affairs with monsters.