Some of my childhood favourites come from Rankin/Bass, and I still love a vast majority of them now(the only notable exceptions at the top of my head being Cricket on the Hearth and The Leprechaun Christmas Gold). I don't think I'd go as far to say that Mad Monster Party is perfect, but there is much that is fun and enjoyable. I am in agreement that some of the story and scenes, fun on the most part, may be a little too padded out, maybe in trying to sustain Mad Monster Party's length, which did feel a little too long. Phyllis Diller tries her best with some rather corny and unfunny dialogue and jokes, but in the end comes across as grating. However, the animation is detailed and ideally coloured and the monsters are deliciously kooky to look at and literally. In my mind it does hold up well. The musical numbers are bizarre but in a wonderful way, they are very catchy above all which is a good situation to be in. The score fits very well also. Apart from that of the Monster's Mate, the writing, with lots of puns, is both funny and weird at the same time, and there is some fun and interest value in the story at least that makes up for the length and the padding. The monsters have great personalities and are a delight to spot for any horror or literature fans. The Frankenstein doctor and Felix are endearing as well, but Francessca who is sexy and a hoot in every way is my favourite character. The voice acting is fine, Diller aside. Allan Swift does a great job, especially as the James Stewart-like Felix. The standouts however are Boris Karloff's wonderfully eerie Frankenstein doctor and Gale Garnett's enticing Francessca. All in all, I can see why people will dislike it but I find it good fun and worth the look. 7/10 Bethany Cox
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TheLittleSongbird8 March 2013
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Baron von Frankenstein summons all the classic movie monsters like Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolfman, etc. to his castle to announce his retirement. When the monsters find out he plans to name his nerdy nephew his successor, they aren't pleased. I love Rankin/Bass and I love classic horror movies, especially the Universal monster movies. So this is right up my alley. As with the classic Rankin/Bass TV specials, the stop-motion animation is the primary selling point. If the animation does nothing for you, then you're in for a tough slog here. Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller are the two most well-known actors providing voices to this. Others are impressions of the likes of Peter Lorre and Jimmy Stewart. The character Francesca is probably the sexiest thing Rankin/Bass did. Her catfight scene is awesome. The songs are terrific. So much fun. This really is a must for fans of Universal monster movies and Rankin/Bass.
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jwpeel-129 June 2013Let me start by saying that I am a HUGE Boris Karloff and a cartoonist and animator as well'When I saw.the names of Harvey Kurtzman AS ND Jack Davis I knew I'm was in for a treat and was not disappointed. . You see, Harvey Kurtzman is co-creator of Mad in its comic book days and Jack Davis was one of their best artists. So when you look at the exceptional character design, you are looking at their work It is just as much fun as reading a Mad Magazine with its off-the-wall humor. Great fun and even my teenage son liked it which is AMAZING! My only complaint was the bizarre casting of Phylis Diller'
Fun for kids, classic horror fans and Boris Karloff. -
boris-2622 November 2001This will always be such a fun Halloween, or strangely enough, Christmas movie. Many of us have been lucky to see the claymation wonders by Rankin/Bass. This feature length spoof/salute to classic monster movies has the same charm Rankin/Bass gave to their classic Christmas shows- RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER, and THE CHRISTMAS THAT ALMOST WASN'T.
Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller provide the voices for this fun little comedy about monsters gathering for a big party. The Mummy (complete with "British Invasion" style band) The Gill-Man, King Kong, Dracula, etc. all come to the festivities. It's alot of fun. -
lord-of-the-lez20 October 2018I enjoyed this movie mainly because I'm a fan of the classic Universal movie monsters and Rankin-Bass' Christmas specials. I liked some of the humor that was clearly aimed at adults and even enjoyed the musical numbers. Although, some of the gags went on too long and seemed a bit pointless (like the scene where the Igor-type character went in the kitchen to ask about the food). And the ending was surprisingly dark and strange for a movie targeted at kids and didn't really make sense for the purpose of the story.
It's fun and I think kids will especially enjoy it, but if you're lookin' for better kid-friendly Halloween features, I'd suggest Nightmare Before Christmas or the Hotel Transylvania movies. -
Another super puppet-animated feature from Rankin/Bass. This full-length motion picture released to theaters, is one of only two films by R/B with a Halloween theme - the other being "Mad Mad Mad Monsters" (similar story to this but done in cel animation).
When Dr. Baron Von Frankenstein decides to retire from his long career as the head of the monster society, he invites all of his ghoulish creations - Frankenstein's Monster, Mummy, Count Dracula, Invisible Man, Werewolf and many others - for one final bash before handing down his position to his successor which each of the monsters assume will be themselves. When the true successor is revealed as the Baron's long-lost nephew, a nerdy boy named Felix Flankin, all hell breaks loose and poor Felix is in big trouble!!
The characters are really top-notch thanks to a winning combination of exquisitely designed stop-motion puppets and and excellent voices provided by some big-name stars. Boris Karloff adds his eerie sound as the Baron, Phyllis Diller is an ingenious choice as the Monster's Mate, and Gale Garnett takes the cake as the most vivacious character, Francesca, a curvy, buxom, husky-voiced sexy red-head with a mind just as sinister as the ghastliest of the monsters.
Featuring a fantastic jazzy, spy-groovy soundtrack and creepy set designs, this campy film stirs up a genuine retro Gothic Halloween vibe. The jokes that adults will find humorous will fly right over children's heads, which will be too mesmerized by all the cool monsters to notice much else. -
JohnSeal24 November 1999Every year, Mad Monster Party? would show up on TV around Halloween. Every year I watched it, until suddenly it disappeared from the small screen. (This was about the same time that infomercials came into vogue.) It was ten or more long years before I saw it again one night on TNT, and it had lost none of it's magnificence. And now it's shown up again, this time on AMC...and the AMC print is miles better than the washed out one that TNT showed. It's unbelievably bright, displaying a full palette of colours where once all was green and purple. You owe it to yourself---and your children!---to catch Mad Monster Party? at the next possible occasion. It's a Rankin-Bass production, so you know it's quality!
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A few others from other studio series drop in too, but for the most part, it's the Universal gang: Boris Karloff's Victor Von Frankenstein, his creation, the monster's bride (Phyllis Diller), Count Dracula, the Invisible Man, the Mummy, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Also popping in from other horror or gothic films from other studios are Dr. Jekyll, his handy cane which turns him into Mr. Hyde, the Hunchback of Notre Dame and a cameo appearance towards the end by a giant ape. The basic premise has Dr. Frankenstein inviting his cohorts to a gathering to announce who he is leaving all his secrets to, and this creates a plot between various monsters to get rid of the heir: Frankenstein's Mr. Magoo like nephew who can't see a thing without his glasses. The film opens with some thrilling credits sung over the titles with a James Bond like opening theme, but then sinks into often dated juvenile humor that wouldn't make many kids laugh today.
Gale Garnett provides the voice of the redheaded assistant to Dr. Frankenstein who is in cahoots with Dracula to get rid of the wimpy heir so Dracula can get his hands on the doctor's secrets. While obviously written as a bit of a vixen, she has the same puppet head as Santa's wife in the Rankin/Bass TV classic, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". The songs are rather mediocre, although there are some campy moments in "Do the Mummy". Diller is forced to repeat her trademark laugh over and over, and often at the most inappropriate times. A forced romance between Garnett's character and the heir (voiced by Allen Swift in a bad Jimmy Stewart impression) just seems absurd. The funniest moments come from Bass's Peter Lorre impression, with the character (Frankenstein's valet) losing his head literally over and over, while Swift's attempt to do a Bela Lugosi impression falls flat as well. This is amusing in spots, but it just doesn't hold up well, especially when compared to the Christmas classics that the same team did for TV. -
toni-12311 November 2005I saw this movie when it first came out and totally loved it..Especially Phyllis Dillers character. I saw it several times and then I mentioned it to my sister (7 yrs older) and she told me it had not been on in years. FINALLY about 5 years ago I found it. I bought 2 copies 1 for me to watch and one for my future grandchildren. I love it and watch it every year since I got it. It's great fun and I still enjoy it immensely and I am 45 years old. I guess I am a big kid at heart every year I watch all the specials, Charlie brown, Rudolph, year without a Santa Claus etc. They make me remember when times were easy and holidays were more about being together and having fun.
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Coventry29 December 2014Let me come straight to the point with this one and admit that "Mad Monster Party?" nearly wasn't as good or as much fun as I hoped it would be. The actual plot is rather weak, the film is overlong, a large amount of the gags entirely miss their effect and there's way too much singing and dancing going on. What the hell was that about? Someone really ought to add the tag "musical" to the genre description here on the film's IMDb page! But on the other hand, I can't possibly be too harsh or overly critical about a movie that pays so much tribute to my all-time favorite genre of cinema and all of its legendary contributors! All minor defaults and shortcomings aside, "Mad Monster Party?" is a warm-spirited, enthusiast and freshly inventive ode to (classic) horror from the 1930's to the 1960's. As a European kid born in the 80's, I'm not too familiar with the works of Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, and I never watched any of the "Frosty the Snowman" or "Rudolf the Red-Nose Reindeer" cartoons as child. But the simple fact that these men managed to cast the awesome Boris Karloff himself in order to voice the Baron Von Frankenstein pivot character more than enough proves to me that they know and respect a great deal of the horror genre. Up in the tower of his castle on the remote Isle of Evil, Baron Von Frankenstein just finished his latest and greatest invention; an all-destructive liquid in a tube! In order to celebrate his invention, and primarily also to make an important announcement, he invites all of his monster friends over to the island. And oh yes, all the protagonists from the brilliant horror milestones (Universal and others) attend the monster mash: Count Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Frankenstein's creature and his bride, the Mummy, The Invisible Man, the Creature from Black Lagoon, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and an uninvited mystery guest referred to as "it". However, the party turns sour and hostile when the monsters learn that Baron Von Frankenstein will announce his retirement and that he will hand over all of his secret formulas to a nerdy outsider – his nephew – instead of to one of them. The newly added character of Francesca, the Baron's voluptuous and sly secretary, is still original, but other side-characters like butler Yetch (with a voice reminiscent of Peter Lorre), Chef Machiavelli and even Felix Flanken are quite redundant. Instead of giving lines and lyrics to them, I personally would have much preferred that the parts of the familiar monster favorites were a bit more extended. Most of them don't have anything to do, except to howl and groan occasionally. The Claymation is inarguably wonderful and still very admirable even by today's high standards. I bet that even nowadays clay-wizards like Adam Elliot ("Mary and Max") or Peter Lord ("Wallace & Gromit") are big fans of these designs and that they couldn't do a better job.
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planktonrules26 January 2010I hadn't seen this since I was a kid back in the 1960s. I remember enjoying it and I decided to see it again for old times sake. Well, this is a great example of the phrase "you can't go back", as now I couldn't stand the film. It surprised me, as some other Rankin-Bass productions from my childhood STILL make me smile. Whenever "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" or "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" come on TV, I still watch and enjoy them--perhaps not quite as much as when I was little, but still quite a lot. Even the poor Rankin-Bass specials (you know, the lame-o ones no one ever liked) are better than this. I'd love to see "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" or "The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town " 100 times than see "Mad Monster Party" even once more!
So what is it about this DVD release did I dislike? Well, first, unlike the wonderful voice talent for the best Rankin-Bass animated films, this one (aside from Boris Karloff) had voices that just seemed like cheap knockoffs of people such as Peter Lorre. Kids nowadays have no idea who Lorre was and adults will realize that it's a really crappy impersonation--as are most of the rest. The other problem is that the film is just boring and really irritating when it comes to the plot and dialog. Even kids now will probably be bored to tears by the thing...even if it does have monsters. And, since it is about double the length of a typical film by these folks, the time just seems to drag. By the end, I just wanted all the monsters and the Doctor's nephew to just go away...go away and die (permanently--after all, some were already dead).
Tough to take and not nearly the quality of the better Rankin-Bass productions. -
vampi196018 September 2006When i was a kid i remember them showing this every Halloween on wnew TV channel 5.i thought it was cool to see all the monsters together in one movie,it was made by Rankin bass,the same people who gave us Rudolph the red nosed reindeer(68)and doing the voice for baron Von Frankenstein was none other then the great Boris Karloff.who was also great at doing voice overs for kids movies like the Grinch that stole Christmas and the daydreamer a movie about Hans Christian Anderson.anyway Dr Frankenstein has a bog retirement party to name his successor to take his place as leader of the monsters.he has one nephew who is a mere...,human who he invites to the shindig.the monsters aren't very thrilled about that.heres the lineup; Frankensteins monster,his mate(voiced by Phyllis diller)Dracula,the werewolf,the mummy,the creature,the hunchback,Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,invisible man,and it (a king Kong lookalike)its a wild monster party with a singing group of skeletons modeled after the Beatles,well remember this is 1968.its a marvel of animation done way before any computer graphics were even thought of.this has always been an ageless personal favorite.even Tim Burton was inspired by mad monster party when he did nightmare before Christmas.10 out of 10 check it out,its a good Halloween party movie.
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SnoopyStyle23 May 2020It's an early and lesser known movie by Rankin/Bass who became famous for their stop-motion TV specials. Baron Boris von Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) invents a new powerful destructive formula. He invites the famous monsters of the world to his island along with his only living relative, nephew Felix Flankin. He's retiring as the monster leader and naming Felix as his successor. Everybody tries to steal the secret formula from the bumbling Felix.
The stop motion is simple joy. It's all fun and games. As a narrative, the best way to make this work is to concentrate on Felix as the lead. The point and the fun is that he is clueless to the danger and the world he has entered. He's the fish out of water. The best is Felix stumbling over Wolfman. Sure, the monsters are the most fun on the surface but they need Felix to advance the plot. He has to be the main character but the movie insists on concentrating on all the monsters for the first half. I'm not in love with Felix but it would help if he had more scenes early in the movie. Overall, this is a fascinating watch for Rankin/Bass fans like me. -
gftbiloxi2 April 2007In theory, MAD MONSTER PARTY has everything required to blast you into your childhood past: the voices of Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller; characters that are riffs on Universal horror classics; and animated by Rankin-Bass, which created such memorable holiday television specials as Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. But at ninety minutes, MAD MONSTER PARTY is much, much too long for the very slight story it has to tell.
The story, as such: Dr. Frankenstein, who earlier discovered the secret of life, has now discovered the secret of destruction. He invites all the monsters under his control to his remote island, there to announce his discovery--and his retirement and plans to pass his secrets onto his klutzy and inept nephew. The monsters are not pleased and decide to off said nephew and use the new discovery to suit themselves.
The premise is okay, but the actual result is remarkably tedious. The script is dull, the occasional song atrocious. The pace is very, very slow. The character designs are uninspired. As for the famed Rankin-Bass animation... let us be generous here and say that in this instance it has not dated very well. This is essentially stop-motion animation, the same process so memorably used by Ray Harryhouser in such memorable films as THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD and Tim Burton in THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE Christmas--but without the same budgets.
If you are considering a purchase for "family film purposes," you can do a lot better than this. If you yourself recall the movie fondly from your childhood, do yourself a favor and don't return to it, for you will almost certainly be disappointed; some nostalgia really is better left in the past. The only people likely to find the film of interest are hardcore collectors of stop-motion animation--and even then the interest is more likely to be technical than anything else. Such fans excepted, not recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer -
BobLib24 September 1999What a shame that Rankin/Bass, the people who produced some of the most beloved Christmas specials ever ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," etc.) only did two theatrical films, this and "The Daydreamer" a year earlier. "Mad Monster Party" is, like those specials, fun for all ages. Boris Karloff brings his inimitable prescense to the voice of Baron Frankenstein. With this film and Bogdonovich's "Targets" the next year, this old master of the horror film couldn't have asked for a better send-off. And then there's Phyllis Diller, bringing her particular brand of wackiness (And a surprisingly good singing voice!) to the role of "The Monster's Mate." The clay animation throughout is up to Rankin/Bass's usual excellent standard and the result is enjoyable, campy fun, at Halloween or anytime.
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ericstevenson1 January 2018Rankin Bass became famous for the stop motion Santa Claus specials they did in the 1970's. Normally, those kinds of people go for movies later on but this is actually before their most famous works. Their later stuff is obviously much better. While by no means awful, this wasn't that good. For a film titled "Mad Monster Party?" it actually barely features a party at all. Still, the stop motion effects are pretty good.
I actually did end up liking the main character, Felix. I admit the ending is kind of too weird and seemed like a cop out, but it's still not bad. The voices were quite good, especially Boris Karloff's. Now I can fully go into Book Month with the end of this year. The monsters probably needed more personality. They just seemed to be causing trouble for no reason. **1/2 -
ExplorerDS67891 November 2013We open on the infamous Baron Boris Von Frankenstein, who has just perfected his latest and greatest experiment: a formula that can destroy anything it touches...except for glass vials. The baron feels that the time is right and so he sends invitations to all the monsters to assemble for a convention at which he will make a very important announcement. Invitations are sent via messenger-bat all over the world to such ghoulish folks as Count Dracula, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, The Creature (from the Black Lagoon), the Hunchback (of Notre Dame), The Werewolf (not the Wolf Man), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Another invitation finds its way to Felix Flanken, a nerdy pharmacist, and Dr. Frankenstein's nephew. For you see, the baron plans to turn over everything to Felix, as opposed to one of the monsters whom he couldn't trust as far as he could throw them. He reveals this plan to his secretary, a voluptuous, sultry, femme-fatale red-head named Francesca. Naturally she's miffed that someone other than her will be the baron's heir. Meanwhile, all the monsters, and Felix, have boarded the same steam ship bound for the Caribbean, except they won't go directly to the Isle of Evil, so at midnight they all jump ship and make their way to the island in their own unique methods. So they all arrive and the meeting can get underway. Dr. Frankenstein announces his plans to retire and turn over everything to an unnamed heir, and only Francesca knows who it will be. She conspires with Dracula, the most cunning and deceptive of the other monsters...as well as the horniest, so he was willing to listen to her. Unfortunately, it isn't long before Frankenstein's Monster and his wise-cracking, cackling mate get involved and the result is a big dining room brawl. Heads literally roll.
The next day, while the ghoulish gang sleep off their hangovers, Felix arrives and eagerly greets his Uncle Boris. Before they can get into any technicalities, Francesca agrees to take the baron's nephew on a picnic, where of course she plans to set up an ambush, with Dracula charged with taking him out. Unfortunately, the count proves to be extremely clumsy in his efforts. He doubts Francesca's word and turns to the Monster and his mate for help, and they gang up on Francesca, who literally gets the drop on them and decides to deploy a back-up emergency plan: send an invitation to a previously uninvited, dangerous guest. Can't see how this plan would backfire at all. So, Uncle Boris gives Felix a tour of the castle, saying, "one day, this will all be yours" and tells him he'll be his heir whether he likes it or not. Naturally the mortal lad is a tad unnerved about having monsters beneath him and wants to think it over, so he goes fishing. Francesca meanwhile escapes from Dracula, the Monster and his mate again and lands in the mote. She's rescued by Felix and berates him for something he had no control over. Fortunately, Felix has quite the bitch-slap, which instantly makes her fall in love with him. Not kidding. Francesca realizes the error of her ways and knows what is about to happen, or rather what she caused to happen, and so they make a break for it just as Dracula assembles all the other monsters to go capture Felix. That's when It arrives, via Francesca's invitation. It being an 800-foot pink gorilla...though what is something called It supposed to look like? Fortunately, it's Dr. Frankenstein to the rescue. He helps Felix and Francesca to escape, while he gives everyone a demonstration of his formula. Instantly, the Isle of Evil and all its occupants are obliterated. All alone at sea, the two love birds learn a few secrets about one another, and supposedly maybe live happily ever after possibly?
I definitely recommend this monster classic for the Halloween season. Good story, decent plot, the music is awesome. Props to Maury Laws for his swinging '60s soundtrack. Voice acting is great: Boris Karloff shines as the Baron, Gale Garnett and Phyllis Diller are great too, and of course, Allen Swift really delivers the dream cast of the movie, imitating Jimmy Stewart as Felix, Peter Lorre as Yetch, the comic-relief corpse butler, Sydney Greenstreet as the Invisible Man, Bela Lugosi as Dracula, and so on. The animation is a tad choppy in some places, but remember, this was 1967. No computers. These were all puppets that had to be repositioned for every frame. So, if you like the Rankin-Bass Animagic Christmas specials, you will enjoy Mad Monster Party. It comes highly recommended. -
gavin694210 August 2015When Dr Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) decides to retire from the monster-making business, he calls an international roster of monsters to a creepy convention to elect his successor.
Being a fan of Rankin and Bass from their Christmas specials, I thought this would have a lot of potential. Especially because I am huge in the horror community, and love its rich history. And yet, I was not terribly thrilled by the film.
The characters were alright, and the animation we all love looks great. But I feel like it just has not aged well, primarily because of the music. The Christmas songs are classics, but the songs here are not terribly memorable. In fact, some are not even good. -
jkv11656 October 2005A favorite of mine when I was a kid, I just purchased and watched this classic with my kids. I was surprised how much I forgot. . .and remembered! There were a couple of songs ("Stay One Step Ahead" for one) that I began singing along with when the music started. My kids and I laughed and laughed at the corny jokes, the really, really, bad special effects, and the "ancient" quality of claymation. It was a kick and it'll be cool to pull this out and watch it whenever instead of waiting for it to appear on TV, which it rarely did when I was a kid. By the way,the DVD comes with a cool little booklet that gives a lot of great background, but there are few extras on the DVD itself.
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llltdesq31 October 2000This early Claymation is nothing special, but is still fun to watch and is worth seeing because of the voice work by Allen Swift, Phyllis Diller and the inimitable Boris Karloff. The plot is nothing earthshaking the animation is decent if unspectacular and it's the kind of movie you park your brain at the door and just watch. It's a fun movie to sit back and vegetate to if that's what you want. I thoroughly enjoyed it myself.
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wes-connors29 June 2013In his Caribbean island castle, wise old Boris von Frankenstein (voiced by Boris Karloff) discovers the secret of total destruction. The famous Baron, who discovered the secret of creation with his "Frankenstein" monster, decides to celebrate his latest discovery with a "Mad Monster Party". Frankenstein, Dracula, The Werewolf, The Mummy, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The Creature (from the Black Lagoon), The Hunchback of Notre Dame, "It" (King Kong) and the Invisible Man are among those attending. For this appearance, the Frankenstein monster's fright-wigged mate (voiced by Phyllis Diller) sings "You're Different" and stands by her man...
Also invited is the Baron's nerdy pharmacist nephew Felix Flankin (voiced by Allen Swift). Sounding like Jimmy Stewart, "Felix" is chosen to inherit his uncle's fortune. However, the Baron's busty assistant Francesca (voiced by Gale Garnett) covets the estate for herself. This is a visually appealing "stop-action" animation (aka "Claymation") film by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. The classic figures are nicely done. Mr. Swift does well impersonating most of the characters, including a butler patterned after Peter Lorre. But after the party begins, the novelty begins to wear thin. The story gets lost searching for things to fit the running time.
***** Mad Monster Party? (3/8/67) Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. ~ Allen Swift, Boris Karloff, Phyllis Diller, Gale Garnett -
fomblin19 February 2000I stumbled across this movie tonight on AMC, and was surprised that I hadnt seen it as a kid in the 70's, since many other Rankin/Bass 60min holiday films were shown every year.
This is a full length movie, and while it is great for the kids there are plenty of jokes and elements for the adults. I mean, for one thing, the voluptuous love interest Fransesca is wearing a see-through dress, complete with visible panties, and even cleavage. Also, some of the plot is quite dark, including a great party scene in which the monsters all get drunk an beat each other up.
If you're a fan of the clay puppet works of Rankin, like Rudolph and the bizarre Christmas special "Year Without a Santa Clause," you'll like this animation style. In fact, if you are as nuts as I am you will notice some doll costumes used in this that were used earlier in Rudoplh the Red Nosed Reindeer (in particular, the little red hats used for the footmen for the Lion king of the Ilse of Misfit Toys is used on some nefarious henchmen of Dr Frankenstein)
This movie is full of strange site gags and bizarre musical numbers. I would suggest watching this with a cocktail or five, because it gets rather surreal very fast. And the ending is not what you might expect in a movie supposedly made for kids.
Worth it at least for the Phyllis Diller alone. -
JoeKarlosi18 September 2007I used to really like this kiddie monster mash when I was a kid, as it was always shown on TV around Halloween. These days it doesn't seem quite as wondrous to me but it's still some fun. It's an animated comedy from Rankin & Bass (the "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" people) which utilizes puppets, as Baron Von Frankenstein (voiced by Boris Karloff) unites all his famous monster friends together for a reunion -- The Monster and His Mate, Dracula, the Werewolf, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, Jekyll & Hyde, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Creature. This would have been better if it wasn't so long (95 minutes) but it's a treat getting to see Karloff involved at the height of Monstermania, and for me it's Phyllis Diller as (the voice of) the monster's mate who steals the show. She tells many cheesy bad jokes but always ends them with her trademark "ah-ha haa!" Some good songs here too (especially "It's the Mummy", as sung by a rock band consisting of guitar-playing skeletons with Beatle-like wigs). **1/2 out of ****
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I grew up with the Rankin & Bass Christmas specials (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman) and some of their feature films (The Last Unicorn, The Hobbit), and I always enjoyed them. I had always been interested in seeing their Halloween movie, Mad Monster Party. Unfortunately, it's kind of a dud. Perhaps their cheapy stop motion just cannot sustain a feature film. It gets old pretty quick here (really, I think it's cheaper than something like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, although it's probably been quite a while since I've last seen that). The story revolves around Dr. Frankenstein, who holds the position of master of the board of monsters. He wants to give up his position to his nephew Felix, which draws the ire and jealousy of the other monsters, who then try to dispatch him. Felix is a hopeless clutz, but with the help of Frankenstein's sexy assistant Francesca, perhaps he can survive the monsters' attacks. Boris Karloff voices Dr. Frankenstein. Gale Garnett does Francesca and Allen Swift does Felix and all of the monster characters (his Jimmy Stewart impression for Felix is particularly grating), with the one exception of the Bride of Frankenstein, who is voiced by Phyllis Diller. Diller's presence is particularly painful. Instead of making the Bride look like the iconic one from James Whale's 1935 film (there may have been rights issues, judging from their depiction of the Creature from the Black Lagoon), they just make her a Phyllis Diller puppet, complete with Phyllis Diller's terrible comedy. I would die a happy man if I never heard puns as bad as the ones so frequently used in this film.