Film Review: Flesh for Frankenstein (Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival)
By: Joseph Perry (Twitter - Uphill Both Ways Podcast)
I first saw U.S./Italian/French coproduction Flesh for Frankenstein (1973) — alternatively known as Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein, though the famous artist merely lent his name at the request of director Paul Morrisey — as a teenager in all of its gory 3D glory. Certain images have stuck with me for years, and were pretty much exactly as I remembered them when I watched the film again at South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival this past weekend. For both good reasons and not particularly good ones, Flesh for Frankenstein is a lurid, outrageous must-see for horror movie lovers.
A darkly comical take on the Frankenstein mythos, Flesh for Frankenstein finds Baron Frankenstein (Udo Kier) trying to create two “zombies” — a male and a female — to mate and create a perfect Serbian race that he would command. Assisted by Otto (Arno Juerging), the mad scientist has to juggle his experiments with family time, as he is married to his sister Baroness Katrin Frankenstein (Monique van Vooren) and they have two young, creepy children.
The film is loaded with absurd scenes and jaw-dropping bits of dialogue, many of which are not fit for description for this family-friendly site. Suffice it to say that intestines dangle, body parts are severed, flesh is bared plentifully, and many types of perversions are on display. The set decoration of the Baron’s laboratory is a blast.
Kier is outstanding in his all-in, scenery chewing performance, which alone makes Flesh for Frankenstein worth a watch. Juerging is hilarious as his wide-eyed, leering assistant, and van Vooren is also fun as a selfish seductress. The cherry on top of this wild concoction is Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro as lusty farmhand Nicholas. His New York accent clashes with the European accents of his costars, adding yet another surreal touch to this diabolical delight.
I had as much fun rewatching Flesh for Frankenstein for the first time in decades as I did seeing it as an unsuspecting teen. Those who have witnessed its lunacy know why, and those who have yet to be blindsided by it have much to look forward to. Not for the squeamish nor the prudish, Flesh for Frankenstein is humorous grand guignol of the highest — or lowest, depending on your stance — order.
A 4k, 3D restoration of Flesh for Frankenstein screened as part of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, which takes place in Bucheon, South Korea from June 29–July 9, 2023.
Joseph Perry is one of the hosts of When It Was Cool’s exclusive Uphill Both Ways podcast (whenitwascool.com/up-hill-both-ways-podcast/). He also writes for the websites Gruesome Magazine (gruesomemagazine.com), The Scariest Things (scariesthings.com), Horror Fuel (horrorfuel.com), B&S About Movies (bandsaboutmovies.com), Uphill Both Ways (ubwpodcast.com), The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict (gbvreviews.com), and Diabolique Magazine (diaboliquemagazine.com), and film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope (videoscopemag.com) and Drive-In Asylum (etsy.com/shop/GroovyDoom).
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