Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965)

User Rating:

2.4/10   

Director:

Robert Gaffney

Writers:

R.H.W. Dillard (story)
George Garrett (story)

Release Date:

22 September 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Warning! Beware their stare!

Plot:

When an atomic war on Mars destroys the planet's women, it's up to Martian Princess Marcuzan and her right-hand man Dr...

Plot Keywords:

Beach | Alien Abduction | Brain Damage | Alien Invasion | Monster

Cast

Marilyn Hanold	...	Princess Marcuzan
James Karen	...	Dr. Adam Steele (as Jim Karen)
Lou Cutell	...	Doctor Nadir
Nancy Marshall	...	Karen Grant
David Kerman	...	General Bowers
Robert Reilly	...	Capt. Frank Saunders / Frankenstein

Also Known As:

Duel of the Space Monsters (UK)
Frankenstein Meets the Space Men
Mars Attacks Puerto Rico
Mars Invades Puerto Rico
Operation San Juan

Runtime:

USA:79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Hempstead, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Futurama Entertainment Corp.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Steele, Nancy and the general fly off to Puerto Rico to search for Frank, they are seen leaving in a B-52 bomber. However, the plane they land in is a Boeing 707.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America (1992)

Soundtrack:

That's The Way It's Gotta Be

What An Astronaut

Two great events in history are about to collide in Frankenstein Meets The Spacemonster inflicted on the public in 1965 by Allied Artists. First NASA is about to send the first exploratory rocket into space with an astronaut. But what an astronaut. Secondly though, the elite of Mars has ordered a raid on Earth to seize our most desirable women to repopulate the planet due to a recent atomic war that has eliminated all the women except the Martian princess.

As for our astronaut, someone at NASA apparently got a hold of one of the journals of Baron Victor Von Frankenstein and given advances in medical technology and robotics has created an amalgam creature that looks human and is given the name of Colonel Frank N. Saunders. They even trot him out for a press conference, but to no one's surprise this particular astronaut has never been heard of before.

Anyway the Martians are planning to make their strike on earth on Puerto Rico. And Martian guys go to various beaches and pool parties and kidnap those who look best in a state of undress. They also mistake the rocket for some kind of attack vehicle and shoot it down and wouldn't you know it, in Puerto Rico.

At this point the damaged Frankenstein astronaut meets up with the Martian invaders and some kind of monster they've taken along on their space ship for emergencies. Or maybe just as a pet. That sets up the inevitable climax which I'm sure you've figured out.

I recognized some of the Puerto Rican locations from the trip I took to San Juan in 1983. Too bad they weren't in color that might have counted as a plus for the film. With a lot of the Puerto Rican rain forest now preserved as a national park, El Yunque, I'm surprised more and better films that need a tropic setting aren't done there.

There are a few people in the cast who've gone on to some substantial careers. James Karen as the NASA doctor who created the Frankenstein astronaut looks positively ill as he mouths the dialog, who could blame him. Lou Cutell as the assistant to the Martian princess just hams it up in the best Uncle Fester tradition.

Nancy Marshall plays Karen's assistant who actually develops a thing for the astronaut creature she's created kind of like Fay Wray had for King Kong. But Marilyn Hanold as the Martian princess is inspecting those nubile bikini clad beauties in a way that you know darn well she's going to keep the best of them for herself. Every ruler needs a harem.

I swear that Allied Artists was doing better by the movie going public when they were giving us the Bowery Boys when they were Monogram Pictures. Frankenstein Meets The Spacemonster is to be seen if only to see just how bad science fiction can be at times.