'Frankenstein's Daughter' Review

'Frankenstein's Daughter' – 1958

Synopsis:

A descendant of Doctor Frankenstein uses chemicals and good old-fashioned cadaver pieces to follow in the family tradition.


Thoughts:

I was a Monster Kid. I read books about old Horror movies. Every week I watched 'Shock Theater' with the local horror host Toolouse NoNeck and the classic film he had to present. I don't know how many films I saw that way. I clearly remember seeing three: 'The Green Slime', the original 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', and 'Frankenstein's Daughter'. It was a movie clearly trying to tap into the teen monster trends of the time. I didn't remember it being a very good movie but vividly remembered a sequence where a character gets run over by a car in order to be added to the creature being assembled. After a long day of this and that, I popped in this movie, curled up on the couch, and fully expected the movie to interact with my existing tiredness to assist me in dozing off.

The movie woke me up. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to claim its a lost classic or anything like that. As tired as I was that night for the movie to engage me to the level that it woke me up is quite an accomplishment. It gets points for that.

Its not a perfect movie but it has a lot going for it. The story is reasonably solid for what it is, with a feeling of progression. The 'bad guys' aren't immediately evident as they aren't caricatures. At the same time they are 'updated' versions of the characters as we'd see them in a movie set in the 1700s or 1800s. Loyalties and levels of sanity alter as the story progresses so that the characters move forward. Stories of monsters are dismissed as stories until proof is received.

I was also impressed with the makeups. The creatures are rather hideous looking. It gave me the impression that the filmmakers knew they needed to deliver something wild here and spent enough of their budget making this right.

On the downside, there's a character or two that just disappears, removed from the story by dialogue rather than action. There's also an acceptable but pointless party sequence with a song.

I've seen better films and plenty that were worse. If you have an interest in older monster movies, this may appeal to you more than you expect. If you can't deal with black and white films or horror movies where people don't get ripped in half while on screen, well, then this won't work for you.

Recommended with reservations.

What Am I? Seven?

My sinuses have been giving me issues for the past couple months. I dunno if it's an issue I've always had that's just worse this year, or me getting old, or allergies or what exactly. It's not the biggest deal in the world but it's something I've been more aware of lately than years past. I've been taking some herbal remedies to combat the congestion but, for awhile, wasn't as consistent as I should have been.

My mom told me a story of a friend of hers that took these herbs for a couple months and then leaned weird or something and had all this green fluid ooze out of her nose and sinuses. It sounded really gross.

It made me more consistent with my herb taking. I want green ooze too.

Music Monday - Doctorlike?

Things occur to me in strange ways. I also have a habit of seeing things just through the filter of my Crazy World. Like where everything relates to Doctor Who.

Thomas Dolby? He kinda looks like Peter Davison.

And in this twisted world of mine, the lead singer of A Flock of Seagulls looks like Colin Baker, or at least his mopy brother.

Yes. I am not right.

A PSA from Brett Favre

Hi. I'm Brett Favre and I've been playing football for a long time. I've gotten my share of injuries over the years but the worst one may be the hidden one. I've got postal... connie... well, I can't say the word but Dr. Nick says I got it. It's this brain thing from taking all those hits over the years. I forget how old I am or what's going on or who people really are. It can be embarrassing, like when you realize you're with a girl that looks like your wife, but isn't. Football is slowly killing me, like when I drink beer while taking pills, I mean when I DID do that, cause I don't anymore. I won't quit football because I have nothing else to do with my life. So when you see me under a pile of Viking defenders, remember I'm putting myself out there for your entertainment.

Dang, that's right. I play for the Vikings now. No wonder Coach gets upset when I throw towards a green jersey. Well heck, I only had to do that for like a billion years. Old habits are hard to break...

Music Monday - Minnesota Music is Not Just Prince and Bob Dylan

Timing is everything. The 1980s and early 1990s were a hotbed of music around the nation. Grunge would become the dominate musical style and the Seattle 'scene' became the in thing.

It wasn't the only scene. What might have happened if the next big thing was... Minneapolis?


Information Society's brand of techno pop was both of the time and of the future. Change the colors in the video, heavy up them beats a bit and you might still have a hit today, even if the lead singer looks like a young Vince McMahon with a weird haircut.





I remember watching Trip Shakespeare videos quite often on 120 Minutes, you know, back when the M in MTV stood for 'Music'. I remember liking them but not enough to grab an album. A different formation of this band would later hit the big time under the name SemiSonic.





Powermad brings the metal! Long hair, squealing vocals, powerful guitars. Where's Strong Bad to love this?





The Replacements were one of those bands that I thought everyone knew about. Maybe they did then but they don't now. I should know them better. Paul Westerberg is full of awesome.





Aw what the heck, I covered Husker Du already so I shouldn't again. Ah! After Husker Du, Bob Mould formed Sugar and cranked out an excellent album in Copper Blue. 'How can I explain away/something that I've never done?' Love that lyric!

Being Teased

Music Monday - Screamin' Jay Hawkins

I gravitate to what is called 'novelty' records: parodies of songs, stuff not meant to be taken seriously, or stuff that's just weird. I collected tv show theme songs as a kid. Probably still would except there aren't any anymore. I also like monsters: Frankensteins (I know the name belongs to the Doctor, bear with me here), vampires, kaiju, and such. The good naturedly creepy.

When they combine, oh boy!

I've got an Elvira's Monster Hits tape somewhere I've had for years but I'm sure I heard 'I Put a Spell On You' on the radio as a kid. It's the sort of song that all sorts of people have covered over the years. For my money, nobody puts the creepy in it better than Screamin' Jay Hawkins!




Seriously, what is going on there? I don't know but I love it and it sounds like he's in tune. Classic.

Also on that tape was his 'Little Demon'. I think Mojo Nixon took Jay's 'gotta have at least one freak out in every song' theme but who cares? This dude is nuts!




Love. It.

It'll Be November Soon

At lunch the other day, I leaned back from my exciting peanut butter sandwich and closed my eyes. It's nice to be working but it does wear me out some days. I sighed and tried to get comfortable in my car.

I tasted barbeque sauce.

Why would I taste barbeque sauce? Peanut butter tastes nothing like barbeque sauce. Why would I even be thinking about it?

Suddenly, it wasn't even the taste of barbeque sauce, it was barbeque sauce on a hamburger with bacon. It was a happy taste. Suddenly, I was elsewhere.

What was the name of that restaurant? It's in Frontierland, near Splash Mountain. Casey Jones maybe. It's getting later in the day. I'm hungry. The burger is good. I'm surrounded by items made of wood. The table, the chairs, the walls are all made of wood. I'm very comfortable. I lean over the table as we chat and eat.

When we walk outside, it's grown dark. The Magic Kingdom lights up, glowing in the dusk. Things are good.

I'm Watching Spike Milligan So You Should Too

Music Monday - Covers

Cover songs can be fun. Sometimes they're just a cheap way to be a familiar song into a movie without paying the big money for the original. I say booo to that. Do something to make the song your own. This week I'm keen to feature a few songs that take that concept to a whole new level.

Disco is dead. Do you know what killed it? DEATH METAL!





Bert and Ernie. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Electric Guitars and Bagpipes? Yes, really. If you've ever wanted to hear a bagpipe play the guitar riff from an AC/DC song, this is the place to see it!





Rap and Metal have intermingled since the 1980s but Rage Against the Machine threw a bit ol' slab of Funk in there as well.





Stir your brain up. Mix things together and see what happens when two things collide. Get chocolate in your peanut butter, sucka!

Music Monday - Caroll Spinney

I am thirty-six and a half years old, more or less. I've been a Muppet fan since before I can remember. I do not remember a time when that switch was not flipped into the 'on' position. Finally last Saturday I met a Muppeteer. Not just any old Muppeteer but one of the longest serving ones and, arguably, one of the most popular. I met the man behind Big Bird and Oscar, Caroll Spinney.

I had no great expectations for the experience, just the hopes that I wouldn't make too much of a fool of myself. It worked out great. There was no mad rush for him and I ended up spending an hour or so, off and on, with him and his wife, watching him draw and chatting. It was like meeting an uncle you'd never met before and finding out he's a really neat guy, just like you hoped.

Caroll and his characters go back to the beginning of Sesame Street when things were a bit different. Apparently Oscar hadn't been exposed to his trash for as long and had yet to turn green. But he could sing.





Big Bird was different in those early days as well, a little smaller of head, literally and figuratively. Early on, he was 'younger' and played more as a more learning, simple character than the innocent he would become. Ah, days when words had different meanings and before government cutbacks would eliminate Q and Z from the alphabet...








I love Oscar for many reasons. This song and the thoughts behind it may be most of the reason why.





Mr. Spinney, good health! And have a rotten day! heh heh heh


Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days     Sesame Street: Old School, Vol. 1 (1969-1974)

Helping Out

Saturday was largely spent in Illinois at a Card Show. Not long after arriving, I headed for the restroom before I started exploring the show in earnest. As I went to open the door, I saw there was a gentleman in a personal motor scooter inside, working to get the door open so he could exit. Quickly I pushed the door open as widely as I could, holding it open so this gentleman could exit with greater ease. As he thanked me, I looked up at him.

It was Richard Kiel. Jaws from the 70s Bond films amongst other things. He was a guest of the show.

And that was my good deed for the day.

Music Monday - Scythian

I remember a rainy weekend at Irish Fest a few years ago. The rain had driven away my friends and I wandered the Fest alone. At the Celtic Rock Stage Scythian played to about 20 others braving the weather. Due to the wet, they couldn't use the amps and the band struggled to be heard. Yet, they were smiling, thankful, and working to have a good time. I sat in the drizzle for a bit and listened. Despite the obstacles in front of them, they were still communicating fun to the crowd. I bought their CD which was good but didn't quite grab their live entertainment. They faded into my background.

Then Irish Fest 2009 they popped up in the packed Tipperary Tea Room and blew the roof off of it. Not literally mind. They'd also released a live album. When I got it signed, I was complimented on my sideburns.

In short, this band is awesome. And has good taste in facial hair.

They take music from various areas of the world and can play it 'straight' but also fuse it with other forms. Greek style violin can go gypsy or have an accordion added and get somewhat... techno...





They can also cover songs, and cover them well.





And they remember their 'days in prison'...





They have their little schticks, stuff they pull out of a bag of tricks at concerts because they work. This past Irish Fest they headlined a stage themselves because they are now officially That Good. Yet, it's not all silly. They can be serious as well.





I have yet to see them in front of an audience that wasn't on their side, if not when they walked on stage, at least by the time they walked off. Even the toughest crowds are not immune to their charm.





These guys do good work.

Immigrant Road Show     Scythian Live, Vol. 1     Scythian Live, Vol. 2

Ode to August

August.

August is always action packed. I may not know which weekend has what event but I know I'll be busy.

August is the only month I know I'm busy. Next August? Already booked. Can I tell you what's happening next weekend? No. August 20, 2011? Irish Fest.

August keep me running.

August tires me out so that I miss standard weekly events.

August always brings memories that I will cherish for years to come.

August is fun.

I love August.


At the same time, I'm looking forward to being able to sit a little in September. Maybe just a little...

New Hats Make Me... Something or Other

Music Monday - Gaelic Storm (on a Thursday)

Irish Fest started today! No I'm not there! I won't be there until Saturday! Why are we shouting! I don't know!

I do know that Gaelic Storm is awesome.

One of the advantages of Irish Fest is that a lot of the bands play multiple times during the weekend. If two bands you're interested in are playing at the same time, you can always schedule to see one later on. Also, if you like a band, you can see them again. Gaelic Storm's been a regular visitor to the Fest for the past few years and they've been closing down their stage consistently cause no one wants to follow them. They put on a great show full of fun and energy. They sing songs you don't need to know the words to because you'll learn them quick enough. I might have seen them a dozen times now. Last year I saw them at least three times in five days. Maybe more.





The crowd around the Gaelic Storm stage is massive every time they play. The band seems to love the attention. They end up playing Wisconsin a couple times a year. The other year when they released their 'What's the Rumpus?' album, you got a free live track to download if you preordered it. It was 'Born to be a Bachelor' from the Pabst Theatre, downtown Milwaukee. So cool!





If you can't sing along, you can clap along, can't you?





At least that's what I heard but I wouldn't trust a person like me if I was you...





Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go die of thirst.

Music Monday - The Young Dubliners

It's been a week already? Bugger.

It's August and it occurs to me that Irish Fest 2010 is the weekend after this one. Wow! Finally! Can't wait. As my mind heads in that direction, that's where we're going.

We saw the Young Dubliners at Irish Fest a year or three ago. They return this year and I'm looking forward to it. They work in that punked/rocked up version of folk music that I rather love. Speedy guitars and fiddles at the same time. Good stuff.



Oh and a flute. Not enough flutes in rock music.



The Irish Sessions album referred to in the Early Show video is an album of covers. They cover two Pogues songs. Unfortunately (sorry fellas) this is the one I like less. It's still quite good, but I enjoy their cover of 'Tuesday Morning' more.



This is my favorite song that they do. It just gets me somewhere. It gets inside and stays there.



Why are they the YOUNG Dubliners when they're clearly not that young? Well, cause there's already a Dubliners and, well, they're older. Still AWESOME though.

Music Monday - Pop Will Eat Itself

Pop Will Eat Itself aka PWEI aka the Poppies were a late 80s/early 90s band, mostly known in the UK. The majority of their music is electronic dance with samples all over the place, with geek references all over the place. If you remember Information Society, they're kinda like that. Oooh, Information Society, gotta remember to write about them too.

So, beats for geeks. Well, not only geeks, but the geek references add a layer.





Sampling Rod Serling is not enough. Let's list all the things we like. Oooh, and center the song around a chant from one of the most comic book movies to not actually be based on a comic book, The Warriors. Great fun movie about a gang getting accused of killing the wanna-be kingpin of town at a meeting and then having to fight their way to their home turf, through gangs like the Baseball Furies (wearing pinstrip uniforms and Kiss style makeup), and that lesbian gang and...oh yeah, the Riffs! The video is FULL of panels from 'Watchmen' because, as everyone knows, Alan Moore knows the score.





This may be the geekiest video apart from one of those Matthew Sweet video with the anime clips in it. Oooh, Matthew Sweet, another good call there. She loves me, she loves me not...

Anyway, I found out about all this after the fact. I came into the band with the first single off of 1994's 'Dos Dedos Mis Amigos'. With this album, the band became less dance and more industrial. Very heavy. This song just blew me away. I was instantly hooked. That it had a message didn't hurt any.






I love this entire album as, while it's heavy and more 'serious', there are certainly light moments to be had. It's not all the doom and gloom of 'Everything's Cool'. I'm not much for fan made videos, but at least they chose reasonably logical subject matter for this one.





Unfortunately for me, this new direction didn't go very far. Apart from an album that was solely made up of remixes of 'Amigos', there would be nothing. The band broke up, forming other groups (like Bentley Rhythm Ace) and lead singer Clint Mansell is known more now as maker of soundtracks. With the 25th anniversary of the Poppies approaching there's suddenly talk of a reunion. A new single came out earlier this year which I must now find.

It's also an awesome band name. So terribly true...

Dos Dedos Mis Amigos     This Is The Day...This Is The Hour... This Is This     Cure for Sanity

Music Monday - Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry's music is in my blood. As a baby, my play pen was by the speakers to the stereo where my Dad would play Chuck and Little Richard and assorted other awesome bands from when Rock n Roll was Rock n Roll! In middle school, I managed to weave a biography of Chuck into a project for history class. Chuck Berry stamped Rock n Roll forever. Elvis may have been called the King (and Little Richard the Queen) but Chuck Berry was the MAN!



As much as I love punk rock and it's 'you can do it, just try' attitude, Chuck Berry has the advantage over all of them. The early days of rock are often considered to be filled with 'simple' songs but listen to Chuck not just play his guitar but have the skills involved to RIP IT UP!



The thing that gets me about Chuck is that he's clearly skilled but doesn't seem to be showing off when he's playing. He may go into some wild unexpected version of the riff you know but he doesn't seem to be trying to impress you. He's having fun. He's having a great time and he's trying to share it with you. I love that.



And his verbiage! His confidence to create words as a poet might. 'Motorvating' and 'botheration'... I use botheration all the time. I love that word.



Is Chuck Berry crazy? Probably. He has every right to be. He was mistreated as a black performer during a still segregated county. He spent time in jail at the peak of his career on what may or may not have been a trumped up charge in an effort to 'kill off' Rock n Roll. He certainly seems to have some... interesting ideas about life and ladies.

But man o man does he have a good time.

I Don't Know About This

I have done very little to see what the plan is for the 'Green Lantern' movie. I've not really dug around the rumor mill or anything like that. I know who the lead is and now I've seen the picture of the costume and I'm concerned.

I like Ryan Reynolds. I think he's funny. He's good at the style he does. That's the whole thing; Ryan has the image of being the smart-aleck. Most of roles he's best known for have him playing that guy. Now, I'm guessing that his Green Lantern will be Hal Jordan. This causes my concern. I'm not terribly familiar with the details of the DC characters but when I think of Hal Jordan I think of someone that's very serious, not without a sense of humor, but more of a quiet wit than the sarcastic characters Ryan is known to play. It's not that Ryan can't play that style, but will the Ryan Reynolds fans accept that? If he plays Hal Jordan like a standard Ryan character, will Green Lantern fans turn on it? If he's not playing Hal Jordan, then why not? Isn't Hal the primary Green Lantern of the DCU now?

The Green Lantern costume is a triumph of simple design. It is classic, green and black. It is the uniform of an Intergalactic Police Officer. As I understand it, the mask is Hal's addition, to protect his identity while on Earth. So what is with the weird lighting effects on display in the movie costume? It looks like it has ground effects? It looks more like a Tron costume that Green Lantern. If it only glows on occasion, why let that be the first picture of the costume to be released? If it's lit like that constantly, it's gonna look ridiculous.

This all makes me worry that Warner Brothers is trying to make this their Iron Man movie, to the point of altering the main character to make him more sharp and funny.

For DC fans, this movie HAS to work. If this movie doesn't do well, doesn't make money, then you will get nothing apart from Batman movies for the next decade. If Green Lantern doesn't succeed, what other DC hero will succeed? What other character will get the nod?

Then again, even if it fails, maybe Warner Brothers will make another DC movie. I mean, they made Catwoman.