Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965) Reviews

• IGNORE the low rating on this 60's sci-fi classic. Excellent entertainment!

  gsh9992006-12-15

  This is a really low-budget b/w movie but it is very entertaining. This movie has really aged well. Many sci-fi fans that see this movie for the first time will know what I'm talking about. I saw this 1965 movie for the first time in 2006 and loved it. I guess this one fits into the category "so bad it's great." But I consider this a damn good effort, especially considering the budget. The movie is tons of laughs. The alien invaders have an Uncle Fester-looking adviser to a hot-looking queen, who looks kind of like Barbara Steele. They come invading Earth and run into a cyborg ("Frank") built by the good old USA to explore space. This movie even has a helicopter air assault in vintage transport choppers! AWESOME! They had to send the Army to help the cyborg defeat the bat-people aliens and their weapon of last resort - a fanged monster that the aliens themselves can barely control!!!!! This movie has EVERYTHING and any fan of classic sci-fi and 60's bikini party horror should really love it.

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• Low-Budget but fun Schlock.

  SheliakBob2005-10-04

  A low budget, low brain-power film that is nevertheless quite entertaining. This film was a staple of late night and afternoon horror/SF movie shows when I was growing up. I never missed it. Disappointing at first, since there is no "Frankenstein" to speak of, only the android "Frank". But the Spacemonster is low-budget gruesome. The crash-burned android looks sufficiently frightening but is still sympathetic. The Martian invaders are something out of a low-grade exploitation film and make me giggle every time I watch the film. If you're looking for production values and crisp scripting, you probably ought to look somewhere else. If you're looking for a light-weight romp, something to swill soda and eat popcorn to on a rainy evening, then you could do much worse.

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• Delightfully twisted 60s camp

  jimtinder2001-12-10

  "Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster" deserves more than the small cult following it has attracted. Due to the lack of its inclusion on "Mystery Science Theater 3000," the movie is not widely known. The story (what there is of it) concerns Earth's first mission to Mars. A scientist (Jim Karen) has decided a robot would be better sent than a human, considering the enormous risks involved in interplanetary travel. Unknown to NASA, a ship containing the inhabitants of a doomed planet is orbiting Earth, seeking women to repopulate their species. The ship considers the Mars mission an attack, and destroys the ship, but not before Col. Frank (the robot) escapes the explosion and lands in Puerto Rico(!) This film, simply put, is a hoot to watch. From Dr. Nadir's Play-Doh ears, to the most stock footage I have ever seen in a movie (featuring the groovy song "That's The Way It's Got To Be" by The Poets), to the toy air-guns used by the aliens, to common drapery being used to incubate the captured women, "Space Monster" delivers many delciously awful moments.

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• Lame but Delightful to See

  claudio_carvalho2012-05-11

  In outer space, a Martian spacecraft commanded by Princess Marcuzan (Marilyn Hanold) and her assistant Dr. Nadir (Lou Cutell) is traveling to Earth to abduct women to breed a new race, since an atomic war has annihilated Martian women. Meanwhile in NASA, Dr. Adam Steele (Jim Karen), his assistant Karen Grant (Nancy Marshall) and General Bowers (David Kerman) are in a press conference presenting the astronaut Colonel Frank Saunders (Robert Reilly), who will participate of an extended space travel on the next morning. However they do not disclose to the press that Colonel Saunders is an android developed by the scientists. The Martian spacecraft lands on San Juan, in Porto Rico and when they see Saunders's capsule on the air, they believe it is an attack and they shoot the Earth ship down. The android is damaged and wanders on the island scaring people and behaving like Frankenstein. Dr. Steele and Karen head to Porto Rico to rescue the android, while the Martians abduct young women to take them to Mars. "Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster" is a lame film for the younger generations used to colored movies and special effects. But for me, it is delightful to see since it is a journey to my childhood when I used to see sci-fi films like this one and worshiped National Kid. This film is comparable with "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and other many famous and is underrated in IMDb. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "Frankenstein Contra o Monstro Espacial" ("Frankenstein Against the Space Monster")

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• Cheesy Sci-Fi Fun

  Ken S.2003-04-25

  This is one of those movies you have to watch with an open mind. I remember seeing it during the 70s on the local television show "Creature Feature" and marveled at how something so cheap be so bad, yet fun. The only real name here is James Karen, however Lou Cutell is an accomplished character actor in several movies. I only wish they would show this movie more as I haven't seen it in more than 20 years. I remember the monster the Martians had was big, furry and ugly and later the "Creature Feature" would use his mug in the stills promoting the show. Since the plot is pretty much covered by other posters, I'll spare my interpretation, however I will add that the Play-Do ears on Cutell's effeminate character (he looks like a crazed, pedophilac Vulcan) make the movie along with Frank's "Two-Face" part. All in all good fun to watch. Just don't take it seriously.

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